The official pass-masters of British football.

[readingbedding]

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/footballna ... -28755365/

[Snowball]

Yet they can lose 4-0 at QPR


Our worst defeat was 3-1 after a 24th-second goal (away) and 3-1 at QPR


RECENTLY (since March 5th) they have lost

at Burnley (49% possession)
at Preston (53% possession)
at Derby (50% possession)
at SCUNTHORPE (61% possession)

53% average possession, 4 defeats.


Their possession stats are Mickey-Mouse. Sure they are a good passing side with two very good wingers
but a lot of their "possession" is passing across the back 4/5 deep in their own half.

Any side could up its possession stats by doing that.

The stat that matters is possession in the final third, shots on target, goals.


IMO, the Swansea way just means it's 60 minutes of action instead of 90
because 30 minutes is spent passing round in no-man's land.


Arsenal have better possession stats than the three sides who finished above them

[Royal Prince]

Am I the only one that gets bored watching Swansea play keep ball?

I'm excited about the final, don't get me wrong, but I'd much rather watch two teams going at each other like we have done with Forest and Cardiff this season! Also, to think that a team like Blackpool could be replaced by Swansea in the prem is a massive loss!

This game is not going to be one for the tv cameras!

[Snowball]

Am I the only one that gets bored watching Swansea play keep ball?

I'm excited about the final, don't get me wrong, but I'd much rather watch two teams going at each other like we have done with Forest and Cardiff this season! Also, to think that a team like Blackpool could be replaced by Swansea in the prem is a massive loss!

This game is not going to be one for the tv cameras!

Agreed. I hated it when we tried to do it.

It isn't the only way to play.

[Bandini]

No wonder some have begun to dub the Liberty outfit ‘Swanselona’

No wonder.

[glenroyal]

Possession without
Penetration is
Pretty but
Pointless ?

Well not quite pointless. The problem for us as opponents, as opposed to spectators, is to concentrate on defending and shape and not get caught by breaks through their pacy wing play. But we've proved we can do that ... the first 20 odd minutes against Cardiff at the Mad Stad was very much like the Swansea v Forest experience .... and we handled it fine. Concentration !

Swanselona - I love the hype around Swansea, it's just what we need. Magic.

[Gordons Cumming]

IMO, the Swansea way just means it's 60 minutes of action instead of 90
because 30 minutes is spent passing round in no-man's land.

Exactly how Reading were playing at the beginning of the Rodgers era.

[Pete10]

Thought Jacks team 69/70 where the pass masters.

[Alan Partridge]

Am I the only one that gets bored watching Swansea play keep ball?

I'm excited about the final, don't get me wrong, but I'd much rather watch two teams going at each other like we have done with Forest and Cardiff this season! Also, to think that a team like Blackpool could be replaced by Swansea in the prem is a massive loss!

This game is not going to be one for the tv cameras!

Agreed. I hated it when we tried to do it.

It isn't the only way to play.

Possession football with the attacking players to hurt teams is the Rolls Royce of footballf or me. Watching Barcelona do it is the way football should be played

Watching Reading attempt Rolls Royce football with the parts of a Ford KA wasn't.

Without the quality attacking players it's mind numbingly tedious and always end with a long punt forward after the 3rd time of the centre midfielder rolling it back to a centre half.

[Snowball]

IMO, the Swansea way just means it's 60 minutes of action instead of 90
because 30 minutes is spent passing round in no-man's land.

Exactly how Reading were playing at the beginning of the Rodgers era.

and it was boring as hell. Failed to score in 5/7 of our opening games

H 0-0 Forest
A 0-3 Newcastle
A 0-0 Swansea
H 1-3 Sheffield Utd
A 3-1 Barnsley
H 0-0 Doncaster
H 0-1 Cardiff
A 2-3 Peterborough
H 1-1 Watford
A 2-1 Preston
H 0-2 Middlesbrough
A 1-3 WBA
A 1-4 QPR
H 0-1 Leicester
A 3-1 Coventry
H 1-1 Ipswich
H 2-1 Blackpool
A 1-2 Derby
A 2-0 Sheffield Wed
H 2-4 Palace
H 1-1 Scunthorpe


21 21 1-5-5 ... 08-15 4-1-5 ... 15-18 -10 21 Reading
22 21 3-2-5 ... 15-17 1-4-6 ... 08-18 -12 18 Sheffield Wed
23 20 2-2-5 ... 08-13 2-1-8 ... 08-19 -16 15 Plymouth
24 21 2-4-4 ... 17-17 0-4-7 ... 08-19 -11 14 Peterborough

[Z175]

I can't stand passing football myself.

Two of the most boring games in recent years were in my opinion a 3-0 defeat at home to Arsenal and a 0-0 at home to Doncaster.

Arsenal didn't let us touch the ball, which was akin to watching them train. I had paid to watch both sides and was dissappointed the way Arsenal didn't give us a turn. Moreover they only got 3 goals in the 90mins wiht the ball. the other 87 minutes were spent with moves not quite coming off. Massive relief when the final whistle went that I could go home and watch some paint dry.

Donny have passed/bored their way up from non-league so I give them credit for this. Yet without Arsenal's skill they just knocked the ball around for 200 passes at the back before kicking it out of play. We didn't get goign in this game, but if they'd played properly it might have given us more of the ball.

Watching Reading under McDermott I know in seconds Khisinishvilli could play Long through or the keeper could lump it on to Longs head who will find Kebe on Hunt out wide, or McAnuff will charge through their team. I love the brand of direct football we have perfected over 10 years. it is successful, its attacking and it is normally exciting to watch. We have had a few bores against teams defending deep - eg Leeds at home, but that is because they fear our style.

[glenroyal]

Possession football with the attacking players to hurt teams is the Rolls Royce of footballf or me. Watching Barcelona do it is the way football should be played

Conversely ...
Possession with
Penetration is
Poetic

I had the pleasure of watching the masters at the Nou Camp earlier this year. Agreed.

[The Real Sandhurst Royal]

I remember Rodgers first game in charge v Notts Forest 500+ passes and a 0-0 draw. I walked out that day thinking how boring the footbaLl was to watch all I saw was the ball go backwards and sideways.

Thanks god he went before it was too late for RFC

Rodgers then signed for Swansea who a team that knew how to pass the ball as they had played that style of football for three with Martinez in charge.

[Bacon Double Cheese]

Conversely ...
Possession with
Penetration is
Poetic

I had the pleasure of watching the masters at the Nou Camp earlier this year. Agreed.

Same, watching with Mrs BDC

[Gordons Cumming]

Am I the only one that gets bored watching Swansea play keep ball?

I'm excited about the final, don't get me wrong, but I'd much rather watch two teams going at each other like we have done with Forest and Cardiff this season! Also, to think that a team like Blackpool could be replaced by Swansea in the prem is a massive loss!

This game is not going to be one for the tv cameras!

I agree with you totally.

Don't get me wrong, I like passing football and the technique it requires, but Spain bored me in the World Cup and to a lesser extent Barcelona do too.

One team dominating possession makes for a dull game for the neutral.

I won't be thrilled with Swansea style on Monday you can guarantee that!..............

[Tinrib]

Thing is, Swansea can be got at...

The Playoff S/F vs Forest showed that. Forest had to go for it second half and pressed Swansea really hard, all over the pitch, and that method bore fruit. It completley took them out of their rhythm, disrupted their flow, and gave them no time to use the ball. At the end they were really hanging on.

The only reason why Forest did'nt get a result there was due to shoddy finishing, and the width of the post/crossbar on a number of occasions.

The battle ground will be the centre mid area. Leon Britten is the man we need to target. He's the one who makes them tick, and I fully expect Mikele to do a job on him on Monday.

[Sarah Star]

Thing is, Swansea can be got at...

The Playoff S/F vs Forest showed that. Forest had to go for it second half and pressed Swansea really hard, all over the pitch, and that method bore fruit. It completley took them out of their rhythm, disrupted their flow, and gave them no time to use the ball. At the end they were really hanging on.

The only reason why Forest did'nt get a result there was due to shoddy finishing, and the width of the post/crossbar on a number of occasions.

The battle ground will be the centre mid area. Leon Britten is the man we need to target. He's the one who makes them tick, and I fully expect Mikel to do a job on him on Monday.

If that's true then we could do well as one thing our midfield are good at is breaking up play and hassling the opposition.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

The stat that matters is possession in the final third, shots on target, goals.

Shots on target is a pretty awful way of measuring good chances created. A shot that goes wide can be a far better chance than a tame effort from 20 yards that's on target. Those sort of shots are normally the result of a team failing to be able to create clear chance, and getting desperate, rather than indicating playing well.


For passing you really want to be measuring effective passes, i.e. ones that make a contribution to play, rather than just passes made. I'm sure we had much more possession under Rodgers then now, but we were far less effective, and created far less.

Possesion in the final third isn't an indicator of much either. Most teams who struggle to break down a defence will have a lot of final third possession. Possession inside the box would be indicative of creating dangerous situations, while relating that to the number of decent chances creating would give some sort of measure how creative a team is.


The basic fact is that for all of Swansea's possession, we've still scored a lot more goals than them.

[floyd__streete]

The stat that matters is possession in the final third, shots on target, goals.

Shots on target is a pretty awful way of measuring good chances created. A shot that goes wide can be a far better chance than a tame effort from 20 yards that's on target. Those sort of shots are normally the result of a team failing to be able to create clear chance, and getting desperate, rather than indicating playing well.

I think you've emphatically put Snowball in his place there. For this, we all thank you.

[Ian Royal]

The only stats which matter are the Goals For and Goals Against each game.