South Walians triumph over Wearsiders thanks to goal and assist from powerful Ivorian
Bloody typical. I go with a midfield diamond as our formation, breaking the run of however many previews it is I've done with 4-2-3-1 as a given, and after discussing the match at length last night I'm not convinced we actually operated in a diamond - in as much as it probably wasn't our primary formation. We definitely drifted in and out of it (Leon Britton was on the left of a diamond when he came on off the bench for a good while) but on the whole it seemed Jay Fulton had been charged with replicating Leon's role alongside Jonjo in a typical Swansea system - and if his team mates hadn't been as reticent in passing to him as they had he probably would have influenced the game more. Understandable given his youth, and he showed enough to suggest he's going to be a good player.
Prior to the game, we'd all seen the lineup and I think it's safe to say that most Swansea fans were...interested to see how we performed. An almost completely changed eleven saw our back four consisting of Tiendalli, Amat, Bartley and Taylor, while Jay Fulton, Nathan Dyer and Marvin Emnes came in for Leon Britton and Jonathan De Guzman. Tremmel replaced Vorm in the final change, and if we're being honest the difference between the first few minutes against Sunderland and our last outing (at home to Southampton) was marked.
We veritably flew out of the blocks. Ok, Sunderland were safe for the first time this season and the party atmosphere definitely seemed to have had an effect on their players, but you can only play what's put in front of you and the Swans did just that. To great effect.
Only six minutes were on the clock when Nathan Dyer made a darting run around the back,and Wayne Routledge (occupying a central role at the time) threaded a lovely slide rule pass between the centre-back and right-back, which Dyer strode onto beautifully. The pass was perfect, as were Dyer's first touch and finish, with his right and left respectively, and he beautifully clipped the ball past Vito Mannone, who could do nothing given the quality of the goal. The static defending could have been helped, but it really was a great goal.
The Swans didn't let up though, and with the next real attack of note we were two-nil up. Shelvey fed Bony, who delayed before spotting Emnes and playing a cute pass with the outside of his right foot. The deftness of the buildup was, however, more than matched by Emnes' finish. Jinking to the right, he sold John O'Shea so far down the Wear he couldn't even see the Stadium of Light, before beautifully spinning back to the left with his first touch (leaving O'Shea stranded, I assume, somewhere near Castletown*), and finishing with aplomb past Mannone with his left foot, with only his second touch. Anything Dyer can do...
Both goals had an air of lethality and incisiveness which has often been lacking this season, which is good as at half time the possession statistics indicated Swansea had seen only 43% of the ball. It's what you do with it that counts though, and before Sunderland fought back into the game Shelvey almost capitalised on some horrific defending (directly in the aftermath of our second goal), but his shot was high and wide.
As mentioned, before half-time Sunderland definitely fought back into things, and this continued at the beginning of the second half. Prior to the game I'd pointed out that, statistically, Sunderland concede the highest proportion of their goals at home in the half hour after half time, but Swansea had only scored four in that time period all season. It almost seemed inevitable then that Sunderland would grab a goal back just after half time, and who else but Fabio Borini was on hand to head home Adam Johnson's corner.
The home fans went berserk, and for a few minutes the Swans were on the ropes. Tremmel saved from Johnson, but those statistics I mentioned in the previous paragraph exist for a reason - notably because Sunderland concede lots of goals after half time. And so it was. Bony received the ball on the edge of the area following a break down the left, and if there's been a cooler, more composed finish this season I haven't seen it. Three one to the Swans, and game over with Sunderland's revival firmly quelled.
The rest of the game (naturally) developed an end of season feel, and I'm sure that after Bony's goal (in the fifty-fourth minute) any Swansea fan in attendance thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the proceedings. We never really looked like we were in any real danger of Sunderland mounting another comeback challenge, and the Swans were good value for the three points. How much use there is in analysing the last game of the season against a distinctly distracted Sunderland side I don't know, but I think if Sunday proved anything it's just how vital Wilfried Bony has become to our system.
Scorer of one and the assist for Emnes' goal, on numerous occasions Bony challenged Sunderland defenders to come and try and muscle him off the ball, and not once do I remember them succeeding. His goal in the second half made it twenty five for the season - sixteen of which have now come in the league in just twenty-six starts. He's got twenty-five in fourty-nine games, nine of which have been off the bench - twenty five in fourty starts isn't bad for a player who lots were slating mid-way through the season, and who really wasn't a central figure up top until Michu's injury problems, and Alvaro's lack of ability, meant he was our striker by default.
Ok, Bony wasn't "Premier League fit" early on and he has said as much himself, given his lack of a proper pre-season, but there is now no doubting we've got an absolute gem on our hands, and one who is bound to court interest from all corners of the globe in the near future. Garry Monk today insisted Bony would be going nowhere this summer. Another season like this one, and even the old Huw trick of turning your phone off won't be enough to stop one of the truly elite clubs from snatching him away. Who knows though - if he scores thirty goals next season who knows where we'll end up!
Let's just hope we've got at least one more season of Big Wilf up top. Long live Wilf. In Wilf we trust.