Yankee_Jack
Key Player
Once again we return to the oasis ... Barnsley is first up. Mired in the bottom three, on paper we should win this, on the field this couldn't be farther from the truth as Stoke so easily demonstrated.
The questions are:
I am hoping that we will see a purposeful forward line with experienced wingers that know how to play (Routs and Dyer); that Dhanda gets to watch and learn from the bench or the stands instead of on the field in the #10 role for which he is not yet ready; that Celina is either used in his best position as #10 or not at all; and that Ayew gets to think about which part of the phrase "playing wide on the wing" he doesn't understand. Whether Ayew or Borja starts as #9 is immaterial; they are both more than capable of doing the job.
Over the last few games we have expected our full backs to carry a greater defensive burden with the players in front of them - Ayew and Celina - not really having much of a defensive clue or desire. We got burned badly with this missing piece of the puzzle. This is exhausting for our FBs as Roberts demonstrated in the second half against Stoke (courtesy of @CroJack and his passing map) - either that or Stoke devised a masterful tactical plan at half time. This is the piece that Dyer and Routs know like the back of their hands and having been key participants in triangles, give-n-goes down the wing, and the skinning of countless FBs over countless seasons know how, at this level, to deliver disruption and destruction to the opposition. Hoping that Celina and Ayew find some sporadic piece of magic is like hoping for a fart to overcome thunder ... I'm getting tired of waiting ... a game is not a few sporadic moments but 90+ minutes and we spend far too much time not applying lethal pressure to the opposition or making passes that never have a prayer of working out instead of whipping in crosses to offer our #9 etc a chance to attack or working the other team's CBs into fatigue and mistakes.
Playing like we did in the Prem, when we dropped, is not a recipe for promotion and that's what we have been drifting into. It has to end against Barnsley.
The questions are:
- Which Swans team will show up - the one with tempo and desire, or the one where players in key roles go invisible and others struggle to close the gap?
- Has Cooper got is tactical and selection shit together?
- Will we yet again see the same non-creative, disjoint forward lines?
- How well has Barnsley gone to school on Stoke's methods and can they replicate ... they've had two weeks of full squad preparation?
I am hoping that we will see a purposeful forward line with experienced wingers that know how to play (Routs and Dyer); that Dhanda gets to watch and learn from the bench or the stands instead of on the field in the #10 role for which he is not yet ready; that Celina is either used in his best position as #10 or not at all; and that Ayew gets to think about which part of the phrase "playing wide on the wing" he doesn't understand. Whether Ayew or Borja starts as #9 is immaterial; they are both more than capable of doing the job.
Over the last few games we have expected our full backs to carry a greater defensive burden with the players in front of them - Ayew and Celina - not really having much of a defensive clue or desire. We got burned badly with this missing piece of the puzzle. This is exhausting for our FBs as Roberts demonstrated in the second half against Stoke (courtesy of @CroJack and his passing map) - either that or Stoke devised a masterful tactical plan at half time. This is the piece that Dyer and Routs know like the back of their hands and having been key participants in triangles, give-n-goes down the wing, and the skinning of countless FBs over countless seasons know how, at this level, to deliver disruption and destruction to the opposition. Hoping that Celina and Ayew find some sporadic piece of magic is like hoping for a fart to overcome thunder ... I'm getting tired of waiting ... a game is not a few sporadic moments but 90+ minutes and we spend far too much time not applying lethal pressure to the opposition or making passes that never have a prayer of working out instead of whipping in crosses to offer our #9 etc a chance to attack or working the other team's CBs into fatigue and mistakes.
Playing like we did in the Prem, when we dropped, is not a recipe for promotion and that's what we have been drifting into. It has to end against Barnsley.
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