Saturday, 20 September 2014

11 v 11 - Swansea's players compared to Southampton's

As the Swans prepare to take on Southampton at The Liberty Stadium on Saturday, Huw Richards takes a look at how Swansea's players compare to Southampton's


Lukasz Fabianski vs Fraser Forster. Winner - Lukasz Fabianski. 

Although you could argue that Forster is the better goalkeeper, Fabianski wins this battle mainly because of his English top-flight experience. Fraser Forster has been playing in a poor league for the past few seasons so it is hard to judge how good Forster actually is, and even though Fabianski was not number one at Arsenal he had shown he was more than good enough when called on.

Angel Rangel vs Nathaniel Clyne. Winner - Nathaniel Clyne.

The Saints full back wins this one. As Rangel's career is winding down, Clyne's is firing up. At just 23, Clyne has his best years still ahead of him, and could very soon be a England international.

Neil Taylor vs Ryan Bertrand. Winner - Neil Taylor.

This is a close one, but Neil Taylor edges it. Both players had not always been first team regulars, but both are players that all the bottom ten teams in the Premier League would snap their hands off for. Due to Taylor having 17 Welsh caps, he edges it. 

Federico Fernandez vs Jose Fonte. Winner - Federico Fernandez.

Even though we have not seen much of 'Fede' in a white strip yet, the fact that he played at the World Cup, for the World Cup finalists sells him to me on this one, despite Fonte getting a lot of plaudits last season - but who in the Southampton team didn't?

Ashley Williams vs Toby Alderweireld. Winner - Ashley Williams.

Ashley Williams, he's the captain of Wales! 

Jonjo Shelvey vs Victor Wanyama. Winner - Victor Wanyama.

Another close one here, but Wanyama edges it here. The Kenyan powerhouse didn't cost Southampton £12,000,000 for nothing. As good as Shelvey is, Wanyama is a top class central midfielder. 

Ki Sung-Yueng vs Morgan Schneiderlin. Winner - Morgan Schneiderlin.

Ki is a valuable member of the Swans' squad and there is no doubting he is a class central midfielder, but Schneiderlin is Champions Leaue standard. He chips in with the odd goal and can keep the game flowing and break it up when needed. Again, why did Spurs reportedly put in £16,000,000 for his services if he wasn't good enough for at least a top six team.

Wayne Routledge vs Dusan Tadic. Winner - Wayne Routledge.

I love Wayne. And so do you. He is class. So Wayne wins. But to be fair to Tadic, he looks like a snip for the price Southampton obtained him for,considering when they got £25,000,000 for Lallana, who lets face it, has not set the world alight at Liverpool, but,again, to be fair he has been injured for a short period. Early days.

Nathan Dyer vs Steven Davis. Winner - Nathan Dyer. 

The ex-saint Dyer wins this one by a distance, or should I say sprint? The winger has so far this season developed a bit of a scoring touch, mainly due to the return of assist king Gylfi Sigurdsson. Nath is vital to Swansea, and is out wide he's twice the player Davis is.

Gylfi Sigurdsson vs James Ward-Prowse. Winner - Gylfi Sigurdsson.

Has to be Gylfi winning this one, does it not? When Michu left there was a gaping hole behind Wilf and we need someone with real quality to fill it. And 'Siggy' is class. Really class. He is a fan favourites and the fact he has got four assists this season proves that, with only a £30M man Cesc Fabrages getting more. James Ward-Prowse is definitely a prospect though, and he is no mug at set pieces either.

Wilfried Bony vs Graziano Pelle. Winner - Wilfried Bony

So come on Wilfried Bony, score some goals for Swansea, we'll go wild, wild, wild!

Thanks to Huw for this latest piece - agree? Disagree? Use the comment section below to get in touch. You can follow Huw on Twitter @HuwTheSwanster

For the full indepth preview of Swansea v Southampton click here: link