Improvement needed, but lay off the histrionics

Swansea need to improve, but we're still better than a good few teams in the Premiership

Over the last few weeks I've commented on an increasingly frustrating level of performance from the Swans. We know that the players who now pull on the coveted white shirt are capable of putting on spectacular displays of football, however so far this season we've flattered to deceive and I feel the 4-0 victory over Sunderland helped mask the underlying issue. 

We're simply not operating anywhere near the limits of our abilities. To me, we've been playing at around 60%, and of late it's almost started to resemble the football we were playing under Paolo Sousa, such is the lack of invention in the final third of the field. With the players we have at our disposal it's clearly not a case of lacking quality, and I believe it's entirely down to team selection.

This summer we signed Wilfried Bony for £12million. We also retained Michu, who'd been heavily linked with a move away from the Swans, and given his performances last season it would take a brave, brave man to bench him in favour of anyone - no matter if they were signed for a club record fee which doubled the previous figure. So it's been that Michu is, in my eyes, still regarded as the focal point of our attack, and I feel that's largely the reason we've been misfiring so far this season. I've likened trying to fit Bony & Michu into the team at the same time to trying to fit two round pegs into one square hole. Frustrating.

Towards the tail end of last season - in fact, since we won the Capital One Cup, we haven't played anywhere near as well as we did in the first half of last season. Thankfully, we'd managed to rack up a healthy points total which saw us retain a top-half finish, and despite some committed performances which gained decent results early on this season we still haven't reached the heights I, and most fans, feel we're capable of.

The main issue I see is we're drifting away from the team-focused football which has stood us in such good stead for such a long time now. I'm a massive fan of Laudrup and not for a minute do I want to see anyone else in charge in SA1, however I'm starting to feel his tactics seem more suited to Manchester United than Swansea City. It seems he expects his players to be able to replicate the individual feats of brilliance he himself was (and still is) capable of, which is all well and good. It's important though that these flicks, tricks and more come on top of our structured passing game - not instead of it.

Ok, we still retain possession at will. There's no doubting that, and we're adept at swinging the ball from left to right to evade opposition clutches, however the intricate passing which previously saw us undoing opposition defences simply isn't there, and I can't remember any of our midfielders presenting Wilfried Bony OR Michu with a clear-cut chance which it would then be up to them to mess up. Strikers at other clubs with far inferior players are given much better service, and it's something we need to improve on. 

With Michu at attacking midfield, the issue is exacerbated. The Swansea way is based on having three midfielders who can pass their way through any opposition midfield and while the players we're selecting in the three central positions are no doubt capable of that style of play Michu's natural game is to wander all over the park, which then leaves the other two midfielders short of an option to relieve pressure with a forward pass. Instead, we go backwards and sideways every time, and we're not able to build play in close enough proximity to our centre-forward to be able to provide him with any kind of meaningful service.

With Michu having picked up an injury against Cardiff, it seems we may finally see three "specialised" central midfielders playing behind a traditional centre-forward. I've argued for a long time that doing just that will bring a balance to the team which allows every player to play his natural game, and see a swift return to attractive, penetrative football - if not winning ways. Who knows, maybe we'll even see Leon & Jose Canas line up alongside each other.

For me, the problem is deeper-rooted than results. We need to start playing the Swansea way again, because as soon as we do, we'll start taking teams apart. If we were managing to outplay "Champions League level" midfields with Mark Gower, Leon Britton & Joey Allen in the middle, we should damn sure be able to do it with Leon, Jose Canas & Jonathan De Guzman in their place, and you can interchange Jonjo Shelvey & Alex Pozuelo with any of those three in my opinion. We have the players we need to succeed, it's just a case of figuring out which eleven players in which system is best suited to getting us results.

With Bony sure to get a few games up front without Michu behind him, this could be where Swansea's season turns around. Let's get back to what we know boys - pass, pass, and pass some more, and the rest will come. With Stoke visiting the Liberty in our next league fixture (after a cheeky Thursday-night jaunt to Russia for the Europa League), it's the perfect opportunity to put this theory to the test.

Come on boys, you're better than you've shown of late. Show everyone what you can do.

Wales must be trying to play "The Swansea Way"...

Late call-ups for ex-Swans means squad has a decidedly South West Walian feel to it...

Wales have been underperforming for a while. Since being appointed, Chris Coleman has struggled to get his team producing results - or even decent performances. The football they've played has, on occasion, made them look like a poor man's Swansea and it's understandable they're trying to put in place a style of play which can be carried on by the next manager, in a bid to benefit from continued continuity much like the Swans have.

Without a crop of star players for every position, the best way to assemble an international team must surely be to pick a young squad and stick with it. The players will learn each other's games, and over time you'll develop a tasty looking team. Toshack started this but was hounded out by the vendetta-fuelled Robbie Savage and chums, and I thought that was pretty harsh. He had the right idea, and I'm convinced if he'd have had more time we'd have seen him produce results.

This brings me neatly to the announcement that Chris Coleman has called up nine players to cover injury victims, one of whom (Daniel Alfei) is currently a Swansea player and another five of whom used to play for Swansea (or are out on loan in Jazz Richards' case). The full list of replacements called up was as follows: Lloyd Isgrove, Owain Tudur Jones, Daniel Alfei, James Wilson, Rhoys Wiggins, Jermaine Easter, Shaun MacDonald, David Cotterill and Jazz Richards.

With so many players in the squad having experienced life in SA1, it seems Wales could benefit from adopting the "pass and move" style we've become so used to in these parts. Wales have tried to operate in this manner for a while with limited success, so hopefully having a lot of people singing from the same hymn sheet will stand the squad in good stead and they can adjust to each others games' quickly. 

Why Coleman called up Bale when Madrid had said he wasn't fit we don't know - he withdrew from the squad only hours after being called up. It was a very strange move which doesn't help Coleman at all - it smacks of desparation and he's surely not long in a job if results don't go his way in the next two matches, despite FAW protestations otherwise.

As for current Swansea players, Ben Davies, Neil Taylor & Ashley Williams were due to travel to meet up with the rest of the squad, despite all recently having their own injury worries. Davies has been ruled out of both games after picking up a hamstring injury against Southampton while Ash is continuing his comeback from an ankle injury which has kept him out of the last few Swans' matches. If Coleman plays Ash when he's not 100% fit, he can expect a frosty relationship with Huw & Co for the rest of his tenure. Taylor, however, should be fully recovered from a bruised thigh.

With Macedonia up first, the lads will be keen to secure a result ahead of a seriously testing trip to Belgium. With eight ex or current Swansea players in the squad, at least we should be able to make a decent fist of a possession game. 

That'll be the idea, anyway...

The REAL Swansea Way

Keith Haynes makes his literary debut for The Swansea Way, with his take on Swansea's impending season

The opening game is always the favourite game of the season for most football fans. The expectation is always there, no matter who you support you can dream of all sorts of possibilities, and those possibilities are endless. Then of course there is the new kit, those home and away choices, and indeed the bright and gleaming newly manicured pitch and crafted stadium. That bright and dark green surface that you could flick a subbuteo player on and get a result rises before you as you enter the stadium. Like it does now at the Liberty and like it did back at the old Vetch Field.

A new season does bring a clean and bright hope, and for many fans of many clubs at the end of the first ninety minutes, some of those hopes are dashed. Think how those QPR supporters felt last season as the rejoicing Swansea hoards left Shepherds Bush noisily celebrating a 5-0 away victory. That season starter, followed by a main course of a Swansea League Cup win and the dessert of European qualification could never have been predicted by even the most prophetic and positive Jack.

But it happened.

This week we see the Premier League champions visit Swansea, one Manchester United, their star spangled stars, and worldwide support visiting our club. And that club (our club) could not be any further removed from the ethos that drives the spirit at Old Trafford. They may think they witnessed hard times in the seventies when relegated by a Denis Law back heel for Manchester City, but hard times as we know go far deeper than that. 

My first real experience of hard times at Swansea would have been my first experiences of following the team. For a youngster pre-1977 was as dismal a time to follow the Swans as any. The brief respite of John Toshack and Malcolm Struel followed by years of false hope thereafter set the mould for me as a Swansea City fan. I expect nothing more than defeat, so the past few seasons, in fact since we moved to the Liberty have been difficult to manage. Success of this sort in my football watching life is not in the script.

How many of you at 3-0 up with five minutes to go in a game still worry about defeat? 

I'll admit that at 4-0 up at QPR I was still wishing for a fifth, just to finish matters.

This is the Swansea Way as well, to expect the unexpected, no matter how it unfolds before you or how comfortable it is for others, you expect the worst. I expected the worst after our supporters club met in a Bristol hotel with Leigh Dineen etc prior to the fans take over of Swansea City. I expected the very worst after a home defeat to Exeter City at Easter in 2003, and indeed at 4-2 up against Hull City too that same year. I most certainly expected the worst at Wembley at half time when 3-0 up against Reading in the play offs.

So when I hear our new breed of fans talk of top half finishes in the Premier League It doesn't correlate that well with what I know and feel as a life time Swans fan. But then we as a club are there, at the top of our game again. And this time we are in to a third season and cup holders to boot as well.  Things have never been so rosy or so bright. But of course that means one thing to me as a football fan. 

There could well only be one way to go after so much success.

But my positivity gene is improving, it is being raised now on the success of the last seven years. To be truthful it's been on an upward curve ever since those fans walked off our rich Vetch Field terraces in 2002 and ran a football club to the top of the world game. From that small acorn the club has grown into a strong but determined sapling, a young pretender amongst the giants of the forest. Still not being taken seriously by the media, and ignored (through ignorance?) by the majority of the country's sports writers. Whilst this continues we have hope. It's only when we have everyone's expectation of victory, and not just the new Jacks of nowadays that I fear we may be in trouble. 

And the worst may then become the norm again.

But how can that now be the case? Wilfried Bony in a bright and shiny stadium, Michu too (it seems - although I remain cautious for how long) could well form a partnership with the man from Bingerville, Ivory Coast. In the midfield JonJo Shelvey is looking striking and will score goals from all angles.  JDG agreed to stay on because Laudrup did the same. The additions of Pozuelo and Canas the dog tamer linking with England hopeful Routledge and the guile of Britton is exciting. Nathan Dyer has recently committed to a new contract too, and with that signed he can concentrate on his football. After finding the net in pre-season, hopefully we'll see him turn some more games on their heads.

I could go on. The Emirates, Ash etc etc etc...

Yes, I am more hopeful now, and why not? I Paddy Powered a few free bets and SkyBet helped as well, so now I predict a top six end to the season and a top four goal striking finish for Bony at 50/1. As I explained the bookies like the media are still ripe for a Swansea taking. My positivity is now sky high, and like everyone else it will remain so regardless of the seasons outcomes. I mean lets be honest to stay in the Premier League and do this all again in twelve months time is the hope.

And as long as I keep on recalling how I made the journey to hope from hopelessness as a Swans fan, I think my outlook and future in reality may stay bright and rosy too.  Well I hope so, I mean there's doubles to be done, more victories to celebrate, more records to set, and we know - being first at this football lark makes the seconders go green.

Yeah, that's the point. It's victory and it's winning, and this habit we now have at Swansea is one I hope we never give up on. 

Because winning feels just fine. 

Twitter : @_KeithHaynes

Keith also writes for SOS fanzine

www.sosfanzine.com

Available around the ground.

Big thanks to Keith again for contributing to the site. Looking forward to your next post already!