Middlesbrough v Swansea.

[Jackflash]

Not going to be an easy game, our main objective now is goals, we need to top Watford's GD. we are winning games more down to our defence rather than our attack, scraping through with the odd goal.we seem to be a 75 minute team, last 15 mins. pretty much a nail biter. Where would we be up front without Ayew, our final third play doesn't really warrant our position in the table. GD could well decide promotion this season.

 

[Yankee_Jack]

@CroJack ... where are we now with respect to expected goals etc.

@Jackflash ... it seems to me, and the Forest game is the most indicative yet, that we don't press our quality and reaping the advantages. We are under performing - final third explicitly - with respect to our overall quality. Against Forest, time and again we sliced through them with passing and movement, but our delivery into the box was woeful.

 

[Victoria Swan]

This year really reminds me of when Monk managed to get us to eighth in the Premier League by scraping by with victory after victory using one-goal margins. We really do have to start winning games by two or more goals (if only for my own heath that can't handle all these squeaky bum finishes!).

 

[CroJack]

@CroJack ... where are we now with respect to expected goals etc.

We have the best defence together with Brentford (expected goals against), but have dropped down to 7th place when it comes to expected goals for.

We all know that we don't create many chances, and from those few chances we create we rarely score. Without Ayew, we wouldn't be in the top six right now, and it's pretty obvious we desperately need a prolific striker. All of this can change when a) Gibbs-White recovers, and b) Cullen and Vic start scoring some goals.

 

[CroJack]

This year really reminds me of when Monk managed to get us to eighth in the Premier League by scraping by with victory after victory using one-goal margins. We really do have to start winning games by two or more goals (if only for my own heath that can't handle all these squeaky bum finishes!).

We have to be realistic, when it comes to scoring goals apart from Ayew we don't have enough quality up front, and we don't have enough quality in midfield. Our midfielders don't score goals. Remember Michu? Also, if we want to score more goals then we have to change formation.

 

[Yankee_Jack]

We have the best defence together with Brentford (expected goals against), but have dropped down to 7th place when it comes to expected goals for.

We all know that we don't create many chances, and from those few chances we create we rarely score. Without Ayew, we wouldn't be in the top six right now, and it's pretty obvious we desperately need a prolific striker. All of this can change when a) Gibbs-White recovers, and b) Cullen and Vic start scoring some goals.

Cullen and Vik can't score with their bums on the bench. Lowe has had more than enough opportunity to show that he can't hunt and gather goals, and time and again opportunities have been squandered. What's to be lost by rotating Lowe out and Cullen in ... or Vik for that matter. Same story with Palmer

 

[Jackflash]

We have to be realistic, when it comes to scoring goals apart from Ayew we don't have enough quality up front, and we don't have enough quality in midfield. Our midfielders don't score goals. Remember Michu? Also, if we want to score more goals then we have to change formation.

Remember Michu ? Could we ever forget him.

 

[Borini]

Is this one of the away games we can watch with our season pass?

 

[Behindthegoal]

Yes all midweek away games are included
Bournemouth blew it tonight. Thanks to Scotty.

 

[Borini]

Yes all midweek away games are included
Bournemouth blew it tonight. Thanks to Scotty.

Thanks.

 

[CroJack]

Lowe has had more than enough opportunity to show that he can't hunt and gather goals, and time and again opportunities have been squandered

Which opportunities? We don't create many chances. I agree he could have scored a couple of goals more than he did, but the chances he has had were not so big. Much better players than Lowe have missed much better chances.

Have some fun, even our Scotty is in this video:

You can't expect strikers to score from every chance they get. And Lowe is not even a top Championship player. He is what he is. He can score 5 - 10 goals per season if we create enough chances for him, and that's it. For an ordinary winger, which he is, that's what you can expect. That's what Routledge and Dyer used to score for us per season. He is neither Sinclair nor Ayew.

What I don't like about Lowe is that he doesn't create anything for himself and for the other players. He plays up front and he hasn't had a single assist so far.

What I like about Lowe is his work rate. He constantly chases opposition defenders and by doing that he keeps at least two of them busy, which means we outnumber opposition in other aerias of the pitch.

My point is that the lack of goals is not a big deal, but the luck of creativity is. We'll be scoring more goals when we start creating more chances.

 

[Jackflash]

Ayew is starting to have a tough time of it now up front, whenever he collects the ball he has 2 or even 3 men on him, but yet he scores in these situations. we have no one else capable of anywhere near this, also we are now lacking an aerial threat in the box, (excluding Roberts leap, possibly assisted by the defenders shoulders ?) Bidwell puts in some good crosses, only to be wasted at the far post.

 

[CroJack]

Ayew is starting to have a tough time of it now up front, whenever he collects the ball he has 2 or even 3 men on him, but yet he scores in these situations. we have no one else capable of anywhere near this, also we are now lacking an aerial threat in the box

Vic is capable of taking on opposition defenders.

As for aerial threat that's another thing I don't like about Lowe. He is a big and tall lad, he should be scoring some goals from headers.

 

[IanABS94]

Lowe has missed at least 4 sitters so far this season, two of which against Norwich would've turned a loss into a win. His work rate is great and he finds himself in good positions but his finishing is brutal and nowhere near good enough for him to start up top every match in a team who is fighting for automatic promotion.

 

[Yankee_Jack]

Net on Lowe, too little output of significance. We have other players proven to have the tools to finish at lower levels needing the same level of tolerance that Lowe has received. Cullen would likely not have missed the sitters Lowe has.

 

[KVetch]

I'm nervous about tonight. Having Warnock there makes it feel like a derby doesn't it.

 

[Victoria Swan]

Lowe has missed at least 4 sitters so far this season, two of which against Norwich would've turned a loss into a win. His work rate is great and he finds himself in good positions but his finishing is brutal and nowhere near good enough for him to start up top every match in a team who is fighting for automatic promotion.

Sorry @CroJack but don't think you have it right about Lowe. Yes, he's a winger and might be great if he was played there but at the moment he is being asked to be our striker and @IanABS94 has it right - he's missed too many sitters to be gettting slotted into our striker role game after game (especially when we have two strikers left on the bench, neither of whom have really been given a run of games like Lowe has).

 

[Jackflash]

Not going to be a evening where we can expect too much from league wise,, with Norwich away to Luton, 15th place.
Watford away to Forest. 21st place.
But looking on the brighter side if Luton were to turn Norwich over there's every possibility of us going top with a win.

 

[KVetch]

Luton has had some luck this season. Would be nice to see Swans top of the table tonight. Football is a strange game. Wonder if Warnock's comments will motivate anyone. He said only Bournemouth, Watford and Norwich are good enough to win the league. He's not wrong but a good manager could use that to motivate them. We seemed destined for another playoff draw.

 

[Borini]

Swansea City: Freddie Woodman; Ben Cabango, Ryan Bennett, Marc Guehi; Connor Roberts, Korey Smith, Jay Fulton, Ryan Manning; Kasey Palmer; Andre Ayew (captain), Jamal Lowe.

Substitutes: Steven Benda, Kyle Naughton, Jake Bidwell, Matt Grimes, Yan Dhanda, Wayne Routledge, Jordon Garrick, Viktor Gyokeres, Liam Cullen.

Middlesbrough: Marcus Bettinelli, Djed Spence, Dael Fry, Paddy McNair, Marc Bola, Sam Morsy, Jonny Howson, Marcus Tavernier, Marvin Johnson, Duncan Watmore, Chuba Akpom.

Substitutes: Dejan Stojanovic, Nathan Wood, Hayden Coulson, Lewis Wing, George Saville, Isaiah Jones, Sam Folarin, Patrick Roberts, Britt Assombalonga.