Monk's men outgunned by Chelsea's wealth of riches
Yesterday we saw the Swans take on the might of Chelsea FC, with both teams coming into the match on nine points tied at the top of the table. For about twenty minutes, we even enjoyed a spell where, had the match ended that second, we'd have been three points clear at the top on twelve points. It was always inevitable though that Chelsea would turn things around, and for the Swans missed chances either side of our goal will definitely be rued.
We started the game excellently. Monk made one change to the team which had started the previous three league games, with Bafetimbi Gomis preferred to Wilf, who had come back late from international duty. This didn't diminish our game at all in the early stages, and for about half an hour I thought we were absolutely outstanding. First to every ball, nicking the ball off Chelsea in the final third, and looking to get in behind whenever we could., we really were impressive in the early period. Ki looked busy and at one point I saw him muscle Diego Costa off the ball. That I did not expect.
The first chance of note came to Routledge, after a Dyer cross flicked off the head of a Chelsea defender and fell to the Swansea winger at the back post. His first time volley was close to finding the top corner of Courtois' net but sadly it curled just past the far upright. If that had gone in it would have been ridiculous given the volley he scored last time out against West Brom, but it wasn't far off the mark.
And then we scored. Well, John Terry did, but you know what I mean. As it happened a Millwall-supporting friend rang just as that happened, so he was treated to a string of shouted expletives which he, once he understood what I was shouting about, replicated. Brilliant timing, that. Following a great drive from midfield from Ki he played Taylor in down the flank and the full-back put in an excellent cross which Terry could only divert into his own net. 1-0 and eleven minutes played.
We could - and should - have scored more though. Routledge curled another attempt wide in a similar fashion to his earlier effort, but he perhaps should have done better given it was an easier chance. It would have been some goal, but still. Gomis had a couple of chances too, the best coming from a long Neil Taylor diagonal, and we really were giving Chelsea problems. Until around the half hour mark we were easily the better team, but you simply can't afford to not take chances against a team of Chelsea's calibre. And so it would prove to be.
Before Chelsea got their equaliser there was a contentious moment when Diego Costa and Gylfi Sigurdsson had a bit of handbags while Chelsea had an attacking free-kick. I've seen it since and I have to say more often than not if you do what Costa did you're going to be in trouble. It's probably easier for you to make your own minds up though, so here's the vine of the incident.
Here we go. Thoughts?
https://t.co/nAe7jCb6PD #swansfc #swans
— The Swansea Way (@TheSwanseaWay) September 14, 2014
I only really mention the incident because if you're of the belief that's a red card offence, the man who subsequently destroyed our hopes of a result wouldn't have been on the field beyond that point. As it turned out though there was no sanction for the incident, and just before half time Costa headed home from a corner following some less than perfect defending. There wasn't much of a challenge on the Chelsea man, and he nodded home from a yard or two out giving Fabianski no chance. That meant we went in tied at 1-1, and all of a sudden those missed chances will have started weighing heavily on the Swans' minds.
Amat was withdrawn at half-time through injury with Federico Fernandez coming on for his league debut, and being completely honest I thought he had a tough time of it. That said, in the second half we were almost exclusively under the cosh so he wasn't alone in finding himself battling against the flow of sustained Chelsea pressure. It seemed almost inevitable that Chelsea would score again and so it was that that man Costa popped up again to tap home from a good move which saw Angel Rangel caught flat-footed. Harsh to single him out but it was on his side and it did, in the end, seem very soft.
Next came our best chance of the second half, and probably of the game. After Nail Tayor was poleaxed after blocking a shot with his gentleman's parts Routledge broke free down the wing and spotted Gomis in acres of space. A nice outside of the boot pass saw the Frenchman through on Courtois but his attempted dinked finish was, frankly, pants. He scored one like that in pre-season and clearly likes that type of finish, but he had a lot of goal to aim at on his right foot and I'm disappointed he didn't hit the target with that effort.
Especially when you consider Chelsea went straight down the other end and scored. From a position where we could have tied things up again we all of a sudden found ourselves two goals down, with the scoreboard reading 3-1. The scorer? That man again Costa. Running on to a mishit Ramires shot (no way that was a pass) he tucket the ball past Fabianski and the game was as good as won. Thankfully for the Swans Costa was replaced by Remy not long after this, though Remy scored fairly promptly after his arrival, so any thoughts of Chelsea easing up were quickly put to bed.
Remy's finish was excellent and again the goal came from Rangel's side - in fact all three of the goals from open play came from that side, and with Fernandez alongside Rangel we didn't look that comfortable, and found our defence stretched and contorted on numerous occasions. Obviously it was Fernandez's league debut, and Chelsea away with Costa in imperious form is hardly an ideal introduction, so it would be easy to write this off as a learning experience. I'd say though that the overriding thing I took from the game was that we need Leon Britton back.
Without him, we really struggle to retain possession. For the first half hour yesterday we were excellent but we were excellent going forward. With Leon in the side we can absorb pressure, because realistically we're not going to pummel Chelsea for ninety mintues. There will always be periods where we're under the cosh, and when we are it's vital, absolutely vital that we're still able to retain possession and play our way out of trouble. If that means Leon giving the ball to someone and getting it back three times, that's what it takes. As much a I love Jonjo and Ki we tried to force things too much in midfield in the second half, and there needs to be more composure when it comes to pass selection when pushing up the field from deep.
What's more covering down the flanks and in defence is natural to Leon. He gets caught out of position far less (never?) than either Jonjo or Ki too, and when he plays he offers more cover across the back four in general. This is something we lacked in the second half yesterday and I hope the results of the scan on Leon Britton's knee aren't cause for concern as the sooner he's back the better. Obviously Ki and Jonjo will improve and they're both still young, but we do miss Leon badly.
There was still time after Chelsea's fourth for Swansea to grab another consolation goal, and it was Shelvey who profited from a cute through ball from Wilf (on as a sub for Gomis), running through and finishing past Courtois in the Chelsea goal. A good finish and a great ball from Wilf - what Jonjo was doing breaking the line only he knows but I'm glad he was, and any goals scored are gladly taken given goal difference can always be a factor come the end of the season.
As I said in the preview of yesterday's match, I expected goals and I didn't expect us to win. A 4-2 loss at Chelsea is by no means embarrassing, and to be honest I'm quite proud we scored twice. Even if it was with the help of one John Terry. I think Monk will have plenty of positives to take from the match and with less daunting opponents to come in the next few weeks he'll be confident of getting back to winning ways sooner rather than later.
Bring on Southampton.