Performance against Fulham gave plenty of positives to mull over
Heading into the game against Fulham, most Swansea fans would have been forgiven a modicum of confidence given our recent results at Craven Cottage. Whether or not the players felt the same way can't be said, however from the word go we operated like a team confident of a result, even if there were a few defensive lapses which gave cause for concern in the first half.
First though, let's look at the positives. Both the fullbacks (Rangel & Davies) enjoyed outstanding afternoons, supporting attacks but managing to get back and help out in defence whenever was necessary. Rangel in particular seems to enjoy playing against Fulham - but let's be honest up against Bryan Ruiz he wasn't likely to be hassled too much throughout the ninety minutes. Defensive fortitude isn't something I associate with the Costa Rican. Between Swansea's fullbacks, they managed 150 passes and 17 recoveries. Impressive indeed.
In the centre of defence I have to say I thought Chico put in a...rather unnerving display at times - especially in the first half. A sloppy header almost saw Darren Bent open the scoring, and I do think that he could do with a bit more discipline in his game. Valencia are sure to be a sterner test of his defensive mettle, so he'll need to be switched on from the off if we're to keep a clean sheet on Thursday night.
In midfield Canas was tidy enough, but if I'm honest I thought he was a little bit looser than I've seen him previously - I clearly don't know what I'm talking about though because he completed 76 passes at 93.4% accuracy, as well as making three tackles and nine recoveries. Very tidy indeed, especially when you consider 16 of his passes were classed as "long passes", so he wasn't just playing the short 5 yarders we'd expect of someone in his position.
Alongside him, Jonathan De Guzman managed to complete 91.4% of his passes (81 in total), but the difference in the two midfielders can be shown when it comes to the defensive side of their games - De Guzman made one tackle and six recoveries, Canas made three and nine. Whether you can read too much into that I can't say, given the different roles they're asked to perform for the team, however I have noticed in De Guzman a...shall we say "hesitancy" to make a tackle on occasion. He played well against Fulham however, and some thought he should have been MOTM, so I'm not interested in talking negatives at the moment.
Onto the wingers. Dyer and Lamah lined up out wide with Pozuelo in between, but in the first half (despite encouraging signs) they failed to unlock the Fulham defence. Lamah looked like he's playing with some more confidence, but his end product was poor on Saturday. You get the feeling he needs a bit of luck to go his way, and once one has gone in he could go on a run - his pace alone is such an asset I can easily see him knocking a few goals in once he's got a bit of steam up.
On the other flank, Nathan Dyer played well and had Swansea's best chance of the first half. Released by Pozuelo after good work from the Spaniard in claiming the ball back, his low effort across goal drew a fine save from Stekelenburg, and as mentioned in my match report it's really pleasing to see him hitting considered efforts with what seems like a natural instinct. When he arrived in SA1 his finishing was so poor I often closed my eyes when he was presented with a clear opportunity, but to see him hitting shots like that under pressure from defenders really is testament to the hard work that he and the coaching staff have put in over the last few years.
Alejandro Pozuelo. For me, a player we should be getting really, really excited about. I've been saying for a while I think that Michu's effect on the overall team game we play isn't necessarily a positive one, and that I'd prefer us to play with a more orthodox attacking midfielder - Alex Pozuelo could well be that player. With Michu the game is always a bit more fragmented, and we seem to rely on chances occurring from broken play - given how we've build our name on twenty or thirty pass moves, it had started to feel quite alien. Pozuelo allows us to build through the middle a lot more, due to the fact that he occupies a much more traditional area of the field than Michu, but I think with a more solid defensive midfield base we'd see this element of his game improve dramatically.
This can be tied in with my thoughts on Wilfried Bony. I consider it a minor miracle he's scored as many goals as he has given the lack of service he's received up until now (with a few exceptions), and the lack of ball into feet in decent positions for the Ivorian can be directly linked to a lack of creation from our attacking midfielder. Pozuelo has shown he has the ability to play cute one-twos with the striker ahead of him, it's just a case of waiting for the team to gel around this combination. I really do think the team would benefit from the steel a combination like Leon & Canas would bring (as opposed to Canas & De Guzman, for example), however three points is three points and I'm in danger of splitting hairs, as it were, if I continue to try to find faults in what was overall a quite impressive performance.
I couldn't complete this article without mentioning Jonjo Shelvey. On as a sub for Dyer on the hour mark, he showed for the ball relentlessly and looked to make things happen, so it was no surprise when, dancing past a tackle outside the penalty area, he managed to dig out a shot which rasped off his foot, leaving the Fulham stopped with no chance. A great effort by Jonjo, and that'll put him in with a great chance of starting against Valencia.
With the Spanish team rolling into town for this Thursday's match you can bet your bottom dollar they're keen to make a statement after being humiliated on their own patch a couple of months ago. That kind of thing won't sit well with a club of their stature, so they'll be looking to return the favour and complete an away win of their own which would leave the Swans needing a result away at St Gallen in the final group match (assuming they overcome Kuban Krasnodar in their own match this week).
Laudrup will be looking to make sure that's not necessary by claiming another famous win over illustrious European competition. Victory over Fulham was the ideal preparation, it just remains to be seen how heavily the squad is rotated come Thursday evening. Whichever side lines up though, you can be sure they'll have taken confidence from this weekend's exploits, and damn right too. Laudrup's vision is clear for all to see, and it finally looks like it's starting to click into place.
Alongside him, Jonathan De Guzman managed to complete 91.4% of his passes (81 in total), but the difference in the two midfielders can be shown when it comes to the defensive side of their games - De Guzman made one tackle and six recoveries, Canas made three and nine. Whether you can read too much into that I can't say, given the different roles they're asked to perform for the team, however I have noticed in De Guzman a...shall we say "hesitancy" to make a tackle on occasion. He played well against Fulham however, and some thought he should have been MOTM, so I'm not interested in talking negatives at the moment.
Onto the wingers. Dyer and Lamah lined up out wide with Pozuelo in between, but in the first half (despite encouraging signs) they failed to unlock the Fulham defence. Lamah looked like he's playing with some more confidence, but his end product was poor on Saturday. You get the feeling he needs a bit of luck to go his way, and once one has gone in he could go on a run - his pace alone is such an asset I can easily see him knocking a few goals in once he's got a bit of steam up.
On the other flank, Nathan Dyer played well and had Swansea's best chance of the first half. Released by Pozuelo after good work from the Spaniard in claiming the ball back, his low effort across goal drew a fine save from Stekelenburg, and as mentioned in my match report it's really pleasing to see him hitting considered efforts with what seems like a natural instinct. When he arrived in SA1 his finishing was so poor I often closed my eyes when he was presented with a clear opportunity, but to see him hitting shots like that under pressure from defenders really is testament to the hard work that he and the coaching staff have put in over the last few years.
Alejandro Pozuelo. For me, a player we should be getting really, really excited about. I've been saying for a while I think that Michu's effect on the overall team game we play isn't necessarily a positive one, and that I'd prefer us to play with a more orthodox attacking midfielder - Alex Pozuelo could well be that player. With Michu the game is always a bit more fragmented, and we seem to rely on chances occurring from broken play - given how we've build our name on twenty or thirty pass moves, it had started to feel quite alien. Pozuelo allows us to build through the middle a lot more, due to the fact that he occupies a much more traditional area of the field than Michu, but I think with a more solid defensive midfield base we'd see this element of his game improve dramatically.
This can be tied in with my thoughts on Wilfried Bony. I consider it a minor miracle he's scored as many goals as he has given the lack of service he's received up until now (with a few exceptions), and the lack of ball into feet in decent positions for the Ivorian can be directly linked to a lack of creation from our attacking midfielder. Pozuelo has shown he has the ability to play cute one-twos with the striker ahead of him, it's just a case of waiting for the team to gel around this combination. I really do think the team would benefit from the steel a combination like Leon & Canas would bring (as opposed to Canas & De Guzman, for example), however three points is three points and I'm in danger of splitting hairs, as it were, if I continue to try to find faults in what was overall a quite impressive performance.
I couldn't complete this article without mentioning Jonjo Shelvey. On as a sub for Dyer on the hour mark, he showed for the ball relentlessly and looked to make things happen, so it was no surprise when, dancing past a tackle outside the penalty area, he managed to dig out a shot which rasped off his foot, leaving the Fulham stopped with no chance. A great effort by Jonjo, and that'll put him in with a great chance of starting against Valencia.
With the Spanish team rolling into town for this Thursday's match you can bet your bottom dollar they're keen to make a statement after being humiliated on their own patch a couple of months ago. That kind of thing won't sit well with a club of their stature, so they'll be looking to return the favour and complete an away win of their own which would leave the Swans needing a result away at St Gallen in the final group match (assuming they overcome Kuban Krasnodar in their own match this week).
Laudrup will be looking to make sure that's not necessary by claiming another famous win over illustrious European competition. Victory over Fulham was the ideal preparation, it just remains to be seen how heavily the squad is rotated come Thursday evening. Whichever side lines up though, you can be sure they'll have taken confidence from this weekend's exploits, and damn right too. Laudrup's vision is clear for all to see, and it finally looks like it's starting to click into place.