With the international break now upon us, Garry Monk has another chance to assess how best to utilise his squad before the visit to Man City
Yesterday we saw a true heroes performance, but in a good way the performance has almost raised as many questions as it did provide answers to doubters still worrying whether Monk has the wherewithal to succeed as Swansea manager.
Swansea on-track at the back
Firstly, once the international break is done and dusted, who should partner Ash at Manchester City? Jordi Amat seemed to have been Monk's preferred option before Fernandez started staking his claim, but with the Argentinian facing a spell on the sidelines and Kyle Bartley having given a brilliant account of himself yesterday, it's going to be tough for Monk to decide who'll partner Ash at the heart of the Swans defence.
The big positive for the Swans though is that yesterday it was confirmed that we have, without doubt, four centre-backs capable of doing a job for us in the Premier League. Being completely honest I'd still harboured some doubts about Bartley - namely his overzealousness in the tackle which seemed to lead to lots of unnecessary injuries - and I know I wasn't alone in that, but his performance yesterday was exemplary.
With Ash still on form week-in week-out, Fernandez & Amat impressive, and Bartley also now established as a solid option, it's no wonder our defence is the second tightest in the league - even if Ash has had three different centre-back partners this season. If you exclude the loss to Chelsea, we've conceded seven goals in ten games, which included trips to Old Trafford & Goodison Park, plus the home game against Arsenal. Not a bad effort at all.
Who drops out for Leon?
Yesterday we saw Ki & Tom Carroll (for most of the match) control the midfield fairly well, with Gylfi doing his usual "close down anything that moves" tricks. Without Leon Britton (absent through injury until late on against Arsenal when he made his comeback) we've been unable to control possession as we've become used to, and we've had to look to move the ball forward more quickly. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but having a bit more possession would definitely aid us over ninety minutes, as having the ball is easier physically than not having it.
If pushed I'd say that, if you assume Jonjo is an automatic starter ahead of Carroll, he should be the one to miss out for Leon - assuming Leon is deemed fit enough to start away at Man City. Simply put, he's already picked up too many yellow cards this season, while Ki & Gylfi have done nothing wrong. Leon to come in alongside Ki, with Gylfi ahead of them. That works for me.
Swansea can look to youth for replacements
The arrival of Modou Barrow from the bench (a young Gambian footballer signed from Sweden this summer) changed the swing of the game in our favour, and Monk has been open in his desire to get more talent coming through from the youth setup into the first team. With Jefferson Montero also excelling yesterday, it'll be interesting to see who starts out wide when Dyer & Routledge are fit again.
Plus, it was really encouraging to see the confidence flowing through Barrow - he's been in great form for the under-21's and he carried that straight into his first-team debut. I particularly enjoyed when he stood Kieran Gibbs up on the right wing, and indulged in some extravagant showboatery - it's not often we've seen a Swansea player show such disregard for their opponents, and perhaps the exuberance of youth so excitingly displayed by young Modou Barrow hints at a big career for the Gambian.
The more young players we can have progressing through the youth setup the better, as for one thing it costs a damn sight less than signing players for ten million at a time. With the club's continued investment in youth & training facilities, it surely won't be long before we see more of Barrow's u21 teammates making the leap to the first team.