Gareth Bale single handedly engineers win for Londoners in South Wales.
After watching highlights of this game, my opinion of it has changed somewhat. I came away from the stadium with very much the same feeling that I had after the Arsenal game - that it was too little, too late for the Swans who are yet to win a match they've fallen behind in this season, but in truth it seems that Gareth Bale was instrumental in securing three points for Spurs.
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| AVB celebrates with Bale & Holtby |
The first goal seemed a little soft from where I was sitting (as the crow flies about as far away from it as you can get, in the corner of North and East), but after watching it back it really is an exquisite ball from Bale. Vertonghen is proving himself a very, very tidy footballer, as evidenced by a goal and an assist, and he simply continued his run from deep at pace, playing essentially an extended one-two with his Welsh team-mate, took an outrageously cool touch to pluck Bale's pass out of the sky, and prodded the ball past a wrong-footed Michel Vorm. One criticism could be that Chico was very static, and it would be fair to say it took the hirsute Spaniard a good twenty-five to thirty minutes to get into that game. Unfortunately, the Swans were already 2-0 down by that point.
Thanks to a "discussion" between a chap who spends a large portion of his time in the Liberty with his shirt off, and an officious steward, I completely missed Gareth Bale's goal. A chap standing next to me used some choice words in the direction of the Spurs fans, and the steward took offence - with me. Cheers. He started giving me and everyone else a telling off about foul language, and that's where the shirtless dude got involved (although he'd donned a hoodie for the occasion). Thanks to the ensuing chaos I didn't see the second Spurs goal at all, but replays show it to be an absolutely incredible piece of control from Bale. Again, you could possibly say that the defence had left Bale in a lot of space in front of the back four - not an ideal situation - but you can't really blame the defence when the finish is of that kind of standard. Controlling the ball before dispatching it almost instantly with his mercurial left boot, Bale saw his shot drift away from Michel Vorm into the top corner from 20 yards. Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas acknowledged Bale's influence in his post match comments:
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| AVB demonstrating the old "Invisible Chair Gag" |
"It was very important to bounce back after what happened in the last two games. It's a difficult ground to come to but a great win for us, and a great winning mentality from the boys. The team was impressive from the start. We reached the 2-0 lead very early and at half-time we spoke about getting the third goal, it didn't happen but I think the boys showed great mentality to hold on.
"It shows how ambitious they are to reach our objectives. I have to compliment everybody for their work rate defensively and offensively. When there are so many things that go well for the team it is hard to single out individuals but Gareth Bale is a world class player offensively and defensively, as he showed when he made the block at the end to prevent Swansea getting a draw."
"The team was impressive from the start. We reached the 2-0 lead very early and at half-time we spoke about getting the third goal, it didn't happen but I think the boys showed great mentality to hold on. It shows how ambitious they are to reach our objectives. I have to compliment everybody for their work rate defensively and offensively."
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| Aaron Lennon via Twitter "Great to be back but more importantly back to winning ways, boys worked their socks off against a good Swansea side #Buzzing #COYS." |
It seems the Swans are lacking confidence in attack at the moment - hopefully Michu's goal will end what was threatening to become a bit of a drought for the floppy haired frontman. He planted one header wide before Ki's corner found his bonce and he flicked the ball across goal and in off the far post. In truth, the Swans were a lot better in the second half, but I always feel it's almost irrelevant how you play when you're behind, until you get level. The Swans once again lacked a spark in attack - and looked very disjointed. Nathan Dyer seemed very static and throughout I felt Tiendalli offered more of an attacking threat, while Pablo Hernandez was once again very weak. He's been poor for a while now and seems to play with his head down, surely it's time now for him to be benched. Routledge though, was once again obviously committed to the cause. Sure, he gave possession away once or twice but his work rate was exemplary, matched only by Leon in the Swansea midfield.
Michael Laudrup clearly saw this as a missed opportunity given Spurs' players recent international exploits:
"They had the better start, especially Gareth Bale - he made the difference. We came out after half-time and dominated the second half.
"I'm a little disappointed, not with the performance or attitude of the team, but this game was a perfect opportunity to beat Tottenham. After an international break, you won't get a better opportunity. It's important for us now, we have seven games to go and we should go for the points, we won't get ninth or 10th with 40 points that's for sure."
For me certain players have now held their hands up for weeks in a row, asking to be dropped - in particular Hernandez & De Guzman. I thought De Guzman was very wasteful in possession, and I can't remember him making many successful forward passes. He drifts into positions which should be occupied by Nathan Dyer a lot too, causing congestion in the midfield, and I'd much rather see Ki in the team in place of him. In fact, I'd rather have seen the Swans line up with a midfield trio of Ki, Leon and JDG - Spurs have a wealth of talent in midfield and lining up with only two recognised central midfielders was always going to be a big ask against a team which includes a rampant Gareth Bale. We could really have done with the extra control playing with three central midfielders brings, but I'm sure Laudrup has plans for how to address this issue.
As stated, you can't argue with the nature of the goals conceded, however Swansea's confidence in attack needs to improve. Once again they looked bereft of ideas and something needs to change as if we play like we have done in the last two games for the rest of the season, we won't accrue many more points. Next up is Norwich away and Laudrup will no doubt be looking to secure maximum points, so until then it's back to the drawing board for the Swans, as they look to arrest a run of three straight defeats. Whether we see big changes in personnel for this match remains to be seen, but there's definitely work to be done.