The Swansea Way's tactics expert Jon Trew runs his eye over tonight's 2-2 draw away at Arsenal
Dylan Thomas’ famous quote is applicable to the Arsenal game tonight. This is probably the least amount of possession that Swansea have had in the Premiership years...but who cares!!! The pundits talk about how you need to play ugly and grind out results to become champions... but it also reads true for the bottom teams.
We’ve played a lot of pretty football in the matches under Monk (well at least in the first halves) with no end result, but if it wasn’t for the obligatory couple of minutes of madness we could have come away with three points at the Emirates. We looked comfortable, even if Arsenal were throwing everything they had at us...but personally I see it as one point gained rather than three lost. It could prove to be the point that keeps the Swans up come the end of the season.
Positioning
The majority of the match was played in the above formation. Bony up front alone with Michu joining him when Swansea attacked, and De Guzman and Routledge playing in deeper roles playing as more traditional right midfielders than wingers. They kept the shape and did their defensive duties incredibly well. Leon, as usual, ran the midfield and Shelvey did a job alongside him (not his best game but also not his worst, he did give away the ball from kick off for Arsenal’s second goal though). The tactics read - defend in numbers then counter attack and catch Arsenal on the break when Gibbs and Sagna are in the Swansea half.
Defence
With Garry Monk being a defender, he knew exactly how the team should set up to stifle the Arsenal attack. After Arsenal got battered 6-0 against Chelsea on Sunday, the team needed to appease the crowd with an all out attacking winning performance. Monk prepared the team in the correct way and was spot on up until the goals (again individual errors). Swansea’s usual wing backs became more old fashioned full backs and rarely got forward (on the occasion Taylor went forward he delivered the delightful cross for Bony to put Swansea one up).
Rangel and Taylor were resilient and De Guzman and Routledge (who both I thought were superb) doubled up on Sagna and Gibbs to stop any attacks down the wings. The defensive structure forced Arsenal inside the field and into the crowded area of the pitch. Chico looked a bit shakey and went through a spell of looking like he’d cost us a goal again, but Williams alongside him led from the back and produced another colossus' performance. The defence held a very deep defensive line allowing space in between the midfield which meant that Britton had time on the ball in the centre of the park and could control the game defensively.
Midfield
De Guzman and Routledge sitting in deeper positions meant that Arsenal were forced to play inside as the midfielders doubled up defensively with Rangel and Taylor. Routledge’s heat map normally reads the opposite with the majority of work done in the opponents half but he stuck to the game plan set out by Garry Monk and worked tirelessly all game.
Leon Britton one again ran the show in midfield and completed 42 of his 47 passes. This is a much lower number of total passes than normal, but that’s because Arsenal had so much possession. When Leon did have possession he alleviated pressure on the back four and thanks to him Swansea got the equaliser in the 90th minute when he drove forward with the ball.
The game plan was going well and although Swansea were being pegged back, Arsenal never seemed like breaking down the team defensively after rarely threatening the goal...that was until the 73rd minute. The couple of minutes of madness decided to rear it’s ugly head again, and within a blink of an eye Arsenal had scored 2 goals and were leading the game 2-1.
Attack
Wilfired Bony also put in a huge performance up front. He helped the team out defensively and held the ball up well when Swansea were counter attacking. A quick look at his heat map and his passes map below will show how well he played in both an attacking and defensive sense.
Leon Britton (my man of the match - we had a few but he just pips it for the equaliser) action areas
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| Leon Britton action areas - prior to Arsenal's goals |
Leon Britton ran the show once again for Swansea against Arsenal and was the creative spark Swansea needed. It wasn’t a pretty goal, but who cares? It’ll give the team a morale boost going into the relegation battle against Norwich at the weekend. Take a look at the action areas to see how far up the pitch Leon played for the last 10 minutes of the game compared to the previous 80 minutes. Monk moved him to an attacking position while Jonathan De Guzman played in the slightly deeper holding role. This is something that Arsenal would never have expected.
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| Leon Britton action areas - after Arsenal's goals |
After the Everton game I heard a lot of people blaming Garry Monk for the predicament we find ourselves in. At the end of the day he sets up the team tactically and works with them all week on the training pitch. The players are the ones that lost the game at the weekend, and Monk can't be blamed for individual errors.
I am a firm supporter of Monk and he has a lot of potential. No doubt he has been on the phone to Brendan and Roberto getting advice. As I’ve mentioned before I believe the board need/needed to appoint a second man in command to play ‘bad cop’ to his ‘good cop’. They have put a lot of pressure on him and in my opinion he has handled
the role in an admirable and intelligent way. The supporters have to keep faith! Garry Monks barmy army!!!
You can follow me on twitter @jon_inspire