My Swansea Ratings: Sheffield Away 2018/19

[Clucasade]

Wow. What a game. First half was slow but by the end my throat had turned rougher than sand. Truly was magnificent to watch! Potter Ball is here and it feels good. Anyway, here’s my personal player ratings, feel free to criticise or agree with me.

Nordfeldt: 7/10 - Wasn’t kept that busy during the game, made some good goal kicks however and commanded his area well. Was unlucky to concede the goal.

Roberts: 7/10 - Had a good game, tracked back well, made some great defensive work and had a lot of energy. Definitely should be our RB for this coming season.

Van Der Hoorn: 8/10 - Absolute quality at the back. Wore the captains armband and was an absolute beast in our box. Won all the headers he could and was easily our best defender of the night.

Fernandez: 7/10 - Like VDH, the pairing of these two worked wonders as we kept Sheffield tame for most of the game. Passed around well. Hope he stays.

Olsson: 7/10 - was very nice going forward and made a few tackles in his side of the pitch. Defence all round unlucky to concede tbh. Cemented himself as our starting LB.

Fulton: 5/10 - wasn’t a stand out player, did his job well I suppose. 5/10 is average, so don’t think this is a negative, more just a decent performance. Woods should come in to replace him, though.

Carroll: 6/10 - same as Fulton, really. Wasn’t a stand out player either. Linked up well with Celina for the most part. Wouldn’t mind him being replaced either, but he can definitely improve with more game time / freedom on the pitch.

Celina: 8/10. Was our best player by far in linking up and passing the ball around. Had a great game and was our best player in the first half. Can’t wait to see what he does in the future.

McKay: 8/10. Simply an awesome player to watch on the pitch, and is one with a lot of skill and talent that will be very fun to watch going forward. We need to get the ball to his feet more. Unlucky not to score a great volley.

Asoro: 7/10 - Looked good to start with, he did fade a bit as the game got on but there’s definitely something to the boy. Will be interesting to see if he keeps his place going forward.

McBurnie: 8/10 - While he didn’t really have much to do in the first half, he took his chances well and scored a quality poachers goal to put us level, when most heads were down. Is definitely a presence in the box and should be gifted more chances by our other forward players.

Subs:
Montero: 9/10
Grimes: 6/10
Dhanda: 8/10

Manager: 9/10
Sheffield: 6/10
My MOTM: Montero

Feel free to leave your thoughts below.

 

[Yankee_Jack]

The game shifted in our favor with the introduction of Montero and Grimes on the left side and dropping Celina behind Fulton and Carroll.

Montero was class and unstoppable. He has to start next match, every match he is fit to play. Asoro would be a good sub when Montero tires.

Dhande took his chance well.

Fulton was beyond disappointing. He and Carroll were virtually anonymous for far too much of the game especially in the first half.

Olsson was OK, but frankly Grimes added something in that LB slot. He reads the game well, knows how to feed Montero, and knows how to stay out of the guys way.

The big question mark for next week: midfield. Fulton has to find another gear and quality or put him on the bench and plug Amat into that role.

 

[Clucasade]

The game shifted in our favor with the introduction of Montero and Grimes on the left side and dropping Celina behind Fulton and Carroll.

Montero was class and unstoppable. He has to start next match, every match he is fit to play. Asoro would be a good sub when Montero tires.

Dhande took his chance well.

Fulton was beyond disappointing. He and Carroll were virtually anonymous for far too much of the game especially in the first half.

Olsson was OK, but frankly Grimes added something in that LB slot. He reads the game well, knows how to feed Montero, and knows how to stay out of the guys way.

The big question mark for next week: midfield. Fulton has to find another gear and quality or put him on the bench and plug Amat into that role.

Rumours have been circulating over us getting Ryan Woods, Jairo Riedewald, and another CM I forgot about. Should we get these players, we will be in a much better position than we are already!

God, all this talk about Montero is bringing me back to the 2013/14 season!

 

[Behindthegoal]

Not much to add to the ratings. Olsson is lacking match fitness and Celina can be Leon Mark ll.
Nice to read your erudite comments, Cluc, long time no see.

 

[Clucasade]

Not much to add to the ratings. Olsson is lacking match fitness and Celina can be Leon Mark ll.
Nice to read your erudite comments, Cluc, long time no see.

Thank you very much. It’s nice to be back with the good folk.

 

[CroJack]

I don't give MoM to subs so I voted for McKay. But, but...Montero was fabulous and his dribbles and crosses have totally changed the game. Had he played for more than 80 minutes he would definitely be my MoM.
Our youngsters were excellent. The best thing is that there is so much potential in all of them. They can only be better.

We we were too nervous in the first half, and our passing was terrible, but in the second half when we started attacking with pace and pressing high we looked dangerous.

 

[Clucasade]

I don't give MoM to subs so I voted for McKay. But, but...Montero was fabulous and his dribbles and crosses have totally changed the game. Had he played for more than 80 minutes he would definitely be my MoM.
Our youngsters were excellent. The best thing is that there is so much potential in all of them. They can only be better.

We we were too nervous in the first half, and our passing was terrible, but in the second half when we started attacking with pace and pressing high we looked dangerous.

It’s all about confidence with most of our players. Hopefully this win will energise some and we can play like we did for McBurnies goal for the full 90.

 

[ivoralljack]

I don't give MoM to subs so I voted for McKay. But, but...Montero was fabulous and his dribbles and crosses have totally changed the game. Had he played for more than 80 minutes he would definitely be my MoM.
Our youngsters were excellent. The best thing is that there is so much potential in all of them. They can only be better.

Agree with this. I voted for Mckay as he played the entire game but I also thought that Montero was quite superb and I hope he can carry on like that. Also thought that Celina was very, very good. There were other good performances but I think we're all agreed that Fulton and Carroll were below the level of the others. I won't pan them for that because anyone can have an off day and, after a few games, we might see them raise their games, not least because so will the others and competition for places is going to be fierce.

I'm looking forward to watching this team develop, particularly when injured players return and new signings are thrown into the mix.

 

[The Blobster]

Did anyone else feel that Nordfeldt was dodgy ?
Didn't come for crosses, looked out of position several times and his distribution was poor , I know he hasn't played many games for the last few seasons but he doesn't inspire confidence in me at all !

 

[Clucasade]

Did anyone else feel that Nordfeldt was dodgy ?
Didn't come for crosses, looked out of position several times and his distribution was poor , I know he hasn't played many games for the last few seasons but he doesn't inspire confidence in me at all !

I thought he looked good in goal. He made a great save towards the end. Remember what we thought of Fabianski, when he first came here after playing next to no games with Arsenal! I think Nordfeldt will be a fine championship keeper for us.

 

[Jackflash]

The Keeper should be the one man who should be match fit from day one, In training he can face everything he's likely to face in a match, he can have shots fired at him from all angles for hours on end.

 

[ivoralljack]

The Keeper should be the one man who should be match fit from day one, In training he can face everything he's likely to face in a match, he can have shots fired at him from all angles for hours on end.

In theory that's correct but there's nothing like actual game time to improve sharpness and hone reflexes. In training, catching crosses is usually done with 'passive' attackers to prevent injuries, so that aspect can't be properly worked on. In actual matches, of course, forwards attacking the ball are anything but passive and from set pieces the keeper has to deal with blockers and other similar strategies that cannot be properly simulated in training.

 

[Jackflash]

In theory that's correct but there's nothing like actual game time to improve sharpness and hone reflexes. In training, catching crosses is usually done with 'passive' attackers to prevent injuries, so that aspect can't be properly worked on. In actual matches, of course, forwards attacking the ball are anything but passive and from set pieces the keeper has to deal with blockers and other similar strategies that cannot be properly simulated in training.

Yes I agree Ivor.What I should have said was he more prepared for ball handling.I remember when I played for the schoolboys,our trainer/manager a Mr Walsh always instructed our keeper in the event of a penalty, to stand either to the left or right of his centre line,leaving a bigger margin on one side on the assumption the kicker would go for it, a ploy that worked well quite often.