Swansea need to revert to type to get league campaign up and running
Against Spurs the Swans once again struggled to impose their passing game on their opponents, and if we're being honest since beating Bradford for the Capital One Cup in February there hasn't been much to shout about in terms of league form - we've only won two in our last thirteen. That's not to say there's no reason to be positive - with new signings looking like they're settling in already and Europa League form markedly better it seems it's just a little bit of tinkering is needed in order to secure a first league win of the season.
It would be all too easy to write off the first two games of the season and say simply "Oh, it was Man Utd and Spurs - we were never going to get anything from those games" but the reality is we should be approaching every game hopeful of getting some form of result, as if we're serious about pushing on from a 9th place finish we can't afford to have a proportion of games that we're not expecting to get points from. We showed last year we can beat anyone on our day, and with an improved squad there's no reason to approach any game with trepidation.
Tactics then. Last season, I started to think that with Michu at attacking midfield we lose something in terms of ball retention, and it's something I still believe is happening. The reason we are where we are as a club, the sole reason, is our ability to retain possession and play as a team. Traditionally, this has involved three dedicated central midfielders who all know their role explicitly, and this allows us to keep possession ticking over and more importantly starve the opposition of the ball.
Key to this style of play is Leon Britton. The Swansea stalwart is integral to how we play, and his absence against Spurs was notable. Even when Britton has a slight "off day" he'll still ensure we operate how we know best, and any time he's not in the starting XI I have my doubts as to how well we'll control the midfield. An ideal midfield for me (from the current squad) would be Britton and Canas deep, with Shelvey or De Guzman ahead of them. This would give our midfield a good sense of balance and I'd wager with a midfield like that we'd look a much more efficient footballing unit than we did at White Hart Lane last weekend.
Don't get me wrong - I love Michu. If you have a player who doesn't necessarily fit your team 100%, but what you gain from having him in the team outweighs what you lose in terms of ball retention, then obviously it makes sense to stick with what you're doing, but given results towards the tail end of last season I am starting to wonder whether we'd be better off going with three "proper" midfielders as opposed to two, Michu ahead of them, and then Bony up top.
Granted, we started with three midfielders against Spurs, but I think the manner of the performance only serves to highlight how important Leon (or someone capable of mimicking his role - Ki?) is to the team. I think of all the new signings Canas is the one I'm currently most excited about (not including Bony) - I love the idea of him alongside Britton, and I think he'd prove a perfect foil for the diminutive midfielder. Whether they'll get the chance to forge a partnership remains to be seen.
With Europa League football likely to be on the agenda for a long time yet, we're likely to see a great deal of squad rotation, and the makeup of the midfield is likely to change significantly from match to match. Leon played 90 minutes against Petrolul but then missed out against Spurs - given the result on the weekend I'm now hoping he's rested for Thursday's second leg so that he can feature against West Brom a few days later.
The argument against this would be that, once Michu & Bony forge their own partnership, we'll be less reliant on possession and more capable of scoring goals. I'm all for that! Until then, however, let's stick to what we know best...