CroJack
Key Player
I think we can all agree that Swansea football has been poor lately. Some think it's fatigue, some blame the owners for the lack of investment and the lack of squad depth, and some think it's all Cooper's fault.
Before Hourihane's arrival:
Conceded 0.5 goals per game, scored 1.2 goals per game
After Hourihane's arrival:
Conceded 1.2 goals per game, scored 1.5 goals per game
The fact is that our defence has not been as good as before Hourihane's arrival, though we have scored more goals per game. The trouble is that the difference between conceded/scored has deteriorated, from 0.7 to 0.3. What does it mean? Well, before we needed only one goal on average to win our games, and now we need two goals or more. Before, we were more likely to win our games, and now we are more likely to draw them. This will inevitably mean that the Swans won't be able to earn as many points as Norwich, Brentford and Watford until the end of the season, which will certainly cost them the top two place and automatic promotion.
We used to keep our defensive shape no matter whether we played from the back or not. Also, there was a natural connection between our back three and our midfield. Even when we were pressed high and forced to hoof the ball and lose possession, we were never really in a big trouble. We always had our defensive shape intact. Of course, we were not a free-scoring side, we didn't create many chances, but when we scored first we won our games. All of them.
When Hourihane arrived Cooper switched to 3-1-4-2 formation. Suddenly, our back three were not as protected as before - we stopped playing with double pivots in the defensive midfield. And even worse, we haven't had any defensive midfielders in the defensive midfield lately. Let me explain.
In the screenshot above you can see Grimes dropping to the centre-back position. Where is Naughton? Woodman doesn't really have passing options so he is forced to hoof the ball. Of course, we lose possesion and are immediately under pressure. In the counter-attack that follows we have 7 players who are too high up the pitch and forced to track back, and we don't have any defensive shape. This is what Huddersfield exploited and scored 4 goals. And Bristol forced us to make three defensive errors.
To Hourihane, or not to Hourihane, that is the question...
Some stats
Before Hourihane's arrival:
Conceded 0.5 goals per game, scored 1.2 goals per game
After Hourihane's arrival:
Conceded 1.2 goals per game, scored 1.5 goals per game
The fact is that our defence has not been as good as before Hourihane's arrival, though we have scored more goals per game. The trouble is that the difference between conceded/scored has deteriorated, from 0.7 to 0.3. What does it mean? Well, before we needed only one goal on average to win our games, and now we need two goals or more. Before, we were more likely to win our games, and now we are more likely to draw them. This will inevitably mean that the Swans won't be able to earn as many points as Norwich, Brentford and Watford until the end of the season, which will certainly cost them the top two place and automatic promotion.
So what has happened?
From the beginning og the season up til Hourihane's arrival we used to play these two formations.
We used to keep our defensive shape no matter whether we played from the back or not. Also, there was a natural connection between our back three and our midfield. Even when we were pressed high and forced to hoof the ball and lose possession, we were never really in a big trouble. We always had our defensive shape intact. Of course, we were not a free-scoring side, we didn't create many chances, but when we scored first we won our games. All of them.
When Hourihane arrived Cooper switched to 3-1-4-2 formation. Suddenly, our back three were not as protected as before - we stopped playing with double pivots in the defensive midfield. And even worse, we haven't had any defensive midfielders in the defensive midfield lately. Let me explain.
This is how we had a natural (though limited) attacking flow when we played 3-4-1-2 formation,
and 3-5-2 was not any different, whilst we at the same time kept our defensive shape
The things have changed when we switched to 3-1-4-2
And that formation in our case often looks like this:
It's not difficult to see what's wrong with it. There is a huge gap in the midfield. Grimes often plays as a centre-back, Naughton and Manning as full-backs, there is no one in the midfield to receive the passes from the back three, and the front four (or even six) can only be reached by playing long balls to them. It's easy for the opposition to force us to hoof the ball if they press our back three, and if we lose the ball up front, which we, by the way, do more often than not, it's easy to attack us through the middle of the park. Woodman doesn't have any passing options and is either forced to hoof the ball or to make an error.and 3-5-2 was not any different, whilst we at the same time kept our defensive shape
The things have changed when we switched to 3-1-4-2
And that formation in our case often looks like this:
In the screenshot above you can see Grimes dropping to the centre-back position. Where is Naughton? Woodman doesn't really have passing options so he is forced to hoof the ball. Of course, we lose possesion and are immediately under pressure. In the counter-attack that follows we have 7 players who are too high up the pitch and forced to track back, and we don't have any defensive shape. This is what Huddersfield exploited and scored 4 goals. And Bristol forced us to make three defensive errors.
Last edited: