Both sides throw caution to the wind in gripping contest at Anfield
Well I wasn't expecting that. What a game! Thinking back through our last few managers, we play to our best with a chip on our shoulder and Monk's appointment raises an intriguing possibility - could he motivate us to previously unseen levels of performance? We've played exceptional football under Martinez... maybe Sousa once or twice, Rodgers, Laudrup and now already under Monk, but what separates Monk from the rest of that list is his sheer-blooded determination. I see him as more of a motivator than any manager we've had in the last few years, and if he can couple that with tactical knowledge acquired over the course of his career it could bode very well for Swansea City.
Take yesterday's loss to Liverpool for example. Liverpool have been absolutely on fire at home. Prior to our arrival they'd won nine of the last ten at home, drawing the other. This included recent drubbings of Everton (4-0) & Arsenal (5-1), as well as their tendency to put at least three goals on anyone who wandered into their neck of the woods. Ok, that trend continued and we conceded four goals, but there were so many positives to take from yesterday's performance that this result can only serve to motivate the squad ahead of their trip to Napoli on Thursday.
Once again, key to everything was Leon Britton. The Swansea talisman has been given a new lease of life by Garry Monk and he's once again marshaling the midfield, though he did have a tough time of it against Liverpool. Despite finding the going tough, he made five tackles and four interceptions - though with his pass accuracy coming in at 85% (much lower than average) and the Swans' possession finishing at 46%, you can see how well Liverpool did to stop us retaining possession at will. The only other time I can remember us enjoying less possession than our rivals is away at Everton in the FA Cup, so those statistics are very telling in my opinion.
On to the game itself then. Liverpool's opener came from Rangel overrunning the ball high up the field, and then a lightning Liverpool break saw Sterling thread a ball with the outside of his foot to Sturridge, who rounded Vorm and scored for the eighth consecutive PL game. That equaled Ruud Van Nistelrooy's record (though the Dutchman did it twice), however Sturridge was to go on to score again so his run is surely just as impressive.
Swansea seemed a bit stunned by the voracity of Liverpool's attack and it was (predictably) Suarez & Sturridge involved in the second. The former sprayed the ball out right to the latter who darted around Neil Taylor and squared for Henderson, in acres of space on the edge of our area. Canas had been rested for De Guzman (the Spaniard having played a lot of football over the last few weeks), and I can't help but feel Henderson was occupying what could definitely be described as a Canas-shaped hole. Either way, Henderson controlled it with his left before curling one with his right across Vorm and into the top left corner. A great hit, but not quite as good as the next goal...
Step forward Jonjo Shelvey. Great work from Wayne Routledge saw him beat a few men running across the park before Dyer picked up possession on the right. His squared ball inside found Jonjo Shelvey in acres of space, but he took one touch less than Henderson and curled one first time back across goal and in off the underside of the bar. Outstanding - as was both his and the Anfield crowd's reaction - Shelvey almost apologetic in his celebrations and the home crowd applauding the quality of the strike from his ex-player.
The Liverpool faithful weren't feeling quite so charitable a few minutes later though. Skrtel made the first of what would be a few mistakes bringing down Shelvey for a soft free-kick, and in truth he enjoyed a pretty torrid time of it. De Guzman whipped in the free-kick, Bony rose to meet it and his header hit Skrtel and deflected past Mignolet into the net. Bony claimed it though, like any good striker should.
The equaliser visibly rattled Liverpool and all of a sudden they looked more vulnerable than any team who possesses their home record should. The Swans had numerous chances but, as against Napoli, we were guilty of not making the most of them - Monk commented after the game that he'd told his team at half time that he was unhappy with the level of performance and given we conceded a third before half time we had a point. Liverpool put some pressure on and we dropped deeper, deeper, and deeper still until Suarez dinked a ball in to Sturridge, who was completely unmarked in between our centrebacks on the edge of the six yard box. Easiest header he'll ever score.
No doubt Monk mentioned that moment to his defenders, but we came out an improved side and started as we meant to go on. Dyer got the ball in a good position, and in fairness he did dawdle a bit but got lucky when two Liverpool defenders fell over each other gifting him the ball back. From that point on though he did well, accelerating down the flank and whipping a great ball in to the centre with Bony challenging Agger & Skrtel at the near post. Step forward that man Skrtel again! Penalty Swansea for holding/leaning on Bony, and the Ivorian stepped up to drill a great penalty home into the bottom corner. Mignolet guessed right but the quality of the spot-kick ensured the scores were once again even, with an entire half of football to play.
The rest of the game was a well-fought affair, but sadly for the Swans there was still one more goal in this - and it wasn't in favour of the Welsh side. Suarez had an effort blocked but it fell to Jordan Henderson, who saw his first shot saved but followed up and smashed the ball home. 4-3, and in fairness as a Swansea fan you couldn't really argue with the scoreline finishing like that. Liverpool are flying for a reason, and that reason is Daniel Sturridge & Luis Suarez's continued fitness. If they stay fit they are liable to beat anyone, and for us to have pushed them so close is a testament to the desire and passion Monk has instilled in the squad in his short time in charge.
We are the first side to score three goals at Anfield this season in the league, and we can also take massive heard from the fact that Arsenal, when put in a similar position very recently, capitulated and were dispatched 5-1. For Monk's Swansea, that wasn't an option and they fought back brilliantly to twice level the score - it's a shame we didn't get a point at least however there are lots of positives to again take from this result, as there have been from every game Monk's been in charge for.
I did think that when Canas replaced Shelvey at half time things looked a lot steadier in terms of guarding against Liverpool's attack, though I don't think Shelvey was at fault. De Guzman is still quite wandery at central midfield, and when he was pushed ahead of Leon & Canas it tightened the midfield up and allowed us to use our central midfield to retain possession - De Guzman also made one brilliant run beyond Bony who played him in with an audacious backheel but Mignolet saved well. He's done that before against Stoke last season, and he was rewarded with a brilliant goal - if he's willing to run until it hurts he'll find himself grabbing the headlines a lot more often.
On to the next game then, and it's the small matter of Napoli away. We score early, and Napoli will be in big trouble - surely that's the message Monk is already ramming home to his Swansea players. I said before the Liverpool game that if we played like we had against Napoli at home we'll have a real chance of beating Rodgers' team, and we damn near did it. One more performance like that and we could well be celebrating a famous, famous cup win come Friday morning.
