Thankfully, only on a game - a computer game, at that. Nathan Lewis has had a look to see how the Swans fare on Football Manager 15 if left to their own devices
Swansea on Football Manager 2015 Part 1: July-December 2014
Football is immensely unpredictable. The rise of the Swans, from League Two strugglers to Europa League Qualifiers, is a vivid example of football’s ability to confound expectations and predictions. Any tool which can be used to glimpse into the future therefore, is highly useful. With that in mind, I fired up Football Manager 2015 to see what might be in store for the Swans in the coming seasons.
First - a few disclaimers:
- I disabled transfers in the first transfer window, so Swansea were not able to improve on their summer business.
- The real fixtures were not available when I started the game, which may impact on the results somewhat.
- This is of course not a prediction, but merely a case of what may be…
Pre-season
There was a lot to be confident about in Garry Monk’s first pre-season as Swansea manager, his side remaining unbeaten through their five friendly matches. 3-1 wins over lower league opposition Hartlepool and Newport County bookended a successful tour to America, with Monk’s men seeing off Philadelphia and Montreal Impact 2-0 and 2-1 respectively. Both Bony and Gomis were on top form, each scoring three goals in pre-season. There was then a big gap between the last friendly against Newport (2nd August) and the first competitive game of the season (18th August), so how fit and ready the squad would be on the first match day would be an interesting question.
Cups
Before we see how the Swans fared in the League, let’s take a look at their progress in the Capital One Cup. Their first cup game was against League Two’s Stevenage, and Monk opted to field a strong starting eleven, with only Federico Fernandez and Wilfried Bony missing out from Monk’s usual line-up. This decision was rewarded with a solid result, Swansea winning 2-1 with goals from Gomis and late substitute Bony.
Could the Swans begin a long cup run and find themselves at Wembley again? Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be, and an equally strong starting eleven were beaten 1-0 by Brentford in the next round. Questions will have been asked of Monk’s decision to set his side out in a 4-4-2 formation, as opposed to the more familiar 4-2-3-1.
League
In real life, Swansea started strongly, winning their first three games. A similar start was not forthcoming in this virtual world, the Swans drawing with Everton and Southampton away (undoubtedly solid results), but losing at home to Harry Redknapp’s QPR. Poor performances at the Liberty against Leicester and Hull were offset by a more encouraging performance and victory at Upton Park, leaving Swansea hovering above the relegation places going into October.
Inconsistency was the key word at the Liberty over October and November, with victories over Newcastle, Stoke and most notably Liverpool providing brief respite during a period in which Swansea lost four of their seven games. A fair number of the losses suffered by the Swans in October and November were handed out by top sides such as Spurs, Man Utd and Liverpool, while West Brom were even able to get the better of the Swans, winning 2-1 at the Hawthorns. 14th place would not be the position Swans fans were dreaming of when the likes of Fede Fernandez and Bafe Gomis joined in the summer.
If Monk thought December would be his month, he was to be proven wrong. The fixture list was not kind to the Swans, sending them to the Etihad to kick off the final month of 2014. In a very similar fashion to the real life defeat a few weeks ago, the Swans impressed and gave the Champions a decent game, before succumbing to a 3-1 defeat. Suddenly, a home match against Burnley became immensely more significant. The Sky cameras were present and all focussed on Garry Monk as the teams warmed up. It would prove to be a significant day in Swansea’s season, as Monk’s 4-4-2 experiment yet again failed, and the Swans fell to a 2-0 defeat.
The appointment of Garry Monk felt like a long-term plan that would produce plenty of footballing fruit for Swansea, but on the 7th December 2014, Huw Jenkins and his board felt that Monk was not playing football the Swansea way, and decided to sack Garry Monk.
The Future
When Michael Laudrup was sacked in February 2014, it felt like a blip in the successful stream of managers that had been produced or refined at the Liberty, but with Monk leaving, perhaps this is the new pattern that will emerge as the Swans chase growth and develop higher aspirations. Who succeeded Garry Monk as Swansea manager?
Find out in the next instalment.
"Game Date": 7/12/2014Position: 17thHigh point: Beating Liverpool 5-4 at Anfield.Low point: The sacking of Garry Monk, just 4 months into his first full-season.