Some thoughts on the Preston game

CroJack

CroJack

Key Player
A couple of days ago there was another disappointing result and poor performance from the Swans against Preston at the Liberty. Here are some thoughts on what has gone wrong.

Line-up​

For the Preston game Steve Cooper has opted for a change of formation from the well-known 3-5-2 and 3-5-1-2 to 4-3-3. Not a bad move, but, in my opinion, the line-up was totally wrong. And not only one line, but all three lines.

The front three

1. First of all, our only dedicated striker Whittaker was pushed wide, and forced to play as a winger. I really don't understand what Cooper was thinking. We needed goals, and he moved a young, promising striker away from the opposition goal? No surprise Whittaker struggled to make an impact. He managed to put a couple of crosses in the Preston box, but there was no one to attack them, and other than that he was completely lost on the right wing. He lost possession 17 times, either by being dispossessed, losing aerial and ground duels, or by making poor passes. Here is his (miserable) contribution to our attacking play in both halves.

Left picture = First half
Right picture = Second half
Yellow arrows = Successful forward passes, crosses, passes in the opposition box, key-passes, and saved shots
Red arrows = Unsuccessful forward passes, crosses, passes in the opposition box, key-passes, and shots off target
Blue arrows = Blocked shots

Whittaker.jpg​

Whittaker's overall performance was not completely hopeless. He won 4 out of 9 ground duels, 1 out of 1 aerial duels, he had 2 (blocked shots), 2 successful dribles out of 5 attempted, he put in one perfect cross but nobody was there to attcak it, and he had a reasonable passing accuracy of 79 %. It's Cooper's fault Whittaker played on the wing, and not there where he could contribute much more.

2. Apart from making (too) many sloppy passes, Jamal Lowe had an ok game. 2 shots (one off target and one blocked), 5 successful dribbles out of 5 attempted, 2 key passes, he won 9 out of 12 ground and 6 out of 11 aerial duels, he had 4 clearances and 2 successful tackles. I was surprised to see him do some defensive work, but disappointed with his passing and shots. To be fair to Lowe, it has to be said that Manning was awful in the first half, so Lowe didn't have much support on the left wing for the first 45 minutes. Here are Lowe's forward passing maps for both halves:

Lowe.jpg
​
3. Andre Ayew didn't do much wrong, apart from getting dispossessed a couple of times, but he didn't do much good either. His involvment was minimal, and that's because he played most on the left wing, then on the right wing, and not as a striker. Here is his heat map:

AyewHeatMap.jpg
​
Ayew won 3 out of 8 ground and 2 out of 6 aerial duels, he made 3 clearances, and had an excellent passing accuracy of 86 %. And that's it. No shots, no tackles, no successful dribbles, no key passes. A disappointing performance.

Here is Ayew's forward passing map:

AyewForwardPasses.jpg​
 
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Yankee_Jack

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
According to that heat map, Ayew spent far more time around our penalty spot defending than around Preston's penalty spot attacking. That indicates how upside down everything was on Saturday.
 
ivoralljack

ivoralljack

Grizzled Veteran
Staff member
Excellent analysis again, CJ. Cooper must surely have access to this sort of info from his own analysts. Therefore his tactics/team formation etc must be challenged by anyone with so much as one footballing brain cell. It seems to me that Cooper's luck has run out and he's now having to rely on his ability which, according to this damning evidence, is sorely deficient. I see no future for him at our club and I hope the decision makers at the Liberty feel the same way. Unfortunately, we might well miss out on the top six this season unless they ditch him immediately but I can't see them doing that. And even if we do make the playoffs, our form is so dismal we'd have very little chance of winning them.

For me, our ONLY chance of promotion rests on a new manager bounce but I doubt we'll get that as Cooper is probably bullet proof right now.
 
CroJack

CroJack

Key Player
The midfield

Also here Steve Cooper got it wrong in my opinion. Our best midfield combo is Grimes on the left side, Fulton in the middle, and Smith on the right side. When we played 3-5-2 we used to attacked in triangles, and there was a good understading between Bidwel-Grimes-Lowe on the left, and Roberts-Smith-Ayew on the right flank. With Hourihane in the midfield we have lost that understanding, and pushed Grimes in the middle and deeper defensively, and Fulton to the right. This is not optimal, and we have lost our flow of play.

1. Connor Hourihane didn't have a poor game against Preston, but he is supposed to be a Premier League player, so he should contribute more than he does. Against Preston he had 2 key passes, 4 accurate out of 8 long balls, 1 shot off target, he won 1 out of 2 ground duels and 1 out of 2 aerial duels, and he had 2 interceptions. His passing accuracy was 76 %, which should be higher for a Swansea midfielder. Like Ayew, he didn't do much wrong, but on the other side he didn't do much right. Hourihane mostly played on the left flank, and to be fair to him Manning had a stinker in the first half. Here is his forward passing map:

Hourihane.jpg
​
2. Matt Grimes had a defensively good game. He had 85 % passing accuracy, which is good, 1 accurate out of 4 attempted long balls, 1 succ. out of 1 attempted dribbles, 4 out of 4 ground duels won, 5 out of 6 aerial duels won, 6 clearances, 1 blocked shot, 2 interceptions, and 1 tackle.
Here is his forward passing map:

Grimes.jpg
​
3. Like Grimes, Fulton had a good game defensively, but was not a threath up front. Pass. accuracy 81 %, 3 accurate out of 6 long balls, 1 shot off target, 1 successful drible out of 2 attempted, 3 out of 6 ground duels won, 2 out of 2 aerial duels won, 2 clearances, he blocked 1 shot, 1 interception and 2 tackles. With other words, a solid defensive performance. here is his forward passing map:

Fulton.jpg
​
Our midfielders were not poor against Preston, but they had 7-8 forward passes that could have created chances, but these passes were either overhit or just too sloppy. Also, their shots were too poor. They have to be better going forward. I don't blame our midfielders so much, our front three were poor.
 
CroJack

CroJack

Key Player
The back four

Also here Cooper made a mistake not to play Bidwell and Naughton instead of Manning and Roberts. Roberts should have either been rested or played on the right wing. We miss Bidwell and Robert's crosses and assists. In some aspects of play Manning is better than Bidwell but I am not sure that his better variety of passing can replace Bidwell's precise crosses and assists.

1. Manning had a stinker in the first half against Preston. Everything Grimes and Hourihane created for him he spoiled up front. He improved his passing in the second half, but as you can see in his forward passing maps he didn't have any shots, he didn't run to the far post like Bidwell does, and all of his crosses were poor. Though, he was good defensively.

Manning.jpg
​
2. Guehi had a good game. His forward passing is excellent. Nothing to add.

Guehi.jpg
​
3. Like Guehi, Ben Cabango had a good game. Some of his long balls were overhit in the first, but improved his passing in the second half.

Cabango.jpg
​
4. Connor Roberts was more involved in our attacking play in the second half, but that was not Roberts we know. He has to play either as a wing-back or right winger. Against Preston, he was wasted at the righ-back position. Too often he was forced to play long balls because there weren't any real passing options, and his contribution in the final third was minimal.

Roberts.jpg​
 
Yankee_Jack

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
The one thing that sticks out to me on the passing maps of our midfield players ... they are sparse. There just aren't that many arrows. Compare these charts to maps from 10 years ago. 10 years ago there would have been a blizzard of arrows from Leon and Joe or whoever else was there. We are not busy enough, not connecting enough with each other. And, there are virtually no arrows in the middle of the park and up the center of the park. Everything taken together is tightly one side or the other .... it's as if the center of the field was covered in mines and nobody wanted to go in there. Is this real or an artifact of the data that's being pulled and presented?
 
CroJack

CroJack

Key Player
Tactics, or better said the lack of proper tactics

1. Attacking imbalance

The plan was obviously to attack down the left flank. But how we did it? By overcrowding the left flank area most of the time. We had 7 players who spent more time on the left flank than in any other area on the pitch. Stupid. It was pretty easy for Preston to defend, and we lost the ball numerous times when trying to pass it in the tight spaces.

Here are 5 of our players who played more on the left flank than anywhere else.

LeftFlank.jpg

When you add Guehi, who naturally plays on the left, and Fulton, who also played more on the left side, then you get the picture.

Roberts and Whittaker were left without much support on the right flank. The commentators said many times "Roberts doesn't have any passing options". So true.

Our attacking play was in total imbalance, and this is not the first time it happens. That's why I think that a combo of Grimes-Fulton-Smith gives us more balance when going forward.

2. Cooper is clueless when it comes to beating high pressing

It's been almost two years since Cooper took over, and still game after game we struggle against teams who press us high and man-mark us all over the pitch. This is unacceptable. Preston did it in the first half, and we didn't have a clue what to do.

We have some players in our squad who are really good at avoiding pressure. Ayew and Grimes for example. When they get the ball they simply move with it either to the left or right, and force their marker to chase them. They create empty space for themselves. Cooper could identify the players who struggle to do that and train with them.

Another way to create chaos in opposition lines when they press you high is to run forward with the ball. Grimes and Guehi do that often.

And then there is counter-pressing. It just means that the team immediately after losing the ball tries to press against the ball to prevent an oppositional counter and – instead of transition into the ordinary defensive organization, whatever it may be – being able to immediately get into possession again. The last time I saw us play some good counter-pressing was against Manchester City in the FA Cup. For god sake, if we can do it against Manchester City, then why on earth can't we do it against Preston and likes? I think it's because Cooper wants to play a cowardly 'safe' football.

3. No compact lines when we are attacking, and lately when we are defending either

When we attack then not only that we don't use plenty of empty space in the middle, but our lines are also disjointed both vertically and horizontally. The result of all of this is the lack of passing options, and when we lack passing options then we hoof the ball, and when we hoof the ball we lose possession, and when we lose possession then we invite pressure, and we invite pressure because we don't press as a team, and when we invite pressure and don't press as a team we are more likely to lose our games. Is it so difficult to understand?
 
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CroJack

CroJack

Key Player
Yankee_Jack said:
So Andy Pandy tried to coach?
Click to expand...
We all know what happened at the end of the last season. We had some injuries and he was FORCED to play three at the back. Then he figured out that with playing 3-5-2 he could get the best out of Roberts and Bidwell. And we started winning some games and even reached the play-off places. So he continued to use his magic formula this season...until the opposing managers figured out that a combination of high pressing and man-marking of Roberts and Bidwell would stop us from scoring goals. And now, instead of finding a solution how to develop our attack, even when we play 3-5-2, he is panicking. It's easy to change formation, but, as we saw it against Preston, there is much more than just a formation. Every formation is just a starting point, nothing more. Playing as a team and pressing as a team is something that requires good managerment, inspiration, bravery, skills and data analytics.
 
Yankee_Jack

Yankee_Jack

Key Player
Behindthegoal said:
Was Rodon with us 6 months ago?
Click to expand...
He left in the “pre-season” transfer window and we added Bennett a day or so before it closed.

Bennett brought us hoof ball from the CB position. Major step back. For what he offers we should have blooded Brandon Cooper and played Cabango. Or played Lati and Cabango. Or Naughton and Cabango. Any of those pairings with Geuhi. We’d be infinitely better off.
 
Behindthegoal

Behindthegoal

Key Player
I thought he was around at the start of this season, certainly up at Preston ? He was cup-tied for Spurs, after playing in the league cup.
 
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