Sunday 22 February 2015

Cup o' coffee and the Swans (Sunday Catch-up - 22nd Feb 2015)

After a little Swans nostalgia last week, we're back with our regular round up.

So grab your double-shot skinny caramel macchiato (or just a cup of instant coffee) and let's see what's been going on in the world of Swansea City.


Swansea City 2 - 1 Manchester United: The Double

We have to start with the biggest news - Swansea have done the double over Man United for the first time!

It was by no means the best attacking performance from Swansea, nor was it 90 minutes of entertaining and attractive passing. But yesterday it was the result that mattered the most.

The Swans pretty much matched United through the first half, although the visitors looked more threatening in attack and scored the first goal after 28 minutes after some good passing in the final third allowed Ander Herrera to put a simple strike past Fabianski. 

But, for a change, heads stayed up and a great early cross from Shelvey just two minutes later gave Ki the chance to slip in a clever shot to equalise. 

United on yet another attack

Again, United were threatening on the attack in the second half, but Swansea stood firm at the back and in the 73rd minute - completely against the run of play - a cracking long strike from Shelvey (with a bit of a deflection from Gomis) put the Swans ahead.

Both Ki and Cork were very assured in the middle of the park. Gomis had a few great chances but he was unable to put any away (although he is credited with the second goal thanks to the deflection), but he did put in the effort and made some good defensive clearances. Shelvey was my man of the match - for the goal, the assist and his greatly improved work rate.

It's good to see that a tweaked formation can work as well as the standard 4-5-1 and even without the slick passing we're accustomed to you can beat the huge spending giants!


America? Not at the moment.

Last week the Swans confirmed that talks with American billionaire John Moores were off. The former San Diego Padres owner was looking to buy a 30% stake in the club, but Swansea confirmed that the deal was unlikely to go ahead.

Unable to settle on America at the moment

A club spokesman told the BBC: "Both parties felt that the time was not right to pursue any proposals. It was only at the discussion stage anyway, there was never any offer on the table"

This news will please those fans who were dead against foreign investment, but it's very unlikely that this is the end we'll hear on the matter (which is good news for those who wanted some investment).

The door has been opened on these kind of discussions and it won't be long until there's another investor keen on taking Swansea to the next level. Make sure to re-read Alec Johnson's excellent article on why investment could be a good move for the Swans.


Bonywatch

This certainly won't be a regular feature because - let's admit it, who really cares now - but Wilfried Bony made his first appearance for Manchester City in their 5-0 thumping of Newcastle.

He replaced Sergio Aguero on the hour mark and, while he didn't score on his City debut, he made a good impression. He did have one superb chance to get on the score sheet - after Tim Krul messed up a clearance Bony was fed the ball by Yaya Toure, but the striker's low shot was ushered over the bar.

That's probably the last we mention Bony for now, but it's good to see that he did make an appearance at the first opportunity - which is more than most former Swans achieve after leaving the club!


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