Why the Jack Army must have faith in the B&B

Bafi & Bony, that is...

Rayyan Dabbous on why chemistry is key

As Swans fans gear up for tomorrow’s long-awaited start to the 2014/2015 Premier League campaign, new questions, doubts and fears have resurfaced amongst their casual chitchats on social media; constantly inspiring fear in the most worrying of ways. One of these is becoming a staple of football debate these days - do two strikers bolster a team's chances to succeed, or do they simply cripple them? 4-4-2, 4-4-2 diamond, 3-5-2, you name it, football managers have tried to accommodate two strikers in their team, hoping to combine their individual strengths into one potent attacking force. Today, the Jack Army and Garry Monkare all faced with the same dilemma: could partnering Bony and Gomis do more harm than good? 

There is a specific reasoning behind such fears, for it is known that Swansea City has grown accustomed to and affectionate of their usual formation: the 4-3-3. This particular tactic is first and foremost the backbone of the Swans’ possession-oriented style of play – the method that has brought them huge success and popularity in recent times, and with it they've confounded many by recording possession statistics better than the likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal.

Additionally, such a formation usually sees a lone striker playing up front, who can profit from any incoming opportunity by retaining his position high up the field: whether it is supplied by attacking midfielders behind him, or by his team-mates on the wings. This way of approaching the game is without a doubt the safest, yet it is not always the greatest – especially when you have two hungry strikers looking to play and score each and every game. So, what do you do? Would you gamble on playing Bony and Gomis up front tomorrow, or is it better to play it safe and stick with one of them and bench the other?

Well, if one truly wants to know the answer, they first ought to check their history books. So many teams have been faced with the same dilemma and finally decided to venture forward and go with two strikers. It was a risk they were willing to take, for they knew the rewards were worth the risk. They knew that they might lose everything they’d built on all these years, yet they had faith in the partnership they were about to introduce to the world. Then what happened?

Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp, Kevin Phillips and Niall Quinn, Les Ferdinand and Alan Shearer and Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole – they happened. These awe-inspiring partnerships were given the benefit of the doubt by their stressed-out managers, by their sceptical fans, and before they knew it they were conquering football, winning game after game, purely thanks to their men up front who truly terrorized the opposition’s defence. 

Even in view of all these inspiring partnerships, some fans remain hesitant. These are past legends, they would argue, football has evolved. Well, it’s true, the names above can no longer be considered as a point of reference for indeed, football evolves in so many ways leaving us all trailing behind, playing catch-up with the teams who have decided to mark a shift in history, having come up with their own approach to the game. So, which recent, successful partnerships could I use as examples now? I don’t know, look around you, which teams – who play two strikers up front – are the pioneers in what they do?

Perhaps Liverpool, their partnership of Suarez and Sturridge did generate the most goals in the league after all. That being said they reportedly want to snatch Bony from us, so why give them the credit? Any other team out there? Well Manchester United could be mentioned, as with RVP and Wayne Rooney up front they were lethal at one point, but why should we praise that lot too much? In my opinion the best exponents of the two-up-top system are last season’s Premiership winners, Man City. We’ve clearly seen what Aguero and Negredo are able to do together, leading their team to another prestigious title.

To me, blaming the system is quite a cowardly act. A team does not achieve greatness because their players obey the current trends and play like robotic machines on the pitch. If football has anything to teach us, it’s that success is not achieved simply by playing by the rules; a team must venture forward, take on new challenges, exploit new routes, and most of all, have faith in itself because without that can-do attitude, without that passion that unites all its players into one powerful entity, there is no point in aiming for greatness. 

The Jack Army should not be worried, we have Wilfried Bony and Bafetimbi Gomis in our team and that is all that matters. In terms of tactics, let our beloved Garry Monk take charge and prove his doubters wrong. As far as we are concerned, let’s just lay back and look forward to the menacing partnership that will soon come to be. One of the prime maxims of chemistry is that nothing is lost - everything is transformed – and you can’t begin to imagine what kind of wonders this partnership can create, if only we give them the chance.

Thanks to Rayyan for this latest piece. You can follow him on Twitter @RayyanDabbous