"The Swansea Way" - Swansea & Wales' Premier Sports Blog: March 2014

Sunday, 30 March 2014

Vines: All yesterday's goals!

De Guzman double helps the Swans outflap the Canaries

I love the internet...

De Guzman's opener.

De Guzman's second - check out Bony's backheel!

Routledge's goal, and Swansea's third.

Swansea 3 - 0 Norwich - What were we worried about?

Distinctly sub-par Norwich brushed aside by resurgent Swansea

Swansea's players congratulate Wayne Routledge
on his (and Swansea's third) goal.

It appears Garry Monk only wins matches three nil. The last time Swansea tasted victory in any competition was in Monk's first game in charge against Cardiff back at the beginning of February, and on that occasion too we struck three goals whilst keeping a clean sheet.

In between the two wins we've seen plenty of good performances but sadly we haven't got the results to match; thankfully yesterday we got both a good display and the three points. Norwich rolled in to town off the back of five straight away defeats, and while the early exchanges demonstrated just why the Canaries have struggled on the road so much their opposition did not look like a side who'd only won four times in their last twenty outings at the Liberty Stadium.

From the off the Swans attacked with intent, with Wayne Routledge and Jonathan De Guzman in particular looking to get at their fullbacks. Wilfried Bony, too, looked like he was on a mission and throughout the match I don't remember him losing possession once - bar the last in a succession of (until that point successful) backheels. Norwich though were simply awful. How were they above us in the league until yesterday? Their home form must be spectacular because on the evidence of yesterday I'm amazed they've even got a chance of staying up.

Routledge was the first player I remember testing John Ruddy in the Norwich goal, getting in around the back on the left and seeing his dinked effort across goal pawed out and away by the 'keeper before Hoolahan completed the clearance. Michu had a couple of half-chances too but he couldn't really connect with them, however the Spaniard's link play did look better. He played the one-two to free Routledge for his shot, while there were signs of promise in terms of his partnership with Wilfried Bony - on a few occasions they exchanged quick passes and it's quite remarkable neither scored given how we played.

Onto the goals then. Norwich completely fell apart any time we pressed them, and with the Swans regaining possession De Guzman spotted Shelvey, who had made a run into space down the right channel. The Dutchman picked out his teammate with a nice chipped through ball, before continuing his run towards the box - Shelvey hit a half-volleyed cross into the box which Michu came nearest to connecting with, but the ball came off the Spaniard and fell into the path of the arriving De Guzman who swept home with his left foot. A great finish, and Jono wasn't finished there!

Bony looked like he really enjoyed himself yesterday. I lost count of the amount of flashy backheels, stepovers and flicks that came off, but the best of the lot had to be the assist for De Guzman's second, which came in the 38th minute - eight minutes after his opener. He played a ball into Bony's feet, ran beyond him, and the Ivorian produced a rollover followed by a backheel which left the Norwich defence floundering, and saw Jono clean through. He still had a lot to do, and boy did he do it with aplomb - clipping a left-footed finish over the advancing Ruddy and in off the far post. Great goal.

So, we actually managed to take a two goal lead into half time at home for a change, after threatening (but sadly failing) to against West Brom and Crystal Palace, and it could have proved handy given how we started the second half - we could well have found ourselves pegged back a goal with Norwich asking questions of the home defence. Something that seemed peculiar (well, two things) was that, firstly, for the entire time we were experiencing opposition pressure Rangel and Ben Davies tucked in as third and fourth centre-backs, with Routledge and De Guzman seeming to drop in at wing back. That seemed overly defensive given we were 2-0 up, and seemed to compound our (albeit brief) stresses.

Secondly, when we were under the cosh we brought everyone back to defend corners. Now, we're at home and we're 2-0 up - in my opinion we should leave at least one guy upfield to occupy a Norwich defender. As it was, they were able to send pretty much everyone forward, with their deepest player roaming between our penalty area and the centre-circle. To me that seems to put unnecessary pressure on ourselves - thankfully we managed to see out a frenetic period of opposition pressure but it could have been very different had Vorm not saved from Elmander and Van Wolfswinkel, and Ash not cleared off the line excellently from Snodgrass's effort.

Norwich were made to rue their missed chances not too long later when Wayne Routledge made it three in the seventy-fourth minute. Again, Bony started the move by holding the ball up brilliantly. Jinking past his man, he slipped it to Jonjo Shelvey who delayed, and delayed, and finally slipped a little reverse pass to Routledge, who cut a left-footed finish back across Ruddy and into the far corner. Three nil, and game over.

Excluding the short period of time after half time, we completely bossed proceedings and Norwich looked thoroughly second best. They looked bereft of ideas, and it makes me wonder how they've picked up so many points this season - for seventy minutes they played dire hoofball before deciding - at 3-0 down - that they were going to try and pass it about. Neither really worked for them, and as Monk said post-match we have played better than that without even getting a point over the last couple of weeks - the key still seems to be addressing the period of time directly after the break. Do that and it'll be a good team that beats us, at home at least.

Yesterday also saw us return to a 4-2-3-1 formation, even if prematch it appeared we'd be going with a diamond formation again. Davies for Taylor was the only change, but instead of a non-Swansea four man midfield we reverted to Leon & Shelvey in the middle with Michu ahead, and Routledge and De Guzman out wide. It's the first time I can remember Jono playing out wide, and two goals (plus a goal for his mate on the other flank) seem to indicate that there's definitely legs in the Canadian/Dutch/Filipino Jack playing out wide. Bony thoroughly enjoyed himself playing between those two, and De Guzman out wide gives us more of a goal threat than Dyer, or even Pablo provides.

The win serves as a timely confidence boost ahead of next weekend's trip to a beleaguered Hull side whose performance has dropped off partly due to injuries to key defensive players. Win that one, and we'll be on thirty-six points which I believe will be enough to keep us in the Premier Division for another season. When it's put like that, it's hard to see what we were worried about?

Is Garry Monk the happiest man in Britain right now?

Post-match press conference started with a big grin...

What a win yesterday. I'll get on with analysing it later today, but for now simply enjoy Garry Monk giving another great press conference. Tellingly, when the video starts his grin stretches from ear to ear!

Every time I hear Monk speak it reinforces my belief he's the right man for the job. When we've had failings he's openly addressed them, and if he continues in this vein I'll be amazed if we're anywhere near the relegation zone come the end of the season.

Friday, 28 March 2014

Swansea v Norwich preview, team news, statistics, predicted lineups, prior form & analysis

The Match

Swansea return to the Liberty looking to build on positive showings at both Goodison and the Emirates. While we didn't get anything out of the Everton game the overall performance level was excellent, and to follow that up with a point against an Arsenal side who've spent a large portion of the season at the summit of the Premier League really is very encouraging indeed. Monk will have been addressing the lapses in concentration which saw us concede four goals in around six minutes versus Everton and Arsenal, and if we can cut them out we should surely have too much for a Norwich team who've been dreadful on their travels this season.

Norwich, as mentioned, have been awful away from home this season (eight points from fifteen games), but in fits and starts they do seem to spring the odd positive result. Last weekend they triumphed over fellow relegation battlers Sunderland, and given their last four league games are Chelsea, Man City, Arsenal & Liverpool games like this weekend's will definitely be viewed as ones which can be targeted for points ahead of their excruciating run-in. That being said, the last time they even got a point away from home was against Crystal Palace on New Year's Day, so despite their win over Poyet's Black Cats a week ago the Canaries are unlikely to be too confident as they head to South Wales for a fixture they have traditionally done quite well in.

Prior Form (Most recent at top)

Premier League	Arsenal	2-2	Swansea
Premier League	Everton	3-2	Swansea
Premier League	Swansea	1-2	West Brom
Premier League	Swansea	1-1	Crystal Palace
Europa League	Napoli	3-1	Swansea

Premier League	Norwich	2-0	Sunderland
Premier League	Southampton	4-2	Norwich
Premier League	Norwich	1-1	Stoke
Premier League	Aston Villa	4-1	Norwich
Premier League	Norwich	1-0	Tottenham

Team News

Provided by resident fitness guru @BenDinnery - make sure to follow him on Twitter for the latest injury news and views

A massive game for Swansea this weekend as they entertain fourteenth placed Norwich City at The Liberty Stadium. Garry Monk will take confidence from the midweek draw with Arsenal and should retain the same squad which performed so admirably in the capital. Pablo Hernandez and Nathan Dyer will be pushing for starts after they were introduced from the bench on Tuesday while Michu and Jonjo Shelvey are still working their way to full fitness following a recent return from injury. Kyle Bartley (hamstring) the only definite absentee.

No fresh injury concerns for Norwich City as manager Chris Hughton considers his selection options ahead of the trip to South Wales. On-loan Newcastle winger Jonas Gutierrez has trained well following a calf problem while defender Michael Turner (hamstring) is back in contention after almost three months out. Alex Tettey and Robert Snodgrass have suffered minor injuries recently while Joseph Yobo and Martin Olsson are managing ongoing issues, however all four will feature. Ricky van Wolfswinkel’s place is under threat from top-scorer Gary Hooper after an injury hampered season with Johan Elmander expected to lead the line following his impressive display in the victory over Sunderland.

Completely guessed lineups

Statistics & Trivia

Swansea forward Michu has scored three goals in three games against Norwich City.
There have been 22 goals scored in just five Barclays Premier League meetings between Norwich and Swansea.
Swansea have scored more goals at home than any side outside the current top five (26).
That is, however, counteracted by us conceding 23 goals at home - more than everyone else bar Fulham (31) & Cardiff (29).
Robert Snodgrass scored in both Premier League games for Norwich against Swansea last season and also assisted two goals for the Canaries.
Snodgrass has scored in his last two Premier League appearances and has netted four in his last seven for the club in the competition.
In 2014 Wilfried Bony has 10 goals in 16 appearances for Swansea.
Norwich have won three and lost none (D2) of the five Premier League meetings with Swansea, despite trailing in three of those games.
Swansea have won just four of their last 20 Premier League home games (W4 D7 L9).
Norwich have won none of their last seven Premier League away games, losing the last five in a row (W0 D2 L5).
Swansea's top scorer is Wilfried Bony with 11 Premier League goals, eight of which came at the Liberty Stadium. Their next highest contributor is eight from own goals netted by their opponents.

Straight from the horse's mouth

Garry Monk acknowledges there's lots of pressure on his side, but feels it's something his team can deal with:

"It was a confidence boost [the Arsenal game] for the players against one of the top sides. Going forward, those are the sort of performances we need to produce. We need to use it as momentum going into this game against Norwich.

"It is a totally different game, a totally different side that we are playing. We are at home, and we just want to get our home form back to what it has been. We want to put a performance in after the West Brom game. We feel that we owe the crowd a little bit of a performance.

"The pressure is on us to try and get safe as soon as possible and get the points on the board as soon as possible, but that's the same for Norwich and a number of teams. This is the business end of the season when everything really gets decided.

"You have to deal with pressure. Some players thrive on it, others you have to protect a little but more. It will be a tough game on Saturday. They (Norwich) are a side where I think their league position belies how good they are. I have watched a number of their games, and they have got some very good players."

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11661/9235381?

Chris Hughton is expecting the Swans to revert to type for this weekend's matchup:

"They played very well [against Arsenal], but it's very difficult because you can't be as expansive as you'd like to be because you're up against a Champions League team. We would expect them to pay a bit differently, a bit more expansively, as they normally do at home.

"They have goals in the team, especially in Wilfried Bony, who's scoring a lot of goals for them so we're expecting a very tough game."

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2014/03/27/4713391/-?

Analysis

Traditionally, this game brings goals. As the stats show, there've been twenty-two goals scored in just five games between these clubs in the Premier League and I don't expect this one to be any different.

It's very hard to predict how the Swans will line up given our formation against Arsenal, and now we've got a fully fit squad, but I do see Monk reverting back to a more traditional Swansea system for this one. Who is in that Swansea midfield is another question though.

Whoever is selected, they'll likely be up against Jonny Howson (who probably doesn't like Swansea after Ferrie Bodde broke his leg) and Alex Tettey - who scored an absolute wonderstrike against Sunderland last weekend. Surely lightning can't strike twice, but he's a tidy player who needs to be watched.

Swansea have shown over the last few months that when they're on top of their game they are still capable of ripping teams apart. Early on against WBA we were excellent, and the same went for the Palace game. Surely we're due a brilliant performance that lasts for the entirety of the match, as opposed to two-thirds or ninety-five percent of it. Individual errors and lapses in concentration have cost us recently, and we need to cut that out as Norwich will very much be up for this one.

I do think that with Wilfried Bony finding form again we're going to have too much for Chris Hughton's men. Bassong is a good defender, but Wilf is an absolute monster whose star is starting to shine a little brighter as his goal tally grows ever bigger. He's scored in his last two games, has ten in sixteen appearances since the New Year and when he's on song he's simply too hot for anyone to handle. He's brushed off tougher defenders than Sebastien Bassong this season, so I doubt he's too worried about the defence he's going to be up against - and rightly so. If he plays his game, and the rest of the team click, we'll see goals in this one.

Now that I've gone on about goals it's almost certain to end 0-0, but I do have a good feeling. All the talk coming from the Swans camp is of a togetherness, and a renewed zip and vigour on the training field. On the pitch too we haven't been playing like a side parked towards the wrong end of the league - even if we have dropped off in the second half on a couple of occasions of late.

For me it's quite simple. Play like we did against Everton and Arsenal without the sloppy five minutes and we win this one. The level of performance is there, the quality is there, it's just about turning it on for the entirety of the match and cutting out individual errors. With this match representing a great opportunity to put some distance between ourselves and the (current) more likely candidates for the three relegation spots, it's important we all get behind the team and roar them home to victory. Much has been made of our away support of late and it's time we ramp it up at home to match that. Get behind the boys, sing your heart out and hopefully we'll be celebrating a crucial three points come five pm.

Napoli given pathetic fine by UEFA for Swansea fan delays

Once again European football's governing body completely bottles punishing a big team

Unsurprising and disappointing. Those are words which could be used to describe most fines and bans given out by UEFA over the last decade or so, but even by their standards this seems particularly paltry. Napoli have just been fined £21,500 for not only causing up to seven hundred of Swansea's nine hundred travelling fans to miss the first half an hour of the match, but also because of illicit banners and fireworks being let off in the stadium.

Given Arsenal fans had warned to expect this kind of behaviour from the Naples club (after experiencing it themselves in this season's Champions League), it seems hard to believe that deliberately stalling Swansea fans was anything other than pre-meditated. To put it in context, the amount paid in travel alone by the seven hundred visiting Swansea supporters will easily total thousands more than the fine handed to the Italian club - a fine which was likely to be met with smirks by whoever at Napoli is responsible for paying it. I can't imagine there's a single first-team player there who doesn't earn more than that in the week, so it's hard to see what the point is in even making them pay such a pathetic amount. Should we have expected any less though?

Here's a list of fines given out in the past by UEFA. As you can see, they really are a joke:

October 2000 - Sinisa Mihajlovic given two match ban for racially abusing Patrick Vieira.

June 2007 - Serbian Football Federation fined £16,500 for "the racist chanting of supporters and the improper conduct of their players". after fans aim racist abuse at England's U21 international Nedum Onuoha.

June 2008 - Croatian Football Federation is fined nearly £10,000 for their fans displaying a racist banner and "improper conduct".

February 2012 - Porto fines £16,700 for their fans consistently racially abusing Mario Balotelli throughout their game against Manchester City in the Champions League.

February 2012 - Nicklas Bendtner fined £80,000 and banned for two games for revealing "sponsored underpants" promoting Paddy Power.

June 2012 - Croatian FA fined £80,000 after Poznan fans racially abused Mario Balotelli, throwing a banana onto the pitch.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2012/jun/18/uefa-2012-bendtner-fine-racism

It seems Europe's governing body have no real desire to punish anything serious unless it potentially screws with some kind of advertising deal - I'd imagine whoever was paying to advertise during the game Bendtner dropped trousers was particularly miffed and given how money-orientated football is these days I can imagine UEFA responding to that with more earnest simply because they didn't want to upset their advertising partners, some of whom were/are undoubtedly rivals of Paddy Power.

As for the Napoli fine, no-one will have expected any different and it's just sad that you can predict a complete lack of action over things which should (and could) be stamped out by a firm ruling from European football's governing body. This current climate of pathetic token responses simply can't go on forever, and at some point UEFA will have a president free from corruption, coercion and shortsightedness. Until then, however, we'll continue to be disappointed by a corrupt and inept football association.

Thursday, 27 March 2014

Garry Monk's Midfield Diamond

New-look Swansea team took to the field against Arsenal - is the diamond here to stay?

It's not very often that, as a Swansea fan, you watch your team starting a game without knowing exactly where each player fits into the formation. Spoiled with continuity since Martinez took over in 2007, we've become completely indoctrinated in the 4-2-3-1 formation which has served us so well, and that's why the team that was picked against Arsenal raised eyebrows. Quite simply, until the team took the field it was almost impossible to predict how we were going to line up.

As it turned out, we witnessed the debut of Garry Monk's midfield diamond. Leon played at the base of the midfield, Routledge & De Guzman were just ahead and a little wider, and Shelvey sat in front of them at the head of the four. Michu then linked between our midfield and Bony, and for seventy minutes it worked a charm, frustrating Arsenal and forcing them to cut inside into a very congested area where, quite simply, they struggled to create anything meaningful.

Is this something we could use in future? I think a degree of flexibility could definitely be a massive positive for the Swans, and Arsenal were clearly confused as to how to deal with us. Every Premiership team would expect us to set up as we have over the last few years, so springing a surprise like that every now and again means that, for twenty minutes or so at least, the opposition are going to have to adjust on the job and find a way to counteract a very different Swansea shape.

There are other options too. The increasing use of a three-man defence by possession based teams has lots of Swansea fans (myself included) wondering whether that's something we could also utilise. Davies, Taylor and Rangel are all essentially wing-backs anyway, and if we're being painfully honest I'd say our wide defenders are probably of a slightly higher standard than our wingers, relative to the rest of the Premier League. It'd also mean we're able to operate with Michu and Bony in the first team, whilst still maintaining a three man midfield - it's definitely something we can look at, especially given Jordi Amat's continued rise to prominence.

Changing the Swans' system so dramatically away at Arsenal shows that Garry Monk isn't afraid to make big changes if he feels them necessary, and what's more he did so in a way which made us very competitive against an excellent side. A great bit of tactical decision-making, and Monk can't be blamed for the defence turning off for a couple of minutes - which ultimately cost us our two goals conceded.

On the whole we played well against Arsenal, apart from a relatively small period of the game which cost us dearly. In that sense, the Arsenal game could sum up how Monk has fared since taking charge - plenty to be positive about if the team could just maintain their performance levels for the entirety of the ninety minutes.

With Norwich rolling into town on the weekend, it remains to be seen how we set up or if Monk springs any more selection surprises. One thing's for sure though - if he feels a change is necessary he'll have no qualms about mixing things up. Too right too.

Wednesday, 26 March 2014

Win a copy of the new Robbie James' biography!

Your chance to win "Robbie James: A Life in Football" - a new illustrated biography about a true Welsh sporting great

Robbie James: A Life in Football details the career of a truly great name in Welsh football: Robbie James - known to most simply as "Robbie". Making his breakthrough at the Vetch with the Swans, he was a major contributor to the club's famous rise up the leagues and into what would today be the equivalent of the Premiership: he was there for it all.

Elsewhere, Robbie remained in the top flight and played for both Stoke City & Q.P.R before moving to Leicester City and on to Bradford City, the latter where the fans voted him their favourite player across his 2 seasons with them. He then joined Cardiff City and enjoyed success with the Bluebirds under his former Swans team mate Eddie May, winning promotion as champions and the Welsh Cup in a marvellous ‘double’ winning season still remembered by the fans.

Stepping down into the Welsh League, Robbie wound down his playing career and played for Merthyr Tydfil & Llanelli AFC. His tragic death whilst playing for Llanelli is also documented, with new, first-hand accounts from those present there that terrible night. Also included are his appearances for Wales across almost a decade. "Robbie James: A Life in Football" celebrates a long career with contributions from both fans and former team mates. The book is a must for anyone interested in reading the story of a true Welsh sporting great: our Robbie.

To be in with a chance of winning a copy of this fantastic book by Gary Wharton all you've got to do is share this blog post on your Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus or any other page you're capable of sharing it to, or by retweeting and sharing relevant competition posts on The Swansea Way Facebook or Twitter pages.

If you aren't selected as the lucky winner (or simply can't wait to get your hands on it before the competition deadline on Sunday night) you can order a copy direct from the author himself by contacting him on vetchbook@yahoo.co.uk or on Twitter @GarWharton07, by clicking on this link, or from Amazon or Ebay. You can pay by Paypal (even if you don't have an account), and it's very reasonably priced at between nine pound plus three pound postage.

For now though, simply get sharing for your chance to win. Good luck!

Arsenal 2 - 2 Swansea - An ugly lovely result

The Swansea Way's tactics expert Jon Trew runs his eye over tonight's 2-2 draw away at Arsenal

Dylan Thomas’ famous quote is applicable to the Arsenal game tonight. This is probably the least amount of possession that Swansea have had in the Premiership years...but who cares!!! The pundits talk about how you need to play ugly and grind out results to become champions... but it also reads true for the bottom teams.

We’ve played a lot of pretty football in the matches under Monk (well at least in the first halves) with no end result, but if it wasn’t for the obligatory couple of minutes of madness we could have come away with three points at the Emirates. We looked comfortable, even if Arsenal were throwing everything they had at us...but personally I see it as one point gained rather than three lost. It could prove to be the point that keeps the Swans up come the end of the season.

Positioning

The majority of the match was played in the above formation. Bony up front alone with Michu joining him when Swansea attacked, and De Guzman and Routledge playing in deeper roles playing as more traditional right midfielders than wingers. They kept the shape and did their defensive duties incredibly well. Leon, as usual, ran the midfield and Shelvey did a job alongside him (not his best game but also not his worst, he did give away the ball from kick off for Arsenal’s second goal though). The tactics read - defend in numbers then counter attack and catch Arsenal on the break when Gibbs and Sagna are in the Swansea half.

Defence

With Garry Monk being a defender, he knew exactly how the team should set up to stifle the Arsenal attack. After Arsenal got battered 6-0 against Chelsea on Sunday, the team needed to appease the crowd with an all out attacking winning performance. Monk prepared the team in the correct way and was spot on up until the goals (again individual errors). Swansea’s usual wing backs became more old fashioned full backs and rarely got forward (on the occasion Taylor went forward he delivered the delightful cross for Bony to put Swansea one up).

Rangel and Taylor were resilient and De Guzman and Routledge (who both I thought were superb) doubled up on Sagna and Gibbs to stop any attacks down the wings. The defensive structure forced Arsenal inside the field and into the crowded area of the pitch. Chico looked a bit shakey and went through a spell of looking like he’d cost us a goal again, but Williams alongside him led from the back and produced another colossus' performance. The defence held a very deep defensive line allowing space in between the midfield which meant that Britton had time on the ball in the centre of the park and could control the game defensively.

Midfield

De Guzman and Routledge sitting in deeper positions meant that Arsenal were forced to play inside as the midfielders doubled up defensively with Rangel and Taylor. Routledge’s heat map normally reads the opposite with the majority of work done in the opponents half but he stuck to the game plan set out by Garry Monk and worked tirelessly all game.

Leon Britton one again ran the show in midfield and completed 42 of his 47 passes. This is a much lower number of total passes than normal, but that’s because Arsenal had so much possession. When Leon did have possession he alleviated pressure on the back four and thanks to him Swansea got the equaliser in the 90th minute when he drove forward with the ball.

The game plan was going well and although Swansea were being pegged back, Arsenal never seemed like breaking down the team defensively after rarely threatening the goal...that was until the 73rd minute. The couple of minutes of madness decided to rear it’s ugly head again, and within a blink of an eye Arsenal had scored 2 goals and were leading the game 2-1.

Attack

Wilfired Bony also put in a huge performance up front. He helped the team out defensively and held the ball up well when Swansea were counter attacking. A quick look at his heat map and his passes map below will show how well he played in both an attacking and defensive sense.

Angel Rangel (who had had a decent game) was done for pace. At this point I was a bit shell shocked and so was the Swansea team. It took the team a few minutes to gain composure before Garry Monk sent on Hernandez to bring more creativity to the team. Two-one down with a few minutes to go is not great position to be in, however Leon Britton drove the team forward, got on the end of a flicked pass from Rangel and saw his 'shot’ come off the goalkeeper and onto Flamini for the luckiest goal Swansea will score all season. Finally! A bit of Luck! And a much needed point!

Leon Britton (my man of the match - we had a few but he just pips it for the equaliser) action areas

Leon Britton action areas - prior to Arsenal's goals

Leon Britton ran the show once again for Swansea against Arsenal and was the creative spark Swansea needed. It wasn’t a pretty goal, but who cares? It’ll give the team a morale boost going into the relegation battle against Norwich at the weekend. Take a look at the action areas to see how far up the pitch Leon played for the last 10 minutes of the game compared to the previous 80 minutes. Monk moved him to an attacking position while Jonathan De Guzman played in the slightly deeper holding role. This is something that Arsenal would never have expected.

Leon Britton action areas - after Arsenal's goals

After the Everton game I heard a lot of people blaming Garry Monk for the predicament we find ourselves in. At the end of the day he sets up the team tactically and works with them all week on the training pitch. The players are the ones that lost the game at the weekend, and Monk can't be blamed for individual errors.

I am a firm supporter of Monk and he has a lot of potential. No doubt he has been on the phone to Brendan and Roberto getting advice. As I’ve mentioned before I believe the board need/needed to appoint a second man in command to play ‘bad cop’ to his ‘good cop’. They have put a lot of pressure on him and in my opinion he has handled

the role in an admirable and intelligent way. The supporters have to keep faith! Garry Monks barmy army!!!

You can follow me on twitter @jon_inspire

Tuesday, 25 March 2014