THE Match

[IanABS94]

I think the playoffs are a different beast and Cooper knows how to win tournaments. We'll be right up for these ones after last seasons loss to Brentford. It won't be easy by any stretch nor do I see it being pretty either but at this stage any of the four teams has a chance of going up and I'm hoping it's us just for the party I'll be having if we do.

 

[Jackflash]

I think the playoffs are a different beast and Cooper knows how to win tournaments. We'll be right up for these ones after last seasons loss to Brentford. It won't be easy by any stretch nor do I see it being pretty either but at this stage any of the four teams has a chance of going up and I'm hoping it's us just for the party I'll be having if we do.

Sorry Ian, but I can't agree with that. What does he know this season that he didn't know last season? I think his knowledge of the game at this level is still very limited. His previous reputation depended on the training of clubs academy staff training. For instance if Danial James was English at that time , then Cooper would have been looking for the accolades, when we all know it would have been down to Cameron Toshack & Co.
I really don't think he has the nous to be capable of winning tournaments . In his last job he was never in charge of players long enough to have any impact on their style of play, it was already there when they joined his squad, that's why he selected them.

 

[ivoralljack]

I think both Ian's and JF's points are valid in their own ways. I have been a vocal critic of Cooper when I believe it's been called for BUT it is equally important to give him credit when it's due. And he is due credit otherwise we wouldn't be in the position we are - and it's also important to note that the players all seem to speak well of him. I'm not saying he's the greatest because right now he's obviously not and, imo, his mistakes and inexperience have cost us dearly along the way. But I think he will grow into becoming a decent manager despite the fact that he is definitely not my choice at the moment.

 

[Victoria Swan]

I hope that Cooper has been using the last few days wisely to drill his charges in the INTELLIGENT use of the long ball.

Agree with this for the away leg. Home and away are two completely different games. Given their high press we need to be prepared to use the long ball to lessen the pressure on us, use four at the back and crowd the middle of the field during the away leg. We did this against Brentford during the season when they were in their mega-scoring phase and it worked. Christ, we are hardly a scoring machine so let's make sure we have a tight defense in the first leg and be happy to come away with a 0-0 draw. But at home let's go all out with nothing to lose, use our superior technical skill, put wing backs high up the field and score two or three before half-time.

 

[CroJack]

They are good at what they do and it's effective otherwise they wouldn't be where they are in the table and...

Exactly like us.

...as I pointed out, their results have been better than ours in the second half of the season by a decent margin.

We have been unlucky, and they have been lucky. When it comes to quality chances our performances have been better than theirs.

Correct me if I am wrong:

Swansea 1:3 Bristol

We lost, but should have won. That's 3 points.

Swansea 0:1 Cardiff

Should've won. Another 3 points.

Birmingham 1:0 Swansea

Dhanda slipped in our penalty box and unintentionally committed a foul. Unlucky. Birmingham scored in 91' minute from the penalty spot. That's one point.

Swansea 0:1 Preston

Unlucky with Matt Grimes own goal in 91' minute. One more point.

Swansea 2:2 Wycombe

Created enough chances to beat them. Two more points.

Swansea 0:1 QPR

They didn't create more than we did. Smith missed a big chance, and they converted their big chance in 90' minute. We didn't deserve 3 points, but we deserved one point for sure.

Reading 2:2 Swansea

We should have won this one. 2 more points.

That's 13 points difference.

In the second half of the season only three teams deserved to beat us: Huddersfield, Bournemouth and Watford. And let's say Brentford, although we were pretty much in the game until Kyle Naughton was sent off.

What about Barnsley? Well, I haven't had time to watch the highlights from their last 23 matches, but I've watched the last 10. And they should've lost 6 of these. Which means they flattered to deceive.

...we were getting those late penalties to win/draw games our performances scarcely deserved.

Two games. Stoke and Middlesbrough.

I really don't understand why would a late penalty be any different than an early penalty? Football matches are played until the final whistle, and our late penalties mean we attacked their box. Were they soft penalties? Yes. But what about the penalties awarded to Bristol and Birmingham against us?

@ivoralljack I hope you never forget that I'm not a native English speaker. I am aware some of my sentences are not properly constructed and can be misinterpreted in a wrong way. Especially when I write my post from my phone, which I do often. When I wrote "You should have asked me about their REAL form" I should have added this smiley . Without a smiley the quoted sentence sounds condenscending.

 

[CroJack]

Beating high pressing have been our Achilles' heel since Steve Cooper took over. I really don't know why it's so difficult for football coaches to figure out how to beat high pressing.

We have tried to beat opposition's high pressing by hoofing the ball. It's important to stress that it's not enough. Long balls as a weapon for avoiding high pressing are effective only if they are followed by counter-pressing. Otherwise you invite just one more wave of attack.

Playing long is not optimal solution for us because:

• we don't have enough hight up front,
• we don't have a big targetman as a striker,
• we don't win many aerial duels in opposition half,
• we don't press high properly

Against Barsley we won't be able to win aerial duels when we play long. When it comes to aerials won, Barnsley have been the fourth-best team in the Championship this season. But if we play long, then we have to immediately press them all over the pitch and force them to lose the ball. And they will lose the ball because they are second-worst passing team in the Championship. Their passing accuracy is awful, they average 58 %. That's why they play high-pressing footbal. They simply don't have technical ability to play passing football. And you all know that teams who press high don't like being pressed high.

Other solutions for beating high pressing are smart passing & moving, and running with the ball (either from side to side, or forward runs). Either way, with or without ball you have to move to avoid pressing.

Unfortunately, under Steve Cooper, we haven't been good at beating high pressing. In too many games we have been too static, waiting for the pass, instead of moving into empty spaces to receive it, and we haven't had many ball-carriers who have shown willingness to progress with the ball. Let's hope our coaching staff have learned something in the process.

 

[ivoralljack]

@ivoralljack I hope you never forget that I'm not a native English speaker. I am aware some of my sentences are not properly constructed and can be misinterpreted in a wrong way. Especially when I write my post from my phone, which I do often. When I wrote "You should have asked me about their REAL form" I should have added this smiley . Without a smiley the quoted sentence sounds condenscending.

For someone who is not a native English speaker, CJ, I have the utmost respect for your command of the language - far better than many native English speakers in fact. And no worries about the lack of a smiley. I think by now we know each other well enough to have developed mutual respect and I didn't take your post as being in any way condescending. I value your input as I've said many times and it's always good to debate. Keep safe, my friend.

 

[KVetch]

I get the feeling Andr'e will see us through.

I had the most unusual dream last night the Ayew brothers were playing a friendly match against some other team. Ayews won.

Steve Cooper has brought us to the playoffs again. Surely experience can't hurt us.

Good managers have been using the high press to beat us for a long time. Too long. Cooper and managers before him should have been practicing how to play against it. Ayew seems like the only player who can get by a defender. Since we've had the pace of Daniel James. We need that again from Roberts or someone else.

 

[Jackflash]

I had the most unusual dream last night the Ayew brothers were playing a friendly match against some other team. Ayews won.

Steve Cooper has brought us to the playoffs again. Surely experience can't hurt us.

Good managers have been using the high press to beat us for a long time. Too long. Cooper and managers before him should have been practicing how to play against it. Ayew seems like the only player who can get by a defender. Since we've had the pace of Daniel James. We need that again from Roberts or someone else.

For me , I'm glad no one has bought Ayew, he is the only player we have who has a relentless urge to score. When he comes in from the right he has one thing in mind, irrespective of how many defenders are around him ,is a shot on goal, and is successful more often than not with that left peg.
His absence is glaring when he's injured. I honestly think he's a bigger reason for us being in the playoffs than Cooper.

 

[Yankee_Jack]

... Ayew seems like the only player who can get by a defender. Since we've had the pace of Daniel James. We need that again from Roberts or someone else.

Ayew can do and does often. Lowe appears to be able to do it but doesn't often enough. Dhanda can do it and is not shy at giving it a go. I haven't seen enough of Cullen to know his abilities.

Grimes can do it but is too deep. Fulton is deceptive in this regard but can get himself out of tight corners.

Montero was the best at skinning a full back given half a chance. It seemed effortless for him. He didn't seem that quick or that tricky but he could make a FBs life a total misery .... so much so that opposition double and occasionally triple teamed him.

 

[Jackflash]

Ayew can do and does often. Lowe appears to be able to do it but doesn't often enough. Dhanda can do it and is not shy at giving it a go. I haven't seen enough of Cullen to know his abilities.

Grimes can do it but is too deep. Fulton is deceptive in this regard but can get himself out of tight corners.

Montero was the best at skinning a full back given half a chance. It seemed effortless for him. He didn't seem that quick or that tricky but he could make a FBs life a total misery .... so much so that opposition double and occasionally triple teamed him.

Yes, Montero destroyed a few full backs, one that springs to mind was Arsenals right back Chambers, Montero literally took him apart. Apparently it went on for weeks afterwards, Arsenal players would taunt him in the dressing room with the name Montero.
One of the things I liked about his play was his ability to get to the dead ball line before crossing, which meant it was almost impossible to be offside from his cross, also meant that defenders were facing their own goal.

 

[Yankee_Jack]

Yes, Montero destroyed a few full backs, one that springs to mind was Arsenals right back Chambers, Montero literally took him apart. Apparently it went on for weeks afterwards, Arsenal players would taunt him in the dressing room with the name Montero.
One of the things I liked about his play was his ability to get to the dead ball line before crossing, which meant it was almost impossible to be offside from his cross, also meant that defenders were facing their own goal.

And here's a sample:

"... including the nutmegs ..."

this one was a ball breaker too ...

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/930849113968693249

 

[Yankee_Jack]

Montero was a piece of magic waiting to happen. We still had him on contract up until last summer ... and we never used him. Can you imagine what he would have done at the Championship level. it would have been carnage on two legs.

 

[KVetch]

Ayew can do and does often. Lowe appears to be able to do it but doesn't often enough. Dhanda can do it and is not shy at giving it a go. I haven't seen enough of Cullen to know his abilities.

Grimes can do it but is too deep. Fulton is deceptive in this regard but can get himself out of tight corners.

Montero was the best at skinning a full back given half a chance. It seemed effortless for him. He didn't seem that quick or that tricky but he could make a FBs life a total misery .... so much so that opposition double and occasionally triple teamed him.

Montero was great when he was fit. Roberts can give us a chance like that. Maybe the reason Cooper was saving him for Saturday and hopefully Wembly.

 

[Jackflash]

I get the feeling Andr'e will see us through.

Thank you Andre. Same again on Saturday please.

 

[CroJack]

Montero was great when he was fit.

He was never fit, he didn't score any goals and he was crap defensively.

 

[KVetch]

Harsh, it wasn't often but he had a few good moments.

Man in the middle | John Brooks | Swansea

John Brooks will be the man in the middle for the second leg of Swansea City’s play-off semi-final against Barnsley at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday (6.30pm).

www.swanseacity.com

John Brooks is our referee, he officiated our away win at Cardiff but also our 1-4 loss to Huddersfield.

 

[Jackflash]

We'll probably have more of the same from Barnsley tomorrow at the Liberty, they will continue their hoof ball game in another attempt to stop us playing football. They lulled us into playing a simular game against them. Cooper surely now knows what's needed to beat them, keep the ball on the floor, play our one touch passing, press them high. I feel we'll get a couple of goals tomorrow with Ayew contributing once again.
Cooper needs to ensure he makes our superiority count.

 

[Behindthegoal]

With these winds any hoofed ball will sail on out of the stadium. It’s going to be difficult to play “proper” football.

 

[The Blobster]

They seem to find that difficult with no wind !