Six games played, ten points gained and we’re sitting comfortably in fifth place. Surely, there can’t be any problems for Garry Monk? Wrong. Though the problem he has isn’t necessarily a bad one. Josh Kilmister explains...
It’s no secret that both Dyer and Routledge have both had outstanding starts to the season. Dyer has four goals in eight games in all competitions, and is the second top scorer out of all of the Englishmen in the Premier League (behind West Brom’s Saido Berahino). Routledge has had an equally impressive start, scoring one and assisting one, though that doesn’t give his performances any justice. It seems this hasn’t gone unnoticed either, as it seems that he is on the verge of his first England call up.
So we have Nath and Routs in fine form, but here’s the problem. We have an Ecuadorian World Cup star watching on, waiting for his chance to prove that he can outshine both of our Englishmen. With all due respect to our English pair, who have served us well in the years they’ve been here, I think he can. Montero (or ‘Jeff’ as he’s commonly known by Swans fans) is the youngest of the three, recently turning 25 - he's a year younger than Dyer and four younger than Routledge - and is the one out of the three to have gained a full international cap. Fourty-three of them, to be precise!
All three wingers are capable of playing on both the left and the right hand side of midfield, though you could say that Dyer is probably at his most comfortable on the right, meaning that Monk has many options. Montero is without a doubt the fastest player I’ve ever seen in a Swans shirt, closely followed by Dyer, and I know I’ve said this before but I have never seen a harder working, more consistent and technically sound player than Wayne Routledge.
Obviously, having three players for two positions is expected for a team like us [I'd argue even four! - Ed], and being able to rotate your squad without having to worry is something that we haven’t been able to do before now. In terms of our attack we’ve got Bafe Gomis in to challenge Bony for a place in the starting eleven, and the depth in our midfield is something that will be admired by many Premier League clubs. Ki, Shelvey, Gylfi, Carroll and when he’s fit, Leon Britton...we really do have some quality options to pick from.
In defence we’ve got four centre-backs that can do a job in both the cup and the league in Ash, Fede Fernandez, Jordi Amat and Kyle Bartley while in the full-back position we have Rangel, Jazz, Taylor, Tiendalli and if needed, the young Scotsman Stephen Kingsley. Finally, we’ve got Gerhard Tremmel to back up Fabianski, who’s had a fantastic start to the season.
Back to wingers, and in my opinion Dyer & Montero should start this weekend. Jeff has done enough during his cameos and cup starts to warrant a start, while Dyer's goalscoring form means he's undroppable. While that's harsh on Wayne, someone has to miss out and it's about time Jeff got the nod in the league.
We’ve got plenty of options available, and I know for a fact that Monk has got a managerial headache with Newcastle at home fast approaching this Saturday. As the subtitle alludes to though, it's the type of problem managers love to have.
Who do you think should start on the wing? Or anywhere else for that matter! Get in touch using the comment section below, and you can follow Josh on Twitter @JoshKilmister