The case for three midfielders

Swansea need to revert to type to get league campaign up and running

Against Spurs the Swans once again struggled to impose their passing game on their opponents, and if we're being honest since beating Bradford for the Capital One Cup in February there hasn't been much to shout about in terms of league form - we've only won two in our last thirteen. That's not to say there's no reason to be positive - with new signings looking like they're settling in already and Europa League form markedly better it seems it's just a little bit of tinkering is needed in order to secure a first league win of the season.

It would be all too easy to write off the first two games of the season and say simply "Oh, it was Man Utd and Spurs - we were never going to get anything from those games" but the reality is we should be approaching every game hopeful of getting some form of result, as if we're serious about pushing on from a 9th place finish we can't afford to have a proportion of games that we're not expecting to get points from. We showed last year we can beat anyone on our day, and with an improved squad there's no reason to approach any game with trepidation. 

Tactics then. Last season, I started to think that with Michu at attacking midfield we lose something in terms of ball retention, and it's something I still believe is happening. The reason we are where we are as a club, the sole reason, is our ability to retain possession and play as a team. Traditionally, this has involved three dedicated central midfielders who all know their role explicitly, and this allows us to keep possession ticking over and more importantly starve the opposition of the ball. 

Key to this style of play is Leon Britton. The Swansea stalwart is integral to how we play, and his absence against Spurs was notable. Even when Britton has a slight "off day" he'll still ensure we operate how we know best, and any time he's not in the starting XI I have my doubts as to how well we'll control the midfield. An ideal midfield for me (from the current squad) would be Britton and Canas deep, with Shelvey or De Guzman ahead of them. This would give our midfield a good sense of balance and I'd wager with a midfield like that we'd look a much more efficient footballing unit than we did at White Hart Lane last weekend. 

Don't get me wrong - I love Michu. If you have a player who doesn't necessarily fit your team 100%, but what you gain from having him in the team outweighs what you lose in terms of ball retention, then obviously it makes sense to stick with what you're doing, but given results towards the tail end of last season I am starting to wonder whether we'd be better off going with three "proper" midfielders as opposed to two, Michu ahead of them, and then Bony up top. 

Granted, we started with three midfielders against Spurs, but I think the manner of the performance only serves to highlight how important Leon (or someone capable of mimicking his role - Ki?) is to the team. I think of all the new signings Canas is the one I'm currently most excited about (not including Bony) - I love the idea of him alongside Britton, and I think he'd prove a perfect foil for the diminutive midfielder. Whether they'll get the chance to forge a partnership remains to be seen.

With Europa League football likely to be on the agenda for a long time yet, we're likely to see a great deal of squad rotation, and the makeup of the midfield is likely to change significantly from match to match. Leon played 90 minutes against Petrolul but then missed out against Spurs - given the result on the weekend I'm now hoping he's rested for Thursday's second leg so that he can feature against West Brom a few days later. 

The argument against this would be that, once Michu & Bony forge their own partnership, we'll be less reliant on possession and more capable of scoring goals. I'm all for that! Until then, however, let's stick to what we know best...

Midfielders keep piling in...how will we line up next year?

With massively increased competition for places at the Liberty, what kind of shape will the midfield take on?

With this summer's acquisitions slowly stacking up, the Swansea engine-room is starting to fill out, and I have been wondering whether there's room for everyone as there does seem to now be a lot of talent kicking around. With an increased fixture list, there will be a massive amount more stress put on the squad, and it's likely that all our summer signings, plus existing central midfielders, will get ample game time.

There is, of course, the old adage regarding European football, which states that you need two players for every position in the team. With the exception of striker and possibly right-back, we are now approaching that level of cover throughout the team and I thought it would be interesting to have a look at two alternative lineups, with this summer's signings included.

In gold is what you'd call a more "established" Swans side given the team's 2012/13 performance, and in red is a team with more of an emphasis on new signings. I've included Bony as it seems his arrival is imminent, and it gives a better balance to the "second" team.

We've come a long way eh? At times towards the tail end of our maiden Premier League season we struggled in terms of replacing first team regulars, however we've rapidly increased the overall calibre of the squad and generally it's been done fairly under the radar. One thing which must be of concern to various midfielders, however, is that if we sign Bony then Michu is likely to spend a lot of time playing at the head of a midfield three, reducing the amount of available midfield spots by a third.

With Shelvey, Ki, Canas, Britton & Pozuelo all realistically fighting for two remaining slots, it'll be interesting to see which partnerships develop, and who benefits from playing alongside who. Pozuelo played alongside Canas at Betis, so it's likely they'll have a good understanding of each other's games already, and it won't be long before we see a pattern develop in terms of what type of team is sent out to face a certain type of opponent. I can't see us going with Ki, Leon & Pozuelo away at Stoke, for example...

Through some pretty ruthless raiding of the Spanish market and few other smart acquisitions we could well have a decent crack at Europe this season without jeopardising league form that drastically - and Huw has hinted that even if/after we sign Bony from Vitesse (which will take cumulative spending this summer to around the £20million mark with no player sales since January) another signing or two  may not be out of the question.

One name strongly linked with us is Wakaso Mubarak, a right-footed left winger who scored three goals and got six assists in his first season for Espanyol last term. He'd signed for a nominal sum from Villareal following their relegation, but it seems he's set to depart with a fee of around £4.3million rumoured to be enough to see the Catalan club release the Ghanaian international. One thing is for sure, he's got an absolute cannon of a shot on him:

Whoever (if anyone) does come in from this point, they'll only be adding to what is fast becoming a top-rate Premier League squad. As a Swansea fan the last decade has thrown up many occasions which have led fans to reminisce, and to look back at "how far we've come", but to spend £20million and for Huw to then claim we're still in the market for more players is surely a watershed point - one which we'll look back on and think "this is where it got big-time".

Then again, people were probably saying that in 1982...