As I'm sure many will have said as they poured from the stadium last night: had Chelsea scored first and Swansea equalised (a la Spurs) it would be a scoreline worth celebrating. However, last night's point is acceptable to be annoyed at. As I see it, it is two points dropped.
As many others will have said: to be disappointed with a draw against Chelsea really shows Swansea have come a long way. Yes it does, but that fact doesn't make the disappointment any easier.
Looking at the match, and the evening in general, it was quite entertaining. The first half saw the typical Swansea set-up and the slick pass-and-move philosophy. Swansea could well have taken the lead at the 15-minute mark when three beautiful open-goal opportunities presented themselves, but it was not to be.
The pressure did pay off when Scott Sinclair took a blind swing at a bouncing ball and it dipped and floated past Petr Cech. A deserved 1-0 to the Swans.
Second half was a different game. Swansea's passing was way off the mark, with one too many loose passes and aimless runs. I had a feeling it wouldn't end 1-0 and I was right. It's just so cruel that the equaliser came in the 93rd minute from an own goal! The own goal won't be remembered though – Taylor had a good night and didn't deserve it. But Chelsea's goal looked imminent during the last 20 minutes.
I think a turning point was bringing on Luke Moore for Scott Sinclair. Apart from the goal, Sinclair didn't have an outstanding night, so a sub was a decent call. Bringing on Moore wasn't. He just doesn't do the running of Sinclair and never seems that interested in defending. I'd have brought on Routledge or even Richards if they wanted to close the game up. Ultimately Moore let Bosingwa through and there came the goal.
Moore and his lackadaisical approach aside and it was a decent team performance: Dyer didn't seem as composed as usual, but frustrated the hell out of the Chelsea midfield towards the end. Ashley Williams put in a good man-of-the-match performance, while Caulker mopped up a lot of loose ball at the back. Leon Britton was busy as usual and Kemy Agustien seemed to have a positive impact when coming on.
The referee was terrible in the second half generally, though he did issue the yellow cards and eventually send off Ashley Cole, so he got something right.
We can't blame the referee though. Swansea let Chelsea keep possession and territory in the second half and that led to the goal. The now famous “Swansea Triangle” was rarely seen in the latter stages. The skill is always there, but the composure and concentration is the thing that tends to transform three points into the single one with Swansea.
Still, it's a point...
Onto West Brom on Saturday, where there's now just a little more pressure to get the away win.
Showing posts with label Moore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Moore. Show all posts
Wednesday 1 February 2012
Sunday 20 February 2011
Setting the record straight!
As I settled down with my beer and film last night, my phone buzzed to inform me of a new Twitter message. With horror I noticed a few more messages all asking me the same question: why I thought Swansea had performed so badly?
So, to instantly set the record straight, I didn't think they performed badly at all, in fact quite the opposite. I had Tweeted:
Great result for Swansea, 3-0! Goal for Luke Moore, glossed another poor performance, but hopefully this is a confidence booster!
I think I should have said: "Goal for Luke Moore, glossed another poor performance from him." It seemed to annoy a few people that I was being so negative about the Swans, when, in fact, I wasn't at all. I guess that's what I get for Tweeting while trying to edge my way through traffic on Neath Road!
With my name cleared, I can move onto yesterday's game, and I might as well start with Luke Moore. He isn't a bad player. I very much doubt Brendan Rodgers would spend that much money on a bad player. What he currently is, though, is a mediocre player. He scored his long-awaited first goal yesterday, which I am thrilled about, but it did gloss another average performance. It's his lack of effort that I find brings him down in my eyes. A couple of times in yesterday's game he could have been through on goal if he chased a slightly loose ball or looked up more to see what was going on around him. In other clubs maybe he was given shooting opportunities on a plate, but with Swansea it seems like goals need to be fought for! Hopefully the whole Luke Moore saga is put to bed now, as I hope he will get a couple more goals (as a striker should!) in the next few games due to a higher confidence level.
Elsewhere, as I've said, Swansea were pretty flawless. I noticed some amazing linking up from Dyer, Rangel and Dobbie, creating havoc on the right wing. If Dyer was running up the wing, Rangel was his option ahead, though he also had Dobbie running inside him. It was a perfect attacking triangle, and one which Doncaster didn't have a clue how to defend.
The re-inclusion of Neil Taylor added speed and support to Scott Sinclair on the left wing, giving another platform for goal-scoring opportunities to be made. Richards and, to a lesser extent, Alfei, made some great progress in the first team, but Taylor is the player who will suit Swansea's style more in the remainder of the season.
Tactically, I have to talk about the cross field passes from Williams and Tate. Dyer, who was rarely marked it appeared, could slip in behind the defence while Williams hammered a long ball up to him, cutting out any midfield play and creating an instant crossing opportunity from nothing! Tate also managed to successfully do the same to his opposite wing, Sinclair, where similar chances were created.
A mention for Man of the Match, Stephen Dobbie – a great performance by the creative midfielder, giving options to Dyer and Sinclair in the centre of the park and fighting for the win. He hasn't been played enough this season, so hopefully yesterday's performance shows the management that he is worth fitting in!
And finally, kudos to Mr Miller, who refereed the game well for a change. Used common sense to let the game flow. An example of this was when both Dyer and a Doncaster defender went down injured. Both physios came on to treat the players, but, instead of having the players leave the pitch to be later called back on, Miller let them both stay on. No yellow cards either, though that is also down to the players, from both clubs, playing some good, fair football. For a team that had zero shots on or off-target, Doncaster didn't get frustrated and start hacking away. I applaud them for that. And the drummer who kept it up all game.
It's all coming together now, isn't it Swansea! Another few games like that...
So, to instantly set the record straight, I didn't think they performed badly at all, in fact quite the opposite. I had Tweeted:
Great result for Swansea, 3-0! Goal for Luke Moore, glossed another poor performance, but hopefully this is a confidence booster!
I think I should have said: "Goal for Luke Moore, glossed another poor performance from him." It seemed to annoy a few people that I was being so negative about the Swans, when, in fact, I wasn't at all. I guess that's what I get for Tweeting while trying to edge my way through traffic on Neath Road!
With my name cleared, I can move onto yesterday's game, and I might as well start with Luke Moore. He isn't a bad player. I very much doubt Brendan Rodgers would spend that much money on a bad player. What he currently is, though, is a mediocre player. He scored his long-awaited first goal yesterday, which I am thrilled about, but it did gloss another average performance. It's his lack of effort that I find brings him down in my eyes. A couple of times in yesterday's game he could have been through on goal if he chased a slightly loose ball or looked up more to see what was going on around him. In other clubs maybe he was given shooting opportunities on a plate, but with Swansea it seems like goals need to be fought for! Hopefully the whole Luke Moore saga is put to bed now, as I hope he will get a couple more goals (as a striker should!) in the next few games due to a higher confidence level.
Elsewhere, as I've said, Swansea were pretty flawless. I noticed some amazing linking up from Dyer, Rangel and Dobbie, creating havoc on the right wing. If Dyer was running up the wing, Rangel was his option ahead, though he also had Dobbie running inside him. It was a perfect attacking triangle, and one which Doncaster didn't have a clue how to defend.
The re-inclusion of Neil Taylor added speed and support to Scott Sinclair on the left wing, giving another platform for goal-scoring opportunities to be made. Richards and, to a lesser extent, Alfei, made some great progress in the first team, but Taylor is the player who will suit Swansea's style more in the remainder of the season.
Tactically, I have to talk about the cross field passes from Williams and Tate. Dyer, who was rarely marked it appeared, could slip in behind the defence while Williams hammered a long ball up to him, cutting out any midfield play and creating an instant crossing opportunity from nothing! Tate also managed to successfully do the same to his opposite wing, Sinclair, where similar chances were created.
A mention for Man of the Match, Stephen Dobbie – a great performance by the creative midfielder, giving options to Dyer and Sinclair in the centre of the park and fighting for the win. He hasn't been played enough this season, so hopefully yesterday's performance shows the management that he is worth fitting in!
And finally, kudos to Mr Miller, who refereed the game well for a change. Used common sense to let the game flow. An example of this was when both Dyer and a Doncaster defender went down injured. Both physios came on to treat the players, but, instead of having the players leave the pitch to be later called back on, Miller let them both stay on. No yellow cards either, though that is also down to the players, from both clubs, playing some good, fair football. For a team that had zero shots on or off-target, Doncaster didn't get frustrated and start hacking away. I applaud them for that. And the drummer who kept it up all game.
It's all coming together now, isn't it Swansea! Another few games like that...
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