Michu & Ash rumoured to be on Wenger's radar

Swans' skipper and Spanish striker expected to be the subject of a desperate bid from Arsenal, but will we or should we sell?

Cometh the hour, cometh the panic emanating from the Emirates. Arsene Wenger's continued reluctance to spend what most clubs would consider a fair transfer fee seems set to see the Swans resolve tested, as all signs point to a serious, serious bid for one or both of Ashley Williams or Michu, but regardless of any inflated transfer fee we'd receive is there any benefit to selling players this close to the end of the transfer window? 

Given the Swans are continuing to prove their reputation as canny negotiators in the transfer market is more than justifiable, it's hard not to have doubts that selling players this late in the day could leave us in something of a sticky situation. Take Michu for example; Laudrup has been on record for weeks, as has Huw, stating that even though we spent £12million on Wilfried Bony we're still in the market for another striker, so the idea of selling a player who is likely to play a fair amount of games at centre-forward this season really doesn't seem to make sense.

That being said, every player has their price and rumour has it £25million is the price needed before the Swans would accept a bid for a player who only cost £2million barely 12 months ago. That would represent, by my maths, a profit of 1250%. Given the Swans pride in how they operate a financially responsible football club, it's hard to look at that and argue it doesn't make sense. For me, £25million is the kind of fee which I would have to accept as sufficient to prise any of our players away - it's a stupendous sum which could, for example, be put to good use on stadium expansion, improved training facilities or any other number of off-field projects, as well as obviously having a fair whack left over with which to seek a replacement. After all, we've already signed a £12million striker this summer so any replacement would, I'd imagine, be likely to fall more in the "up to £5million" bracket.

As for Ashley Williams, that's a prospect I'm more concerned about. The Swans' skipper is, to me, integral at the moment, and with Chico Flores I think we could see a partnership develop which would rival any in the Premier League. Finding a solid centre-half who would slot into a Premiership team which play the way Swansea do is surely a bigger ask than finding a young eager centre-forward, and in selling Ash we'd be relying more on the quality of our existing centre-backs Jordi Amat and Garry Monk (along with the aforementioned Flores) than on the likelihood of finding a quality first-team replacement. Never say never - you don't know who the Swans have been tapping up, but finding a player to replace Ash is a massive, massive task. 

It remains to be seen if and when a bid arrives for either or both of the Swansea players, and I've got fingers, toes and everything else crossed that nothing ever comes of this, but with Wenger reported to have made a £10million bid for Yohan Cabaye it seems his transfer scramble is starting in earnest. Prior to the Villa defeat he'd tried to appease fans (and journalists) by saying "Don't worry - we will be signing players" and The Mirror have gone as far as to suggest that a deal is in place for Ashley Williams which Wenger simply has to rubber-stamp, but as yet he's been reluctant given the transfer fee involved. Then again, an article in the same publication from four days ago states that Arsenal have so far offered only £6million - around half what the Swans would expect - but this doesn't tally with what Huw Jenkins said yesterday; that the Swans have "received no phone calls about any of their players". 

It remains to be seen what the Swans would do if presented with a mega-money bid, but you can bet they'll maximise any fee whenever they're letting a player leave who, ideally, would be sticking around for some time yet. Michu and Ash fall firmly in that category, and I can't help but shake the feeling that the Swans' resolve will be seriously tested in the next few days. 

Ashley Williams rumours intensify - is selling him the sensible choice?

The increasing rumours around the future of Ashley Williams got me thinking about whether it's always worth cashing in, as seems the norm in modern football. Ash is 29 soon, and has had two solid seasons in the Premier League - more than holding his own and evidently attracting admirers along the way. There have been rumours for a while of interest from other clubs, but at the moment the strongest noises are that bids from Liverpool (predictably) and Arsenal are more than probable. This, to me, leaves the Swans with a choice of two gambles.

"I wish they did this in a vest"

One - you give him an improved contract. Ashley Williams could, if he took a move to a club of that ilk, expect to earn £40kpw. The Swans simply can't match that, but for a first choice, starting XI player at his peak I wouldn't mind seeing a contract of £30k offered. I know it's a lot, and I'm not advocating this to become a benchmark for Swans high earners, but Ash has been exceptional for us and his loss would be massive. Is he worth it? A friend said "I'm not in a position to make that call" and to be honest I'm glad I'm not either. Personally, I like Ashley Williams a lot and I don't see the point in selling. We've got European football next year, and I'd love to see Ash & Chico continue to forge a bond at centre-half.

Two - you cash in. Williams is, in terms of market value, about as valuable as he's ever likely to get. He's a good age for a centre-back, has proven himself in a competitive league and as yet hasn't moved to a big club (where the prospect of failure/being found out is ever-present), so if the Swans were to sell they would definitely be able to get a quite frankly ridiculous price. You have to consider that if a club like Liverpool or Arsenal are trying to buy one of our players, why shouldn't we be asking top dollar? For me rumours of an £8million bid are way below what I'd expect. Knowing Huw, he'd open negotiations very high, and I'd expect at least £12million if Ash was to move on this summer. The problem with this scenario is there is no guarantee we'll be able to find a suitable replacement in time. Bartley had looked tidy when he's played, but with Monk preferred during Chico's recent absence there must now be question marks over his future involvement.

Whether Ash does move on or not, he's been a fantastic servant to the club and no-one can begrudge him a move to a "big" club. He knows what it's like to play non-league football, and the opportunity to play for one of the biggest clubs in world football may prove too hard to resist, and that's fair enough quite frankly. Will he go? I think only he knows that, and if he wants to stay I'm sure the Swans won't have a problem with that. 

Swansea 0 - 2 Arsenal - Outgunned and outthought

Well that was a bit rubbish wasn't it?

I'll be honest, what with the rugby on directly after this game, I'm finding it hard to focus on the negatives from yesterday, but the manner of the Swansea performance was both strange and bemusing. But for the first fifteen minutes the Swans looked like they could have played for a week and not scored, such was the abstract manner of the performance. 

Angel Rangel goes close early on

Before the game all the sounds coming out of the Arsenal camp were of the "the season starts here" variety, and who can blame them? Chasing European football in a season which will, once again for the North London side, end trophy-less, a win in South Wales was of the utmost importance if Arsenal are serious about closing the gap on the teams above them.

As mentioned, the Swans started brightly and some good interplay down the right ended with Angel Rangel going clean through on goal, but the former Terrassa man was under pressure from Monreal and the advancing Fabianski, and between them they did enough to put Rangel off and his poked effort drifted agonisingly wide of the Arsenal keeper's left upright. Next to go close was Michu - a few quick passes and a nice pivot by the languid centre forward ended with the ball being dragged again to the left of Fabianski. Given his exploits this season you'd expect Michu to do better, and it seems he's currently going through a bit of a barren patch - he's only scored in one of his last 10 PL matches, and that was against QPR (although granted he scored twice). He needs to score soon even if it's just for his own confidence. 

Arsenal threatened regularly - in particular through Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The young forward harassed Angel Rangel and the pace the young Gunner possesses was always going to be a problem for the Swans right-back - who, let's be honest. isn't the quickest off the mark. The Ox managed to get shots off twice in the first half, and both times he rattled the woodwork. The first was simply a cheeky cut inside Angel on his right before he unleashed a drive which cracked against the crossbar, while the second saw him drift across almost the entire Swans defence before repeating the trick.

One thing I noticed (but not everyone has agreed) was that Dyer and Pablo continued to tuck inside despite the Swans operating with three central midfielders. With the "Three winger" formation it's obviously important for the attacking players to link and switch, but I found the Swans were increasingly narrow as the first half wore on - and it was up to the full-backs to create any width (which they attempted to do admirably). After 18 minutes the Swans had 73% possession, but at about this point the tide turned and the Swans dropped deeper and deeper, with Michu taking up some really, really random positions. If you're playing one up top, and you're under the cosh, you need an outlet - it doesn't help if your outlet has decided to wander back to defensive midfield.

Swansea's central midfield three were, while generally neat and tidy, guilty of giving the ball away uncharacteristically easily, and Arsenal pressed the Swans further and further back into their own half to the point where the half time whistle will have been a relief to some. Anybody hoping for a different story in the second half would have been disappointed. I know that to compete with Arsenal is still, given the Swans recent past, an admirable effort and as one friend put it "I liked that we didn't play well but we didn't look outclassed" however I wasn't so sure. Arsenal's midweek exploits cannot be ignored and it's inexcusable that they looked like the team who wanted it more. The Swans had more time to prepare and should have been the more aggressive over ninety minutes - especially at home. 

The second half unfolded in much the same manner as the first, with Arsenal continuing to put the Swans under more and more pressure - the perfect illustration of this came in roughly the sixtieth minute when Vorm attempted to play a simple pass to Rangel, however only succeeded in putting the ball out for Arsenal throw pretty much at the corner flag. Uncharacteristic from the Swans, but credit must go to Arsenal for forcing the Swans into making mistakes.

The opener came in the 74th minute. The Swans cleared a dangerous ball and it fell to Nathan Dyer - on his own up against three Arsenal defenders. He was mugged (possibly a foul but in truth Arsenal were always going to score at some point) and the ball eventually fell to Monreal who hit a slightly scuffed effort across Vorm, which the keeper failed to get to. From the replays it looked like Vorm could have done slightly better, however he was unsighted so it's possible he didn't see it until late. Either way, the ball found the net and from that point there was only going to be one winner.

And so it was that late on, Pablo Hernandez managed to tackle himself (he's been poor for a number of weeks and I would much rather have seen Routledge start in his place) and Arsenal broke upfield with men over. Garry Monk was never going to be able to do anything about a marauding red and white wave, and a good run by Aaron Ramsey (booo) followed by a fine pass led to Gervinho taking a touch before coolly finishing past Vorm. Whilst talking to a couple of Arsenal fans pre-game, I was going through some tweets and I had a giggle at "RT this if you're one of the 7 billion footballers better than Gervinho. #*%!££". While I didn't retweet it, I still felt a small karmic tug as he ran off celebrating.

Arsenal's two goalscorers 

Over 90 minutes I thought Arsenal were the deserved winners, and considering recent form I think you could safely say that Swansea just didn't turn up yesterday. Hopefully this will prove the catalyst for the Swans as they aim to improve recent results which have seen them pick up less points than QPR since the beginning of the year. It would, however, be harsh not to mention Ashley Williams. In a sea of mediocrity he stood out once again as a leader of men, making crucial interception after crucial interception, not once looking ruffled and consistently bailing the Swans out of trouble. I really, really hope he doesn't leave at the end of the season, and in fairness there've been some good soundbites from him in recent weeks, so hopefully we won't have to deal with that. Fingers crossed eh. 

All in all it wasn't that great a day at the office for Swansea City, but I won't be alone in saying that I ended the day with a massive grin on my face due to the national rugby team. Some solace, however Laudrup will no doubt be doing some tinkering this week in a bid to improve Swansea's recent league form. With some massive games coming up, he now has the international break to get his ideas across before Tottenham come to town. One thing is for sure, if we play like we did against Arsenal, Gareth Bale will have an absolute field day. Let's hope that's not the case...

Swansea v Arsenal match preview, team news, analysis & more...

                         

     Swansea City vs Arsenal

Barclays Premier League

Saturday 16/03/13

15:00pm K.O.

The Liberty Stadium

Referee: Jon Moss

The Match

Swansea come into the game possibly still licking their wounds after being robbed of a point last time out at the Hawthorns. Swansea are currently seven points clear of Fulham in 10th place, and will be looking to maintain that gap with victory this weekend. Swansea's form over the last few months has been a bit up and down, and they'll be looking to put together a string of results as the season draws to a close.

Michu and co celebrate at the Emirates Stadium

Arsenal travel to South Wales in desparate need of a win. This will be their third away game in a row (after three home games on the trot) and a loss could see them fall eight points behind of Spurs & Chelsea in the race for a Champions League spot, so they'll be fired up this one. Having departed from the Champions League in Munich on Wednesday, they've now only the Premier League to focus on and they'll no doubt be hoping this match will be a turning point as they look to close the gap on their London rivals.

Prior Form

Premier League                West Brom     2-1  Swansea

Premier League                Swansea       1-0  Newcastle
League Cup Final               Bradford        0-5  Swansea
Premier League                  Liverpool       5-0  Swansea
Premier League                Swansea       4-1   QPR                            


Champions League Bayern 0-2 Arsenal (Bayern go through on away goals)
Premier League Tottenham 2-1 Arsenal
Premier League Arsenal         2-1  Aston Villa                 
Premier League Arsenal         1-3  Bayern              
FA Cup                              Arsenal         0-1  Blackburn              

Odds: Swansea 12-5, Draw 11-5, Arsenal 23-20

Team News

Leon Britton faces a late fitness test

Swansea will give a late fitness test to Leon Britton after he missed the West Brom game with a hip injury, while Chico Flores remains out. Neil Taylor started for the u-21 side but is still some way off a first team return, and Luke Moore has been carrying a calf injury picked up at the Hawthorns but should be fit for inclusion, and after scoring in his last two games he'll want to be able to throw his name into the hat.

Arsenal will be without Lukas Podolski & Bacary Sagna after Wenger confirmed they wouldn't be available in time for their trip over the Severn Bridge. Jack Wilshire, too, remains out, and only Monreal will return after being ineligible to play in the Munich game on Wednesday. Keiran Gibbs, too, looks likely to miss out as Wenger stated he'd aggravated a thigh injury in the 2-0 win. 

Trivia - "Courtesy" of Opta, the BBC and various other sites;

• Swansea are unbeaten in 5 league matches at home, winning the last three, while Arsenal have lost 2 of their last 3 league away matches.

• This will be the fourth match between Arsenal and Swansea this season, with the record currently standing at W1 D1 L1. 
• Six of the seven goals in matches between Arsenal and Swansea this season have come in the last 10 minutes. 
• Of Swansea's four goals against Arsenal this year, Michu has bagged three of them.  
• Swansea have conceded a higher proportion of goals from set pieces than any other team in the PL this season - remarkably half of all the goals they have conceded. . 
• A Swansea win will be the first time the Swans have won four home games in a row in the Premier League. 
• Arsenal have the highest average possession in the Premier League this season - 58.5%. Swansea are sixth, with 55.6%).
• Ki-Seung Young has had more shots without scoring than any other Premier League player this season (36). 
• Since New Year, Swansea have picked up 12 points, and Arsenal 14. Worryingly, QPR have picked up 13. 
• Ashley Williams has made 40 blocks this season, the most in the league, and only 26 fewer than Arsenal have in total. 
• Swansea have conceded six goals from indirect free-kicks - more than any other side. 

Completely guessed lineups

Swansea City

 Vorm

Rangel        Monk (C)         Williams         Davies

Britton         Ki S-Y

Lamah                 De Guzman             Routledge

  Michu

   Giroud

Cazorla                  Rosicky              Walcott

Ramsey             Arteta

Monreal            Mertesacker      Vermaelen(C)    Jenkinson

     Szczesny

   Arsenal

Straight from the "horse's mouth";

Arsene Wenger: "We have to keep the positives and be inspired for the rest of the season by this positive result and for us, every game is a cup final now. We were not happy [after Bayern], but we felt we did our job by winning the game. We are more frustrated because we are out of the competition, but we have to keep the positives and be inspired for the rest of the season by this positive result. 

Wenger has to figure out a way to
close the gap on their London rivals.

"We need to increase the belief of the team and that will produce more consistency. Ten games is a long way to go and it is down to consistency. I think the away games will have a final part in our final position of the season. Tomorrow is a big away game so it is important we prepare well for it. 

"He [Michael Laudrup] is a contender (for Manager of the Year) because his team has played well, they have been remarkably consistent and plays good football. It was a difficult act to follow Brendan Rodgers, who was successful there. 

"There was a big question mark about him when he arrived because Swansea did well last season. They have continued their progress and he has brought some good players in as well. They play good football. First of all he has a big experience as a manager in Spain and he has experience of international level because he played in many countries. The other advantage he had was he knew Spanish players because he worked there."

Michael Laudrup: "They came out of the [Bayern Munich] game better than when they went into it. They have won away against a very good side but they are still five points away from fourth place. They will try and maintain the confidence from Wednesday night, but Saturday is a very important game for them with only eight games left after this weekend.”
“They have some top quality players - Jack Wilshere and Cazorla are the two main players in their team, but with Wilshere not playing he will be the one to watch. I’ve always said that if you can stop the players who give the ball to the forwards and create the chances, then you’ve always got a chance, but we have had some good games against them this season, and I hope Saturday will be the same.” 

“He (Wenger) has been there 17 years now, and what he has achieved there is great. But if the fans want trophies then eight years is of course a long time. He has been there for so long because people have been pleased with what he has done, and I think we will still see Arsene Wenger on the Arsenal bench next season.” 

Analysis

Both sides will be looking at this match as one from which then can recover maximum points. Arsenal, as mentioned, need a win to guarantee they don't fall further behind Chelsea and Spurs in the race for a Champions League spot, while Swansea are looking to improve upon last season's points tally as they hope to push further up the table into previously uncharted territory, with European football already secured for the coming year.

Swansea will look to build on recent good form at home, though the number of goals conceded at the Liberty this season needs to be addressed. With Chico Flores out, it's likely Monk will have to deal with the nimble-footed Arsenal attack and his positioning will have to be spot on throughout the game if the Swans are to keep a clean sheet. Last time out at the Liberty Walcott was well marshalled and Ben Davies will no doubt be charged with, essentially, stopping Walcott getting anywhere near Monk - such will be the mismatch in pace. Wilshire being out is a real bonus for the Swans, as the FA Cup replay where the Swans went down 1-0 was, from memory, all about the Arsenal youth product. The midfielder is a class above anything else Arsenal have in my opinion, and the Swans midfield should be able to retain possession more effectively without having to worry about him tearing around in pursuit of the ball.

Arsenal's problem, or so it's been claimed this season, is that they play with an arrogance their results don't back up. Now, I think that's harsh as to be a top footballing team you need  a certain arrogance, however there have been occasions where I've watched Arsenal play and come away thinking that the players didn't really work as hard as I'd expect from a team at the top end of the Premier League, and the loss of Wilshire will only exacerbate that. It's possibly Wenger will go with Diaby in place of Rosicky as he looks to hassle and harangue the Swansea midfield, and if he does I'd say that Arsenal would stand more of a chance of coming away with points. 

Swansea's attacking players will no doubt fancy their chances against Carl Jenkinson and Nacho Monreal, who, while they've both been impressive, aren't names that will instill fear in any of the Swansea boys. I don't think we'll see Laudrup go with the "three winger" formation however, so it's likely to be a straight match up between whoever starts out wide and the Arsenal fullbacks. Jenkinson in particular has been impressive this season, and actually exited the Champions League with a 100% tackle completion rate - that truly is remarkable. 

Up top Michu will look to carry on his good form against the Gunners, and will be looking to add to the three goals he's already bagged against them this season. His ambling style has seemed to frustrate the Arsenal defenders this year and they've struggled to pick him up as he drops deep before drifting forward. It'll be important for whoever is picked out wide for the Swans to get close to Michu and run off him, so that he's not plowing a lone furrow. Vermaelen and Mertesacker are both impressive defenders but, more importantly, both of them are massive and Michu is unlikely to get any joy in the air all afternoon. Swansea's wingers need to get close to the Spaniard before running off him at speed, creating half a yard for the former Oviedo man, which, let's be honest, is all he's needed this season.

All in all, I can't see either team keeping a clean sheet here. I think contained within the two teams there's too much desire to get forward for this to end 0-0, however I think a draw is likely. It very much depends on how many defensive midfielders both managers decide to play, however I think the settled nature of the Swans midfield may just edge this one. That being said, I'm still loathe to predict a Swans win so I'll say this one will be 2-2. I said that before the WBA game, and I still think I was right. It's not my fault the officials disallowed a perfectly good goal...

Iechyd Da.

Vorm says Arsenal are scared of the Swans...

Brave, and possibly foolhardy words from the Swansea keeper

Arsenal bowed out of the Champions League despite an
impressive 2-0 away win at Bayern Munich.

Before Arsenal travelled to Munich to play Bayern, Arsene Wenger hinted that the upcoming match against Swansea is actually the bigger game. Whether he'd have said that if they hadn't failed so dramatically first time around against the Germans is another matter, however the fact remains he clearly had one eye on the Swansea match as he rotated his squad heavily for the second leg of the Champions League game with a view to keeping players fresh for their trip to South Wales. One thing to note is that in 2013 Bayern had only conceded four goals in ten matches prior to the Gunners' arrival, so a 2-0 win, only losing on away goals, was impressive from an Arsenal team which has been heavily criticised of late.. 

Arsene Wenger “Swansea is a massive game this weekend and qualifying for the Champions League is massive. We want to be in there and I don’t envisage anything else. That’s why it was so difficult for us to lose at Tottenham.  

“It means more because it was Tottenham, but it was the impact for us in the league which was the worry for me. Every player wants to play in the Champions League. You want to play at the top level and the Champions League is the top.”

If Arsenal fail to secure Champions League football for next season then the growing unease within the Arsenal camp will surely rise to previously unseen levels. The constant departure of the club's best players cannot be ignored if the players brought in to replace them fail to at least maintain the standard of the squad. In recent years Song, Fabregas, Van Persie, Flamini, Ashley Cole *shudder*, Thierry Henry and Samir Nasri have all moved on, and other than the emergence of Song, and Van Persie's breakthough [read: managed to stay fit] season, the players that have been brought in to replace them haven't improved the squad. Fans must hope that with Walcott starting to look a very decent finisher, and Jack Wilshire clearly an outstanding talent, a few good signings and Arsenal will once again have a squad capable of challenging for major honours.

One Swans player clearly not in awe of the current Arsenal squad is keeper Michel Vorm. Whether Vorm thought he'd try a bit of the old mind games is up for debate, however I don't really like players coming out with this stuff before matches. Why bother? There's massive potential for egg on your face and in my opinion it's completely unnecessary. Every team in the Premier League now knows that Swansea are, on their day, capable of competing with anyone and Swansea's performances against Arsenal, in particular, emphasise that point.

Michel Vorm: “A lot of teams are fighting for those top four places – but I don’t think Arsenal are going to make it this time around. They don’t like to play against us because they know what we are capable of. If we play to our best we can beat anybody. 

“Arsenal is a game that suits us as we aren’t afraid of anybody. It’s more that they are afraid of us because they know how well we can play. And they also know they can’t lose games now as there are a lot of good teams around them.”

Now, I know Vorm was probably baited by a journalist in order to get that quote ["Are Swansea afraid of Arsenal?"] however with the media the way it is they were always going to have a field day with that. Just give it the old "They're a good team, we'll treat this game like any other" and get back to the training field!

Michu wants to find the Loch Ness Monster!

Really. 

“I want to visit Scotland. I want to be the one to find the Loch Ness Monster. I can do it.” 

“I have no time at the moment - but I want to know Wales and Manchester and London. And Loch Ness.”  Michu

As long as he keeps banging goals in, he can do whatever he wants...

Swans trio called up to Wales squad

Ben Davies, Ashley Williams and Jazz Richards have been called up to the Wales squad, and all will have been fairly automatic choices for Chris Coleman's side, having performed superbly over the last couple of weeks. Hopefully Jazz will get a game, as he's been doing well for Crystal Palace whilst on loan (see my report on his loan so far here) and it'll add further confidence to a player who could be useful for the Swans in the future. Ash recovered almost immediately from a couple of errors in his very first few games and has gone on to have an outstanding season, receiving praise from all quarters to the extent where he's now being linked with Arsenal and Liverpool. It seems like he wants to stay, so here's hoping. 

Ben Davies has been the surprise package this season and he goes from strength to strength. Still only nineteen, Davies has adapted remarkably well to life in the Premier League and (until Neil Taylor is fit at least) he can surely consider himself Wales' first choice left back. Quite a debut season, and it's not over yet. Good luck to all the Wales players involved in the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers against Scotland and Croatia, but more importantly just don't get injured!