1. Is the lack of new arrivals a huge issue for the Swans?
No. Why? Because our clueless manager wanted to strengthen our attack, and not the defence. We don't lose our games because we can't score, we lose them because we concede too many. We have one of the poorest defences in the Championship.
There is an obvious fault on the managerial side - a suicidally high back-line played by the slow players who are mentally weak and can't concentrate for 90 minutes. The result of this brilliant idea is plenty of high quality chances and easy goals conceded.
Whilst we have to work too hard to break down opposition defences and the reason for this is our too slow progressing with the ball, the opposition have an open door when they attack our goal - plenty of space in between and behind our lines. When you add to this the lack of quality of the Swansea goalkeepers and defenders, then we have the picture.
So, no, Ogbene, Grant etc. wouldn't solve our problems because
for Swansea it's impossible to score more than they can concede.
2. Do Swansea have a thin squad?
No. But Swansea do have a mishandled squad. Mishandled both by the club hierarchy and manager.
A) Discriminatory wages
Jamie Paterson, Joel Piroe, Michael Obafemi, Ryan Manning, Oli Cooper and Morgan Whittaker are paid less than Andrew Fisher, Harry Darling and the-last-ten-minutes-player Olivier Ntcham. Let's that sink in.
The players are petulant and sulking? You bet they are. When a club rewards mediocre players and forgets the real performers then Paterson's strike, Piroe's body-language, Obafemi's sulking, Manning's fuck-the-new-deal, and Whittaker's not-in-the-right-frame-of-mind suddenly makes sense.
B) Pushing the player out of the club, then pulling out of the deal, and then accusing the player of being petulant
After a good second half of last season Michael Obafemi was identified by the club hierarchy as one of the players who should be sold for a significant profit. They told him he would be sold and then they pulled out of the deal saying that Burnley didn't meet the valuation. You might say the club has every right to do what it did. Yes, the club has every right to sell its players, but there is a difference between receiving offers for a player and offering a player to the other clubs.
C) How can a manager who didn't want to use Morgan Whittaker, Liam Cullen and Armstrong Oko-Flex complain about a thin squad?
Benda had to wait a year to get another chance, Brandon Cooper never got a run of games, same with Jordon Garrick, Nathanael Ogbeta and Kyle Joseph.
3. Opta "analysts" don't know what they are talking about when it comes to expected goals
And that's why they can't explain what's going on at Swansea. "Swansea have the third lowest expected goals against" my ass. That's a load of bullshit.
From the very beginning of this season Swansea have been one of the worst teams when it comes to the expected goals against. All well explained in my Championship Expected Goals & Points threads. I have always pointed out that Swansea give away a lot of high quality chances.
Here is the Expected goals table from the Round 18
Though, since we changed to four at the back our xGoals Against numbers have improved.
4. An average manager with an average style of play would have Swansea lower in the league table
False. We would be in the top three right now.
5. Shot stopping ability of our keepers
Their stats could be better, but the number of goals we could blame them for is statistically insignificant compared to the number of goals conceded as a result of the managerial incompetency.
6. At centre-back position Swansea are in a good shape
False. Our centre-backs are not good enough for our style of football with a high back-line. They are simply too slow.
7. I agree with him on Manning, Latibeaudiere, Sorinola, Oli Cooper, Paterson, Grimes, Piroe...
He described pretty well their strengths and weaknesses.
8. Swansea don't have a fox in the box
False. We have Cullen.
9. Swansea don't have ball carriers (dribblers) who can take on opposition defenders
False. We have Paterson, Whittaker, Congreve and we had Oko-Flex. None of them used much this season if used at all.
10. Liam Cullen is maybe a solution up front instead of Obafemi
False. It's not maybe. Cullen is exactly what we need in the box.
11. Definitely agree with him on Whittaker
Whittaker has excellent stats in the League One this season and there is no reason why he wouldn't be able to reproduce such form in the Championship where he will be surrounded with Cooper, Piroe, Allen, Grimes, Fulton and Cullen.
12. Swansea are a good team that play a good system with a good manager
False. If we look at it optimistically then we can say Swansea are a half good team that play a half good system, and have a half good manager.
13. Swansea managers have not been backed by the owners like the managers at the other Championship clubs
False. In the past couple of seasons Swansea have been one of the Championship sides that spent most money on the new players. Just have a look at Transfermarkt's Championship transfer activities year by year.
The truth? Our managers have not been particularly good when it comes to transfers. Neither Potter, Cooper nor Martin.
14. It doesn't feel Swansea are building a squad here
True. And that's Martin's fault. He doesn't know the market, he doesn't know what makes a modern football player, and his vision of the team and the style of football is not the same as ours.
An ideal football player have to have: pace, physical strength, technical ability, footballing intelligence and strong mentality. It's extremely difficult to find such players even in the top leagues, but players who have got pace, physical strength and strong mentality CAN be found in the lower leagues. If National League side Wrexham can find such players, then why can't we?
I would argue that pace, physical strength and strong mentality are more important in modern Championship football than technical ability and footballing intelligence. If you can run fast and are physically strong you'll always be able to correct mistakes you make and recover the ball. You'll be able to press all over the pitch and constantly disrupt opposition build-up play. You'll win both your areal and ground duels, you'll be able to score from headers, you'll be able to create space for you and your players etc., etc.
If we analyse the players we've had in the last five years and use the above five attributes in our analysis, then it's easy to see what has been wrong with the Swansea recruitment. I guess that:
- less than 10% of our players have had pace
- less than 30% of our players have had physicality
- less than 30% of our players have had strong mentality
- less than 30% of our players have had technical ability
- less than 30% of our players have had footballing intelligence
How about a team of players where 100% of them have pace, physicality and strong mentality? Wouldn't that be a good start? And if you add to that an average technical ability, footballing intelligence and quick passing, then I think we would easily win this league.
15. Has Martin been undermined by our owners?
No. Have THEY forced him to sign Fisher, Darling, Sorinola etc.? No.
