Reports of Davies being pulled from the squad prove incorrect
Our pre-season is underway! Last night at 2am GMT the Swans played in the first ever football match to be held at the Miller Stadium, home of Milwaukee Brewers baseball team, and played out a 1-1 draw with esteemed Mexican side Chivas.
Garry Monk understandably picked essentially a different side for each half, and contrary to Telegraph reports (which I was duped by - that's the last time I put more weight in a broadsheet's word than a tabloid's!) Ben Davies come on to play the second fourty-five minutes. Rumours he had been pulled owing to an advancement of negotiations with Tottenham were unfounded, so it's once again anyone's guess as to what will happen in the ever-elongating saga which is unfolding before us.
There isn't much to go on online yet, but in the first half the official site notes that Jonjo Shelvey hit the bar and Wayne Routledge had a goal ruled out for offside, while both goalkeepers (with Fabianski between the sticks from the Swans) made a couple of decent saves. It took until the second half for Nathan Dyer to open the scoring, but the 31,000+ crowd, which apparently had a heavy Chivas leaning, will have gone home happy as the Mexican side equalised at the death through a dubious penalty conceded by Jazz Richards, and converted by Giovani Hernandez. Ten minutes before the equaliser there was an unsavoury moment as Neil Taylor and Jesus Sanchez were both dismissed after a set-to following a foul by the latter, but it wasn't enough to marr a great occasion for the Swans and neutrals alike.
Firstly, a note on the size of the crowd. That is EPIC. That's more than double can come to see us at home week in week out, and it was for a pre-season friendly with nothing riding on it. This underlines the potential growth of football in the US, and if we can nab ourselves just a portion of that fledgling fanbase it'll mean a massive increase in revenue from the commercial side of things. It seems Monk's decision to take the squad to the US is already looking like a good one.
Secondly, the teams Monk put out. In the first half we lined up with Lukasz Fabianski, Angel Rangel (capt), Kyle Bartley, Chico Flores, Stephen Kingsley, Jazz Richards, Jonjo Shelvey, Josh Sheehan, Wayne Routledge, Alex Bray and Bafetimbi Gomis. This, to me, would indicate that Jazz played in defensive midfield? Can anyone confirm this? He started there and only became a right-back through necessity, and it'd be interesting to see if Monk sees a future for him in midfield.
Also, Alex Bray started out wide, and Josh Sheehan was the only player not to be replaced at half-time (though he did make way around the seventieth minute for Alex Bray, who clearly fancied a bit more of a run around after coming off at half time). While this is obviously our first pre-season fixture, and whether Monk meant it or not, I think that's great for young players at the club in general. Sheehan will have derived a lot of confidence from being retained - meaningless friendly or not - for the second half and hopefully youth gets a chance throughout the pre-season. Monk has indicated this is the way he's going to go so it's easy to believe that this will be the case.
I'm sure soon enough we'll have some highlights to pore over, but until then we'll just have to go off online reports and quotes from those who were there. I'm hoping to get a piece up from some American Swansea fans who made the game, so that's something to look forward to too.
Did you go to the game? Was it your first time watching the Swans...or even a football (soccer) match? Get in touch in the comment section below.