Swansea need to improve, but we're still better than a good few teams in the Premiership
Over the last few weeks I've commented on an increasingly frustrating level of performance from the Swans. We know that the players who now pull on the coveted white shirt are capable of putting on spectacular displays of football, however so far this season we've flattered to deceive and I feel the 4-0 victory over Sunderland helped mask the underlying issue.
We're simply not operating anywhere near the limits of our abilities. To me, we've been playing at around 60%, and of late it's almost started to resemble the football we were playing under Paolo Sousa, such is the lack of invention in the final third of the field. With the players we have at our disposal it's clearly not a case of lacking quality, and I believe it's entirely down to team selection.
This summer we signed Wilfried Bony for £12million. We also retained Michu, who'd been heavily linked with a move away from the Swans, and given his performances last season it would take a brave, brave man to bench him in favour of anyone - no matter if they were signed for a club record fee which doubled the previous figure. So it's been that Michu is, in my eyes, still regarded as the focal point of our attack, and I feel that's largely the reason we've been misfiring so far this season. I've likened trying to fit Bony & Michu into the team at the same time to trying to fit two round pegs into one square hole. Frustrating.
Towards the tail end of last season - in fact, since we won the Capital One Cup, we haven't played anywhere near as well as we did in the first half of last season. Thankfully, we'd managed to rack up a healthy points total which saw us retain a top-half finish, and despite some committed performances which gained decent results early on this season we still haven't reached the heights I, and most fans, feel we're capable of.
The main issue I see is we're drifting away from the team-focused football which has stood us in such good stead for such a long time now. I'm a massive fan of Laudrup and not for a minute do I want to see anyone else in charge in SA1, however I'm starting to feel his tactics seem more suited to Manchester United than Swansea City. It seems he expects his players to be able to replicate the individual feats of brilliance he himself was (and still is) capable of, which is all well and good. It's important though that these flicks, tricks and more come on top of our structured passing game - not instead of it.
Ok, we still retain possession at will. There's no doubting that, and we're adept at swinging the ball from left to right to evade opposition clutches, however the intricate passing which previously saw us undoing opposition defences simply isn't there, and I can't remember any of our midfielders presenting Wilfried Bony OR Michu with a clear-cut chance which it would then be up to them to mess up. Strikers at other clubs with far inferior players are given much better service, and it's something we need to improve on.
With Michu at attacking midfield, the issue is exacerbated. The Swansea way is based on having three midfielders who can pass their way through any opposition midfield and while the players we're selecting in the three central positions are no doubt capable of that style of play Michu's natural game is to wander all over the park, which then leaves the other two midfielders short of an option to relieve pressure with a forward pass. Instead, we go backwards and sideways every time, and we're not able to build play in close enough proximity to our centre-forward to be able to provide him with any kind of meaningful service.
With Michu having picked up an injury against Cardiff, it seems we may finally see three "specialised" central midfielders playing behind a traditional centre-forward. I've argued for a long time that doing just that will bring a balance to the team which allows every player to play his natural game, and see a swift return to attractive, penetrative football - if not winning ways. Who knows, maybe we'll even see Leon & Jose Canas line up alongside each other.
For me, the problem is deeper-rooted than results. We need to start playing the Swansea way again, because as soon as we do, we'll start taking teams apart. If we were managing to outplay "Champions League level" midfields with Mark Gower, Leon Britton & Joey Allen in the middle, we should damn sure be able to do it with Leon, Jose Canas & Jonathan De Guzman in their place, and you can interchange Jonjo Shelvey & Alex Pozuelo with any of those three in my opinion. We have the players we need to succeed, it's just a case of figuring out which eleven players in which system is best suited to getting us results.
With Bony sure to get a few games up front without Michu behind him, this could be where Swansea's season turns around. Let's get back to what we know boys - pass, pass, and pass some more, and the rest will come. With Stoke visiting the Liberty in our next league fixture (after a cheeky Thursday-night jaunt to Russia for the Europa League), it's the perfect opportunity to put this theory to the test.
Come on boys, you're better than you've shown of late. Show everyone what you can do.