Young Spaniard has disappeared since Monk's appointment
The Swansea Way's Executive Correspondent (London Office) Andrew McGlashan returns to look at why we haven't seen much of the technically gifted youngster of late
July 2013 saw the second Spanish invasion descend on the Liberty as Michael Laudrup signed Jordi Amat, Jose Canas, Alvaro Vasquez and Alejandro Pozeulo. These four joined the existing Spanish contingent of Chico, Michu and our beloved Rangel, who is the only remaining Spaniard from the initial invasion in 2007 (has to be said I do miss Bauza, what a legend and what a barnet!).
Unsurprisingly Laudrup used the new recruits regularly throughout the first few months of the season during our congested and part-European based fixture programme. Initial signs were good, and even Vasquez looked like he may be able to chip in with at least a few more goals than Shechter did (how wrong we were eh?). Vasquez’s recurring omission from the current match day squad is self explanatory but upon asking my fellow Jacks the question “Do you remember Pozeulo?” I am continuously met with the response “Oh yea, what’s happened to him?!”
During the first half of the season Pozeulo appeared 22 times in the league, although only 6 of these appearances were starts, and 11 further times in cup competitions. During that time he scored twice (although none in the league) and chipped in with 5 assists. On paper this doesn’t look like too bad a return for a 22 year old in his first half season in English football who was used mainly as a substitute.
When you look at his actual performances it is clear to see that the lad does have a good touch, some silky skills and an eye for a pass. Laudrup seemed to employ him mainly as the second half “pick” to unlock the defences which we were struggling to break through. Although as injuries hit he was deployed more and more on the wing where he was less influential, his lack of real pace limiting the impact he could have from that position. Pozeulo also seemed to struggle at times with the physicality of the league. This is such a cliché I know but several times he was the victim of a shoulder barge which would leave him on the ground with his arms in the air whilst the other team broke down the other end. A move which he may have picked up from Hernandez!
Regardless though I think it was fair to say that the majority of the Jack Army around Christmas saw potential and were happy to see him used as a different option to bring on in the midfield if “Plan A” wasn’t working. Clearly one member however didn’t see it like that, and he just so happened to be Garry Monk, who now is in charge of picking the team.
Since Monk took over Pozuelo has played... 8 minutes. This was a solitary substitute appearance in the second leg against Napoli and now he even fails to make the match day 16. Meawhile Leroy Lita has had more playing minutes under Monk’s reign and Jay Fulton is now being picked over him (plastic Swans fans may even need to Google that last player). With Monk reporting no injuries to Pozeulo, why has the Spaniard gone from a Swansea regular to having a regular sized coke and popcorn combo in the stands?
One reason could be that Monk has seen what Rodgers did with Raheem Sterling last year. After Stirling played several games for Liverpool in the first two thirds of the season, Rodgers decided to rest Sterling to ensure he did not get burned out and continued to develop. This has clearly paid dividends this year as Sterling has been on fire and seems destined for a seat on that plane to Rio. However, Pozuelo is three years older than Sterling and this doesn’t seem to hold weight given the amount of actual playing time Pozuelo has had this year. Further, the Swans haven’t been fortunate enough to rest players as we’ve been busy trying to avoid relegation!
Another reason could be that Monk genuinely believes that Lita, Fulton, Emnes and N’Gog provide more of an attacking threat than Pozeulo and so deserve their place in the squad. I would probably agree that Emnes does (he’s a Swansea legend after all) but for the other three I can’t say that they do. I mean Fulton just made his debut and the other two are Lita and N’Gog!
So this only leaves me to deduce that Monk doesn’t rate Pozeulo, which could be due to reservations about the Spaniard’s attitude. Perhaps Pozeulo is unhappy with Laudrup’s departure and is part of the “Spanish / everyone else” split in the squad? How often have you seen him in one of the Swans videos on the website with only other Spanish players around him? Very regularly I can tell you! We all know that Monk doesn’t take any s*** and if Pozeulo is pouting or not showing 100% application then it’s not surprising he isn’t in the squad.
This could also be the reason behind Canas’ latest omissions from the match day squad. Dare I say it, could it even be the reason behind Michu’s? Those are questions for another article but for now, it is looking likely that we won’t see Pozeulo in a Swans shirt again this season. And if Monk keeps the job, which is looking more and more likely now with Premier League football guaranteed next season, we may not see him again.
So what is the answer to the “Pozeulo Puzzle”? Only time will tell but it doesn’t look like a positive one for the Spaniard...