Swans v Derby County
- Thread starter ivoralljack
- Start date
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
Ref was an utter c@@$
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
Celina is the sloppiest player in critical situations ... cost us several opportunities today.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
Borja is showing as our best #9 so far. But, if Ayew sticks and is fit, he is going to walk into the #9 role.
Good point at probable promotion contenders. Ratcliffe felt that overall we just edged the game and, like many on here, felt that Celina had a very poor match. That said, he commented that even though we weren't firing on all cylinders, we can only get better (particularly Celina whom he rates) and there were enough signs to show there are good things to come. He's rarely lavish with his praise of us, so we can take a great deal of encouragement from that assessment. 
CroJack
Key Player
They are not promotion contenders. We are, but we have to stick with our style of play and play at higher level than we did today in the second half.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
Thoughts on Huddlestone? Polished, kept it simple, always available, could be dangerous if he gets a rocket up his rear end.
Given that we've lost two of our most effective players from last season (Dan and Oli) I think it's too soon to claim that we are promotion contenders. It might very well turn out that way but we have an untested manager and a squad that has a lot to learn about each other. If they gel properly (and quickly) and play to their potential then we could be a force in the Championship this season. BUT, imo, the lads will have to play to their FULL potential for most of the time and not 50% of it as Celina did today.
Borini
Key Player
His name is Bluenose or Ratarse, it chokes him to praise our boys.Good point at probable promotion contenders. Ratcliffe felt that overall we just edged the game
CroJack
Key Player
It's too soon to say Derby are promotion contenders
.Jokes aside, we controlled the game in the first half at THEIR home turf, and imo we played better football.
That's what I meant when I said we were promotion contenders. Play our style of play for 90 minutes and play to full potential.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
Step 1 towards promotion ... a real keeper. Woodman did the job and looked the part. Expect him to get better and as a result our CBs to make the little adjustments towards dominance as their confidence him grows.
Looked like the substitutions were a step backwards,they appeared to upset the rhyme we had going in the first 65/70 mins. Also looks as if we are not yet up to 90mins fitness We pressed Derby well in the first half, but in the second half Derby strengthened or we weakened as the half progressed, having said that a point at Pride Park is no mean achievement. Well done YJB's.
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CroJack
Key Player
Here are my thoughts.
You are all probably wondering why I'm not happy with one point earned in an away game against 'promotion contenders' Derby?
The answer is simple, we didn't go for all three points as we should.
We played a pretty good first half. The only thing I was unhappy with was our sloppiness in the final third. Too many hopeless shots from outside the box instead of feeding Borja with key-passes and crosses.
In the second half, instead of keeping poossession, insisting on passing patterns and good pressing, which Derby couldn't cope with, we started playing kick & rush football. Have you ever seen Manchester City control the game and play beautiful passing football in the first half and then play kick & rush football in the second half? I haven't. Why? Because kick & rush football suits lesser teams. Physically stronger and technically inferior teams profit from kaos, set pieces and crosses. Pep knows that, and Cooper should know that as well.
By giving possession away and by being stupidly dispossessed, we allowed Derby to attack our box time after time. We simply must not do that in future. I'd rather we played like we did against Norwich in the second game against them last seson and lost 1:0, then played kick & rush football and 'earned' one point. The former would give me hope, the latter worries me. I don't want our goalkeeper to be MOTM.
You are all probably wondering why I'm not happy with one point earned in an away game against 'promotion contenders' Derby?
The answer is simple, we didn't go for all three points as we should.
We played a pretty good first half. The only thing I was unhappy with was our sloppiness in the final third. Too many hopeless shots from outside the box instead of feeding Borja with key-passes and crosses.
In the second half, instead of keeping poossession, insisting on passing patterns and good pressing, which Derby couldn't cope with, we started playing kick & rush football. Have you ever seen Manchester City control the game and play beautiful passing football in the first half and then play kick & rush football in the second half? I haven't. Why? Because kick & rush football suits lesser teams. Physically stronger and technically inferior teams profit from kaos, set pieces and crosses. Pep knows that, and Cooper should know that as well.
By giving possession away and by being stupidly dispossessed, we allowed Derby to attack our box time after time. We simply must not do that in future. I'd rather we played like we did against Norwich in the second game against them last seson and lost 1:0, then played kick & rush football and 'earned' one point. The former would give me hope, the latter worries me. I don't want our goalkeeper to be MOTM.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
To follow-up on what @CroJack wrote above, last season we benefited by a core group of players - Roberts, Roden, Fulton, Grimes, Dyer, Routs, McB, James - that have been with the club for years and know how to play our way. James and McB left, two down. Routs wasn’t selected. Byers sat on the bench. And we went with players, especially with the second half subs that are not Swansalona branded. When you took out Dyer that weakened it even more. Dhanda was not as effective as Byers could have been. Celina is lost when he’s not #10.
Cooper is going to try to play his shiny new pennies as often as he can, it’s only natural, but while he meanders to find the best combination, we will depart from our best brand and we will have struggles as a result.
Perhaps it’s not fair to judge on one 20 minute appearance but I didn’t see anything in Surridge that marks him as an alternative to CBR, a replacement for McB or a challenger to Borja. I’m still hopeful Ayew sticks and is used in his best role as #9.
Cooper is going to try to play his shiny new pennies as often as he can, it’s only natural, but while he meanders to find the best combination, we will depart from our best brand and we will have struggles as a result.
Perhaps it’s not fair to judge on one 20 minute appearance but I didn’t see anything in Surridge that marks him as an alternative to CBR, a replacement for McB or a challenger to Borja. I’m still hopeful Ayew sticks and is used in his best role as #9.
Two good posts making some valid points. Whilst accepting those points, it just might be that the Derby manager got to grips with what we were doing first half and got his team to be more effective in dealing with it in the second period. I didn't actually watch the game, so I can only offer my theory based on what the comms were saying. And they did say that our substitutions definitely disrupted the rhythm of our first half play.
It will take a little time for Cooper to get to grips with his new charges who, in turn, will take some time to settle and produce what Cooper expects from them. When this has been achieved I look forward to a very decent season.
It will take a little time for Cooper to get to grips with his new charges who, in turn, will take some time to settle and produce what Cooper expects from them. When this has been achieved I look forward to a very decent season.