West Brom

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
Swansea: Mulder, van der Hoorn, Rodon, Carter-Vickers, Roberts, Fer, Grimes, Olsson, Celina, McBurnie, James
Substitutes: Nordfeldt, Bony, Montero, McKay, John, Naughton, Fulton,

Big units at the back. Grimes starts in midfield. Montero appears on the bench.

Another strong line-up.
 

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
Just got back from watching the game with Blobs (who was his usual great company) courtesy of Borini. My sincere thanks to both. :) As for the game it was truly a nothing performance. Our insistence on playing it out from the back nearly cost us a couple of times (did we not learn from Celina on Saturday?) and was so painfully slow I could have gone to the bog and back before we reached the halfway line!! There was no energy, no passion, no commitment and bordered on insulting the fans who turned out to watch them.

In short, this was a dreadful performance lacking in anything that would give us confidence for the remainder of the season. James apart, we had no pace, we totally lacked a cutting edge, attacked in dribs and drabs, continually lost possession through bad passing and a shocking lack of movement and didn't have the slightest clue about how to defend a corner. Maybe the owners' chickens are coming home to roost because if tonight's performance is indicative of our team going forward, we will be looking at lower mid table at best. I think that other teams have worked us out.

On the plus side Montero offered a decent cameo but Wilf suffered from a complete lack of service as our midfielders had no idea whatsoever of how to get the ball to him. Oli works hard but despite his goal is not what we need up front. He has no pace, little control to hold the ball up and isn't strong enough to bully determined defenders. And sometimes his positional play is a complete mystery to me. :unsure:

Missed my dinner and I'm now off to have a late supper, so more on this abject performance later.
 

Behindthegoal

Key Player
The cracks are beginning to show. There are only so many ways Potter can shuffle the pack to motivate the squad.
I'm afraid our opponents are worldly wise and know how to get away with fouls, much to our starlets' disbelief.
We could do with a few "old pros".
I was particularly disappointed with James' attitude when Jeff was subbed on. Montero passed on instructions to move into the middle and James looked at him like "why don't YOU move in the middle?"
 

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
The stats from yesterday, Swans first.

Possession: 57-43 Shots: 19-11 OT: 4-3 Corners: 8-4 Fouls: 11-11 GOALS: 1-2

Our ratio of shots on target was about 21% whilst WBA had 27%. Equally concerning was that WBA converted 2 corners from 4 into goals whilst we got our usual sod all from twice as many corners. I'm afraid that Mulder has to take much responsibilty for the goals but he wasn't helped by some truly terrible passive defending from those in front of him. I hope that we are not regressing to those bad old days when Monk was playing and we couldn't defend a set piece to save our lives!! Set piece concessions are an anathema to every coach in the game and I fervently wish that our coaches are putting in the work to improve this aspect of our game because set piece goals abound in the Championship.

Potter said that he was pleased with much of the performance especially during the first half. Well I certainly wasn't, as was the case with many of those sitting around me. Were we watching different games? We took unnecessary risks playing out from the back and nearly lost the ball on a number of occasions (as we did against Norwich) but I wouldn't carp if this tactic launched an attack for us. All too often it didn't because our transition was so painfully slow. I don't advocate playing hoof ball but sometimes, when the situation demands, you should do just that. It varies the tactics anyway and keeps opposing defences wary of having to deal with something different. In any event, it's NEVER a good idea to put yourselves under pressure in your own third!!

We rarely got enough attackers in the box and those high, hanging crosses that we persistently floated in were just meat and drink for their tall, physical defenders. Llorente doesn't live here any more!! As for chance creation, I don't have the time to fully write what I think about that. It's plain awful even though Celina on his day can set them up. What we lack, as I touched on in another post, is a Pablo who is always involved in the game and can play those cute, subtle passes to put people in on goal. Celina, who has much potential, is nowhere near his class yet.

As for our finishing, I'm just fed up of repeating the same thing. It's pretty poor and there are times when I can't believe just how bad it is. If our coaches are happy with the standards we are showing in this regard then it's time they had a severe reality check. On now to Derby and given our last two performances, I'm not too hopeful of a result. But there again we are talking about the Swans and they just might turn up and surprise us all. COYS!!
 

Behindthegoal

Key Player
Routledge must start. I never thought I'd write that again!
Just at the moment we do have runners who know where they want to be, but are poorly served.
Our Wayne has lost a few yards but he can play the ball they are craving. (With his eyes shut)
The Liberty don't like him any more, but Derby is away. Has he started at the Liberty this season?
 

Jackflash

Midfield General
Staff member
Talking of finishers in the box, I see Tammy Abraham bagged four for Villa in the 5-5 draw with Forest.
 

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
They were discussing him on Talk Sport this morning. The consensus was that he is a top quality Championship striker but has a lot to prove at the highest level. They said it would be interesting to see how he would perform in the PL if Villa were promoted and kept him.
 

Jackflash

Midfield General
Staff member
They were discussing him on Talk Sport this morning. The consensus was that he is a top quality Championship striker but has a lot to prove at the highest level. They said it would be interesting to see how he would perform in the PL if Villa were promoted and kept him.
Early days for him yet though, he only turned 21 six weeks ago, as for the question how would he perform for Villa if promoted, maybe we'll never know. there's strong talk of Chelsea pulling him back in Jan. due to their misfiring strikers at the moment.
 

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
Routledge must start. I never thought I'd write that again!
Just at the moment we do have runners who know where they want to be, but are poorly served.
Our Wayne has lost a few yards but he can play the ball they are craving. (With his eyes shut)
The Liberty don't like him any more, but Derby is away. Has he started at the Liberty this season?
In the same vein, we have experience in Dyer and Narsingh that is being ignored when the likes of McShit are considered worthy of sub'ing on as game changers. It's comical.
 
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