Josh Kilmister gives us his thoughts on our 5-0 drubbing by Chelsea
Going into a game against the league leaders with a players missing from injury, suspension and international commitments, it was never going to be easy to send Chelsea home with anything less than three points. Although some will say they expected nothing less, I’d hardly say a 5-0 thumping was on the cards; until 3:01pm on Saturday afternoon, that is.
Starting XI
Lukasz Fabianski – 5.5
Sitting behind Fabianski’s goal in the first half, I could only feel sorry for him. He couldn’t do much about the goals and found himself picking the ball out of the net after fifty-eight seconds. He did make a good save to deny Hazard early into the second half but it’s difficult to give a goalkeeper positive feedback on the end of a 5-0 loss.
Neil Taylor – 5.5
Despite not having a dreadful game, Tayls was still part of a defence that was humiliated by Chelsea in the first half. Up against Willian, he didn’t let the Brazilian make a complete fool of him, which in hindsight, is a compliment in itself. It was difficult to look for an overlap as to do so you need possession, and we didn’t have very much of it.
Ashley Williams – 6
I can only imagine how difficult it must be as a captain, to try and motivate your team when you’ve conceded after less than a minute. Central to a disorganised, demotivated defence, Ash battled hard and won his fair share of headers but couldn’t do enough to prevent Chelsea from running riot. Having been given the task of handling Costa, Williams relished the physical battle and has the wounds to show for it. Not even an injured shoulder would force him off though, but will probably see him rested for our FA Cup tie at Blackburn next weekend.
Federico Fernandez – 5
I’m a huge fan of Fernandez, but this was probably his worst performance in a Swans shirt so far; and he couldn’t have picked a worse game to have it. Diego Costa capitalised on a dreadful back pass by the Argentine, which was the low point of a performance with very little highs. Some people even labelled him as ‘Sunday League at best’, which I find somewhat hilarious.
Dwight Tiendalli – 4
I’m all for supporting everyone who pulls on the shirt, but hasn’t Tiendalli had enough chances to prove himself in the Premier League? I’m not sure what the reason was to start him, but I only hope it was a good one. He played far too high up the field leaving our defence exposed and, although most fullbacks do, failed to get anywhere near Eden Hazard. Not at all to blame for a poor team performance, but certainly didn’t help matters.
Gylfi Sigurdsson – 5.5
With midfield options limited, Monk didn’t have much of a choice but to play Gylfi deeper, and it was his pass which hit Tom Carroll that lead to Chelsea’s opener. The only real chance he had was a shot from distance immediately after Chelsea’s first, but his fine effort struck the post. Pushed further up the field when Fulton replaced Oliveira, but it was too little too late as we were already fighting for goal difference by then.
Tom Carroll – 5
In a game where we were overrun in midfield, Carroll could do very little to help change things. He was unfortunate to be hit by a poor Gylfi pass in the lead up to Oscar’s opener for Chelsea, and without Leon, had a much larger responsibility than he’s perhaps used to.
Wayne Routledge – 5
Forced off after picking up an injury to his achilles after misplacing a pass, and that pretty much sums up his game. Routledge didn’t look like making amends for his poor form of late and Montero’s absence is becoming more and more of a problem every week. Didn’t look up to much when he was in, and the way he was limping off suggested that he might be out for some time.
Nelson Oliveira – 5.5
Started behind Gomis despite the formation looking more of a 4-4-2 than our usual 4-2-3-1, but didn’t have much luck. I think he made a decent account for himself and his quick feet is something that, with a few more games, could work in our favour. The loanee from Benfica tried his best to come short and look to make something out of the little service he received but couldn’t make much of an impact.
Nathan Dyer – 5
Another one of our wingers who has been in poor form, and Dyer didn’t have much of a chance to regain form today. I think Monk went for the safe option by starting him as Barrow and Emnes are both edging closer to their well-deserved Premier League starts. I can’t imagine that he’ll start at Blackburn as Emnes and Barrow will look to make yet another push for Premier League football.
Bafetimbi Gomis – 5
I don’t even remember Bafe being on the pitch; that’s how little we got up field. Anyone who tries to judge him on his performance against Chelsea is a fool as not even Wilfried Bony himself could’ve made an impact in the final third with the limited service Bafe received.
Substitutions
Marvin Emnes – 6 (Man of the Match) (for Routledge, 32)
Came on for Routledge in the first half, Emnes was the only player who looked likely to create anything. I know I’ll get some stick for going with Emnes as my man of the match, but the only other option was Fabianski – and he conceded five and didn’t even make all too many saves. I think it’s obvious that he’ll start next week, and I think should he the week after too.
Jay Fulton – 5.5 (for Oliveira, 66)
4-0 down when he came on, I think Fulton coming in was more for match fitness rather than for him to make a real impact. He gave the ball away a few times but honestly, it was almost expected by then.
Modou Barrow – 5.5 (for Dyer, 76)
Didn’t have a chance to make an impact but looked to run at the Chelsea defence when he had the chance. Like Emnes, he’ll probably start against Blackburn and will continue fighting for his first Premier League start.
Referee: Jonathan Moss – 6
Gave an offside against Chelsea even though Sigurdsson had obviously played the ball over himself, but I’m certainly not arguing. Didn’t show a card all game, which is nice to see, even with Williams and Costa going at it for ninety minutes.
Summary
Without a doubt our worst performance of the season so far; Monk even apologised to Mourinho for not being able to give his side a game. I do think though that we’ve perhaps been punching above our weight for the last few years and our first home thumping in the Premier League has come a lot later than I thought it would. Chelsea’s squad is full of world class players, whereas our best aren’t even currently available.
Had the likes of Ki, Britton and even Shelvey been available for selection, we might be looking at a whole different story here. Mourinho was complimentary of us in the lead up to the game, and was quick to point out to the press how difficult it is to prepare a team with so many midfielders missing post-match.
One thing I would like to say is that I know we all pay a lot of money to come and see the boys play on the weekend, but that’s no excuse to leave after thirty minutes; and it’s definitely not an excuse to boo the team off at half-time! Leaving early to avoid traffic is somewhat understandable, but surely the traffic wasn’t that bad that it was necessary to leave an hour early?! Well done to the fans that stuck it out until the end to show the players that no matter how cliché it is, we win, lose and draw as a club.
Thanks to Josh for his ratings. Agree? Disagree? I wholeheartedly endorse the last sentence - a very valid point. Yesterday may have been a bad result but we'll regroup and go again.