Swans v Birmingham passing maps

[CroJack]

First half forward passes
(I lost the stream after 37 minutes, so 10 minutes of the first half are missing, though I have all forward passes for the second half)

Freddie Woodman had 100 % passing accuracy in the first 37 minutes of the first half:



Ben Cabango's passing was exceptional in the first half
Joe Rodon mostly played safe passes, and most of his passes in(to) the opposition half were poor
Marc Guehi, like Cabango, played a lot of forward passes, though not with the same success as Cabango



Connor Roberts was lively in the first half. He was willing to bomb forward and make forward passes. He did it with success.
Korey Smith was totally absent when it comes to forward passing in the first half.
Matt Grimes was poor as well. Half of his passes were poor.
Jake Bidwell did some runs in(to) opposition half and made some forward passes, but he was average.
Only two passes were delivered into opposition box by these four players.




Jamal Lowe, Morgan Gibbs-White and Andre Ayew were mostly absent in the first half when it comes
to attacking opposition box and passing into it.
Together they recorded one successful pass and three succesful crosses into opposition box.



As you can see Grimes, Smith, Ayew and Lowe were not good in the first half, and Giibs-White was not much better.
No creativity, no pass and move, not many dribbles, no forward runs with the ball, no runs into (half)spaces...
They were disjointed. No surprise we were not able to create any clear cut chances.​

 

[CroJack]

Second half forward passes

Freddie Woodman continued to pass the ball to our defenders and midfielders
Ground passes 100 % success.
Long balls 0 % success.



Cabango, Rodon and Guehi were excellent when it comes to forward passing in the second half.
All three bombed forward whenever they could, they made a lot of excellent forward passes and forward runs with the ball.
Here you can see how high they were positioned on the pitch.
Fantastic effort from all of them.



Bidwell and Roberts were incredibly poor in the second half.
They should have been replaced, because all we got from them was backward passing.
Smith was a little bit better, but that's not enough.
Grimes on the other hand woke up in the second half.
He made some excellent forward passes and runs with the ball. A pretty good second half from Matt.



Lowe and Gibbs-White were not much better in the second half,
which means they were equaly poor.
Ayew better, but still not enough to make any difference.
Still not much understanding between these three.


​

 

[CroJack]

Is Smith better than Fulton?
Is Lowe better than Peterson?

Discuss.

 

[CroJack]

One insteresting stat:

Guehi, Rodon and Cabango together made more forward passes in(to) opposition half in the second half than Bidwell, Grimes, Smith and Roberts together, and also more than Lowe, Gibbs-White and Ayew.

So much about our midfield and attack .

 

[KVetch]

Is Smith better than Fulton?
Is Lowe better than Peterson?

Discuss.

I didn't even realize he was playing until I heard his name mentioned. It's been 2 matches with a new club new squad around him new managers. I'll give him a chance to come into it. We haven't seen Peterson since almost a year ago. I would rate Lowe higher than Peterson. It seems pointless to keep him off the sheet though. I wish Cooper used more substitutions just to see what we have in players like him.

I saw pace in Lowe, trying to create, trying to defend. He seemed like one of the better players to me. He also should be taking free kicks. Let's hope Wycombe isn't a 0-0 draw and we see better passing.

We were defending way too much in the second half. It makes sense our defenders had more passes into the second half. The stats don't lie.

I love the new logo.

 

[Yankee_Jack]

Is Smith better than Fulton?
Is Lowe better than Peterson?

Discuss.

Fulton is being short changed. There is nothing I've seen from Smith that places him ahead of Fulton. Fulton has a touch of class about him - not noticeable amongst a crowd of Prem players, but now he's surrounded by lesser players he stands out.

Lowe / Peterson .... Peterson has to be worth a game surely. I haven't seen anything in Lowe other than raw pace. Cullen is the player that should be given a chance ahead of both of these.

 

[CroJack]

We were defending way too much in the second half. It makes sense our defenders had more passes into the second half. The stats don't lie.

These forward passes maps actually show the passes when we attacked.
You can see we attacked more on the flanks in the first half when Birmingham pressed us high. Apart from the opening 10 minutes we were more defensive in the first half than in the second.

In the second half Birmingham gave up on high pressing and were happy to sit back and play on counter-attacks. Our back three were in the Birmingham half for the majority of the second half.

Cabango, Rodon and Guehi were definitely our best players on the pitch. They were consistent performers for 90 minutes. Woodman was good as well, he made an important save.
Our other players worked hard and heloed the team to defend, but they were poor when we attacked.

 

[KVetch]

These forward passes maps actually show the passes when we attacked.
You can see we attacked more on the flanks in the first half when Birmingham pressed us high. Apart from the opening 10 minutes we were more defensive in the first half than in the second.

In the second half Birmingham gave up on high pressing and were happy to sit back and play on counter-attacks. Our back three were in the Birmingham half for the majority of the second half.

Cabango, Rodon and Guehi were definitely our best players on the pitch. They were consistent performers for 90 minutes. Woodman was good as well, he made an important save.
Our other players worked hard and heloed the team to defend, but they were poor when we attacked.

I watched most of it with my eyes closed. We haven't conceded yet although Wycombe is the perfect match to give up 3 goals. I really do fear a 3-1 loss. If we don't sell Rodon we will have the best young defenders in the Championship. I wouldn't be shocked to see Guehi get 5 goals this season. He almost got on the end of a corner.

Cullen should start, having pace between him and Lowe if nothing else can knock the opponent off balance. Make them run and defend and not form an attacking shape.

 

[CroJack]

Cullen should start, having pace between him and Lowe if nothing else can knock the opponent off balance.

Agreed. I'd love to see Cullen start on Saturday. That would probably mean a change in formation.

 

[Yankee_Jack]

No need to change formation, just sit Lowe and start Cullen.

 

[CroJack]

No need to change formation, just sit Lowe and start Cullen.

We can play them both. I would play Grimes in a more advanced midfield role, and Rodon as a defensive midfielder.

And when we defend we have again three at the back.



I think we would be able to preserve our good defensive record, but at the same time have a better attack. Though, I don't think Steve is going to change anything.​

 

[Yankee_Jack]

@CroJack ... very flexible line-up!!! But, way to sophisticated for Andy Pandy. Also dump Woody and it's definitely a front-foot setup.

 

[CroJack]

@CroJack ... very flexible line-up!!! But, way to sophisticated for Andy Pandy. Also dump Woody and it's definitely a front-foot setup.

I feel we have to change something because we are ineffective up front. Our midfield sucks, and Lowe and Ayew have not been good either.

After two games we are:

- in the botom half for goals scored,
- second worst for shots per game,
- mid-table for shots on target per game,
- in the botom half for dribbles per game,
- second worst for key passes per game,
- worst for short key passes per game,
- worst for accurate long balls per game,
- forth worst for inaccurate short passes per game

Did you know that Ayew hasn't have a single shot in two games? And that Lowe has had one shot in two games???
Our two strikers together have had one shot in two games. How bad is that? Steve has to change something.

 

[CroJack]

@Yankee_Jack Against Wycombe, who is one of the poorest sides in the Championship, we could play a more offensive 4-2-3-1:

or even 4-1-4-1:

​

 

[ivoralljack]

You could even use Roberts/Nauts at RB and use Lowe on the other flank to Peterson. That would give us trickery and pace on both flanks providing both were prepared to drop back and help defend when necessary. Hopefully when we're attacking they will provide some decent service to Cullen in the box where he best operates.

 

[Yankee_Jack]

What about Fulton ... play him instead of GW.