Tiote: "Swans play like Barca" and "I get booked because of my reputation"

Cheick Tiote said both of those things. I feel only one of them is true.

Cheick Tiote: Feels unloved?

In the aftermath of the Swansea v Newcastle game, when all the dust was settling and people had a chance to take stock, Newcastle midfielder Tiote likened the men from South Wales to the Catalonian side, and after spending large portions of the game alternately chasing shadows and kicking people, it's easy to see how he can feel like that. In the first half, and in the latter stages of the second half, the Swans knocked the ball around effortlessly and it must be demoralising spending large portions of any match with the ball being knocked around you, close but constantly out of reach.

Cheick Tiote: "They play like Barca. Everyone knows about Swansea. They pass the ball well and it's difficult to play against them. 

"If you don't have the ball, they're difficult to play against. You're chasing the ball all the time and it's not easy to do that."

Complimentary indeed - although some Newcastle fans seem to have taken offence to this, seeing it as an indication Newcastle were outplayed. My opinion of the match was that the Swans deserved the victory - with Newcastle only really sustaining pressure for 25 minutes maximum, whereas the Swans controlled much larger swathes of the game, so while I wouldn't go as far as to liken us to Messi & co, I can see how a player licking his wounds could form that comparison.

Another snippet from Tiote is that, apparently, he feels hard done by when it comes to picking up bookings. Tiote picked up his 12th of the season on Sunday, and protested that "he didn't touch Nathan Dyer". When you've already clattered people twice, then raise a boot which comes within centimetres of someone's head, you'll get a yellow every time, sorry Cheick. In fact, I felt the manner of Newcastle's performance could possibly have resulted in an earlier yellow card for Tiote, as he was the fulcrum around which Newcastle's borderline-illegal tackling rotated. This is a player who has played 67 games for Newcastle and collected 41 yellow cards, and made a name for himself by "putting himself about" (if you fancy looking at his style of play from a 1980's point of view). How a player with that record can come out with the following is beyond me:

Tiote: "I don't know why I was booked. I tried to take the ball but I didn't touch anyone. The referee made a decision though and I have to accept that. I think sometimes I get punished because people know I have a lot of bookings already in England. I think sometimes this happens. On Saturday I wasn't at fault but I got a booking. 

"That's football though, I just need to concentrate on my game and not let it affect me. I think my discipline is better now than last season. I need to keep doing the same things and to continue to improve in that way."

You were booked, Cheick, because you almost took Nathan Dyer's head off. You've picked up a ridiculous amount of bookings because of the physical way you play. Either accept that or change your style - your choice - but you can't moan about being persecuted (fairly) for it. You didn't catch Roy Keane moaning about how he was picked on - he just got on with it and accepted that while he may not be everyone's favourite footballer, he did an effective job for the team. You can't have it both ways.

Swansea v Newcastle - Proof that just because you play the same system, it doesn't mean you play the same way.

Swansea show why they deserved maiden trophy victory.

Almost exactly a week after Swansea put the finishing touches to their Wembley demolition of Bradford City, they had, realistically, a much tougher obstacle to overcome in the form of a newly-resurgent Newcastle United. Much has been made of the Geordie's transfer policy of late, and Graham Carr in particular continues to spearhead a campaign which has so far produced gem after gem, and shows no sign of abating. 

Reading through some previews before the game, it was interesting to note that some Newcastle pundits and bloggers were predicting lineups with up to nine changes when compared with the XI that took to the field against Swansea in November. As it turned out there were indeed eight changes in personnel when compared with the counterpart fixture, but it was a case of different team, same result. A much changed, heavily French side took to the field against the Swans this time around, and from the word go they harried, harangued and pressed the Swansea players in a manner I haven't seen any other team achieve over the entirety of the ninety minutes.They were exceedingly physical at times, and sadly, I have to say I think some heavy challenges were the result of previous niggles going unpunished by young referee Craig Pawson. Taking charge of a Premier League game for the first time, Pawson's previous "big match" exploits came in the form of a Capital One Cup game between West Ham and Wigan, the League Two playoff final, and 12 Championship games, which to me doesn't sound like a particularly length or impressive CV. 

Yohan Cabaye. Suave. 

Normally, novice referee's are appointed to games where the top brass don't expect too many issues, but Newcastle are developing into a team who will, if allowed, push the boundaries of what is both acceptable, and safe. Tiote and, surprisingly for me at least, Cabaye, constantly niggled away at the Swansea midfield, leaving the foot in and nudging into people, culminating in Cabaye going straight through the back of Nathan Dyer (right in front of me) on the touchline. Dyer was facing the byline, doubtful knew that Cabaye was approaching, and the Frenchman clattered straight into him from behind at roughly knee level - poleaxing the diminutive winger but, miraculously, not seeming to cause major injury. Cabaye only received a yellow card for his sins, so was free to rejoin Tiote in the centre of the midfield. It should be noted that from where I sat it looked like Ben Davies got away with a shocking tackle too, but it was on the opposite side of the pitch from me so it was difficult to judge. He didn't pick up a card for that one, so it's possible he did, as he protested, take the ball first.

I don't want to take away from many aspects from Newcastle's game though. Their pressing was outstanding, and is, if you don't have a team littered with Rooney's and Aguero's, the most effective way of stifling a team who play like the Swans - however in the first half at least the Swans appeared to have all the answers to Newcastle's questions. Swansea's forward line of Michu, Pablo, Dyer and Routledge is currently rotating beautifully, even if, more often than not on this outing, the final pass eluded it's man. The Swansea full-backs, too, are enjoying more freedom of late. Ben Davies and, in particular I thought, Angel Rangel were outstanding. When Rangel loses possession there isn't a nanosecond before he's accelerating in an attempt to reclaim the ball - his work rate and passion for the cause is absolutely undoubted. He's clearly still enjoying himself in South Wales:

“Getting to 40 points with ten games to go is a fantastic achievement. The first target is always to stay in the league – which we haven’t mathematically achieved yet - and then it’s the top ten. It’s the 100th year of the club, and we’ve already won the first big trophy for Swansea, so to stay in the top ten, along with what we have already achieved, would be amazing, but we can’t relax – we want to see how far we can go.”  Angel Rangel 

Mostly token soundbites from Angel "He feeds who he wants" Rangel there, but all positive - looking to push on while still keeping our feet firmly grounded in the knowledge that, for a few few years at least, any top-ten finish would still be classed as "punching above our weight".

Rangel : “I thought we played well in the first 30 minutes, while they dominated more in the second half, but we took our chance and Luke did very well to finish it. Luke is a good pro and player. You can see in training that he is ready to play and take his chance. He came off the bench and he certainly did that.” 

It's fair to say that the Swans controlled the first half almost completely - lots of one-twos and neat interplay doing everything but providing the final pass as the Swans looked to open the scoring. Michu seemed to muscle a defender fairly and go through on goal, but referee Pawson adjudged him to have acted illegally so that one never happened, and then ten minutes later a few quick Swansea passes led to first, Ben Davies getting munched late and second, Swansea again breaking clean through on goal. Clearly no advantage there, so the referee called it back again. Ashley Williams had a chance in front of a seemingly open goal, but it bounced up awkwardly and his improvised volley was a scuffed affair, and the ball drifted agonisingly towards the net before being cleared by a Newcastle player on the line. Half time, and 0-0 was perhaps slightly harsh on Swansea who had fashioned a couple of decent chances whilst having to deal with intense Toon pressure throughout. 

Luke Moore. Happy camper.

The second half started and almost immediately Alan Pardew's men managed to get more of a stranglehold on the game. They had a decent twenty/twenty-five minute spell of possession but, in reality, the best they could muster was a couple of drives from distance (admittedly tasty with one cracking the woodwork after an excellent touch from Vorm) and a decent cross from the left which sadly (for Newcastle) no-one could connect with. And so, the scene was set for Luke Moore. Almost a year since his last league goal for the Swans (THAT goal against Manchester City) he again, essentially, repeated the feat. Drafted into the fray with less than ten minutes remaining, you'd expect it to be a fun experience as you'd be full of energy and able to completely tear around harassing a tiring defence - but in truth he didn't really do that, and I don't think anyone expected him to. He does, however, possess a decent first touch and seems to be developing a knack of scoring important goals - and this was no exception. Taking advantage of a defensive mix-up, Moore was simply in the right place at the right time, throwing a couple of dummies in for good measure before his shot was actually blocked, the subsequent deflection guiding the ball past the wrong-footed keeper and into the back of the net. 

The goal came with roughly five minutes remaining, and in truth it left Newcastle with no real hope. It came at a point when the Swans had taken control of the game back off Newcastle, and were in the ascendancy, knocking the ball around well and finding space, and Ki almost made an immediate impact off the bench - his header from a corner being cleared off the line. This was a game against two separate Newcastle teams. One who have a clearly excellent work ethic, an understanding of their roles within the team, and the footballing ability to back it all up, and one who, sadly, seemed to be intent on time-wasting from minute one. The goalkeeper Elliot was one of the main culprits, labouring over any action all game, and when Moussa Sissoko went down on 80 minutes Ashley Williams was clearly unhappy with what he deemed to be time-wasting, and the two squared up in a "I've got the best stare and the biggest chest" competition before being separated and given what was probably a fairly patronising talking to by the ref. 

Sissoko had gone down after bursting into the right channel before hooking a shot to the left of goal in what was, in reality, Newcastle's last real effort on goal. If Sissoko was play-acting in an attempt to gain unfair advantage, he got his just desserts minutes later when Moore's fumbled effort crept in. Not pretty, but nobody cared and the Swans can now reflect on having picked up 40 points with 10 league games still to play. 

Freudian Slip?

On a final note, has anyone else watched the full post-match press conference yet? Laudrup was fending off the usual mundane questions, but something he said made my ears prick up. When talking about how we've got the current top five teams in the league yet to play, he moved on to say:

"...we've got some difficult away games; Wigan, fighting for their lives, West Brom... they can still get into Europe - they have the same points we have." Michael Laudrup

I'm no psychologist, however I do know we finished damn near where West Brom finished last year, and see no reason why we shouldn't be aiming as high as our Midlands counterparts - especially given this season's exploits. We all know it's unlikely, and it would likely involve winning most of our remaining games, but it seems Michael Laudrup has one eye on a very lofty league finish indeed.