Cullen works his socks off and when he's pressing you frequently see him waving others up to join him in a collective. He shouldn't have to do that: they should be doing it of their own volition. And, in my experience, one major reason why players don't press is that they're not fit enough to get back if the press fails. Seen it so often during my playing days, so I know what goes on when I watch it.We won't get anywhere as long as we have passive strikers like Yates and Cullen in our starting XI. Piroe doesn't wait for others to create chances for him. He creates chances for himself by dropping deep, by making himself available to receive the ball, by being involved in the build-up much more than Cullen and Yates... Although I agree that Cullen is much better at the build-up than Yates, it's still not enough.
I agree that Cullen doesn't create a great deal for himself as I've often posted before but you need to make the most of the players' strengths. Cullen is a poacher, a very good one, so we HAVE to get the ball into the box far more often than we do. It's when he's at his best and for the life of me I can't understand why we don't do it when he's playing. If Cameron Toshack was our manager he'd make damned sure that Cullen did get that service. And we'd score a lot more goals. Some stats from that shameful display this evening:
POSSESSION: 42-58 SHOTS: 7-13 OT: 1-8 CORNERS: 5-2 FOULS: 11-10 GOALS: 0-4
Swansea head coach Luke Williams said: "I know we were facing outstanding opposition but without a doubt we lacked belief.
"We were too hesitant and didn't compete properly. We were set up to press but were too timid to apply anywhere near enough pressure on them and paid the price.
"We came out second best too many times and with space, quality players will unpick you."
The manager is responsible for all these things and is handsomely paid to see that his game plan is enacted. If the players fail to implement said game plan then heads must roll; including that of the manager if he's not good enough to get his message across. We were a complete fcuking shambles tonight and both the team and the manager had better take a long hard look at themselves to see if they're good enough. On tonight's evidence, none of them are.