Swansea's French forward happy to have scored, but tactics also a crucial part in victory
Bafetimbi Gomis looked quite good against Manchester United. You've got the sense that, as much as it'd be easy to dismiss his about-turn when it became apparent no big teams were interested in him, he really has committed himself. His work rate against United was excellent, and while it was fortunate I was very glad he was credited with the goal. Football is a funny game, largely reliant on players believing they can perform, and sometimes you need that bit of luck to take the pressure off.
Speaking to the official site, Gomis revealed he was happy to have scored but paid tribute to Monk's tactics, as well as (naturally) acknowledging Jonjo's contribution to the goal:
“I am very happy to have the goal but Jonjo was very much part of it. He struck the ball hard and then it hit me which wrong footed the defenders and goalkeeper.
“If Jonjo helps me get a goal in that way then I'll definitely take it. Every striker wants to score goals for their team, no matter which way they come. I think it was well deserved as I've been working hard (in training) and worked hard in the match while I had a goal saved off the line in the first half. I was delighted to score the winning goal.
“We had a great week preparing in training. The manager decided to change things to deal with the threat Manchester United would pose and teams know how Swansea play so we wanted to surprise them.
“Manchester United are a great team who had only lost once in the last 15 so it's great to beat them. We defended well and scored two very important goals. It was important to get a good result to carry on the good work that we've done up to now this season.
“It's great to beat a team like Manchester United for confidence. The result was the reward for a good team effort especially after the last couple of weeks with suspensions and injuries.
“Not many teams will take six points from Manchester United this season.”
http://www.swanseacity.net/news/article/gomiss-delight-with-deflected-winner-2290754.aspx#dkUVKT0Ix7mRcDuQ.99
To be honest, I really like that. He's clearly committing himself and a few iffy performances aside Gomis has looked like he's continuing to adjust. Hopefully it'll result in a few more goals before the end of the season, but he's now got six in the league which is, while far from plentiful, not amazingly bad given his limited playing time until Wilf's departure.
Against Man Utd, and despite our vastly-changed tactics, I felt that for the first time we were looking to play to Gomis' strengths. On a few occasions Sigurdsson looked to split the defence with an early pass, and against lesser teams we may have had a bit more joy.
If we can continue to adjust the way we play to a) get results and b) get the most from our squad, then the future is rosy indeed. While we haven't played amazingly of late the desire, plus the tactical awareness that was on display this weekend gives real reason for encouragement.
We won't play like that when playing sides we feel we can dictate possession against, and if we can look to release Gomis early, like we attempted to do this weekend, we could suddenly start to look more potent in attack.