BFTG Swansea

[Jackson Corner]

Well that was a depressing evening. Not so much the performance or even the result but how far we are behind Swansea as a club. Since the play off final they have gone from strength to strength winning a major trophy along the way and becoming an established Premier league club. Whilst we look a million miles off ever reaching those heights. Why do they and other clubs get it so right and we f...k it up? As for the game it was a promising start some nice passing but as usual no end product. Swansea grew into the game and as it wore on looked the better side and were good value for the win, even though the ref helped with the 2nd goal it made little difference as we could have played to midnight and not scored. At least now we can concentrate on avoiding relegation.

[RustyRoyal]

Why is everyone being so negative? This is a team that shut Tottenham out last game. Sure we didn't create much but it wasn't an awful performance.

[yuomi]

Safe to say we can expect to face the high press from every team we play now. Stam's build from the back total football drivel will no longer fly and we're going to have to actually move and make space to keep possession. On the basis of the last couple of games we are as incapable of this as we are of threatening the opponent's goal and so could be in very real trouble.

[marlowuk]

It was a frustrating evening but not as bad as has been painted by some posters here! The stats suggest a very even game in terms of possession, attempts on goal, corners, etc and that was certainly the case in the first half when we more than held our own. But we were not clinical in front of goal (I know - same old story!!) and Swansea edged the second half and deserved to win although their second goal, accidentally assisted by the referee, was a lucky one. The ref 'deserves' a special mention as some of his decisions (for both sides) were inexplicable!!

Individually - Jaakkola looked very unsure of himself when the ball was at his feet. Swansea pressed high (although not as high or as persistent as Bristol City did a week ago) and, as has already been said, we can expect more of that from other teams this year. Evans and Swift were very poor and gave the ball away regularly. It was no surprise that Swift was replaced with Kelly (who did pretty well) early into the second half. Moore, as usual, was Mr Reliable and I thought Bacuna had a good game. He was very unlucky to get booked after Fer's very obvious (from my view) dive!

Reading MOTM for me was Popa who worked tirelessly but with no reward. Clement and Ilori never really got into the game to exert any influence on it but I thought Blackett was good when he came on. He is improving!! Beerens was pretty good in the first half but faded in the second. Obita did OK and Gunter was Gunter although he seemed to play a more forward role than usual. We got plenty of crosses into their box but seldom were there sufficient of our players in the box to take advantage of those.

Generally we need to move faster in attack. Players need to be aware of others making runs and respond to them. When players don't have the ball they should be getting into a position to receive it if required and being aware of others around them so they know what choices of pass they have. And they should be looking for forward passes rather than safe passes.

We have the basis of a very good side but they need time to gel and someone who can put the ball into the back of the net!!!

[alfie9]

Playing Clement at striker is not going to result in goals.

Popa kept trying float crosses to him and when we finally decided to bring on a target man (JDB) Popa was withdrawn.

Overall a frustrating evening. Frustrating because it feels like we are nearly there, our build up play is superb at times but as long as Kermie is out we are going to seriously struggle for goals

[Linden Jones' Tash]

What frustrates the hell out of me is that we sometimes create an imbalance during the possession/passing moments and look like we could exploit it with a change in rhythm or key forward pass...... but we don't.... inevitably the player, having gotten into a promising space, turns back and starts again. I really don't understand this.

Oh and the areas where we decide to take risks and don't take risks is incomprehensible to me.

And the lack of goal mouth action..

And the value of Pelle Clement in a game like that. My garage door can provide wall passes back go me, AND won't lose possession in dangerous areas.

Rant over

[Royality creeps In]

It was a frustrating evening but not as bad as has been painted by some posters here! The stats suggest a very even game in terms of possession, attempts on goal, corners, etc and that was certainly the case in the first half when we more than held our own. But we were not clinical in front of goal (I know - same old story!!) and Swansea edged the second half and deserved to win although their second goal, accidentally assisted by the referee, was a lucky one. The ref 'deserves' a special mention as some of his decisions (for both sides) were inexplicable!!

Individually - Jaakkola looked very unsure of himself when the ball was at his feet. Swansea pressed high (although not as high or as persistent as Bristol City did a week ago) and, as has already been said, we can expect more of that from other teams this year. Evans and Swift were very poor and gave the ball away regularly. It was no surprise that Swift was replaced with Kelly (who did pretty well) early into the second half. Moore, as usual, was Mr Reliable and I thought Bacuna had a good game. He was very unlucky to get booked after Fer's very obvious (from my view) dive!

Reading MOTM for me was Popa who worked tirelessly but with no reward. Clement and Ilori never really got into the game to exert any influence on it but I thought Blackett was good when he came on. He is improving!! Beerens was pretty good in the first half but faded in the second. Obita did OK and Gunter was Gunter although he seemed to play a more forward role than usual. We got plenty of crosses into their box but seldom were there sufficient of our players in the box to take advantage of those.

Generally we need to move faster in attack. Players need to be aware of others making runs and respond to them. When players don't have the ball they should be getting into a position to receive it if required and being aware of others around them so they know what choices of pass they have. And they should be looking for forward passes rather than safe passes.

We have the basis of a very good side but they need time to gel and someone who can put the ball into the back of the net!!!

You must have been at a different game to me and your comments are quite baffling. I thought Evans was the best player on the pitch, followed closely by Bacuna. Evans particularly, controlled the midfield with important interceptions and fabulous through balls.

As for Swift it was his first game back from injury and showed some lovely touches. He will improve as he gets back up to speed.
Clement was just

[Royalwaster]

What frustrates the hell out of me is that we sometimes create an imbalance during the possession/passing moments and look like we could exploit it with a change in rhythm or key forward pass...... but we don't.... inevitably the player, having gotten into a promising space, turns back and starts again. I really don't understand this.

Oh and the areas where we decide to take risks and don't take risks is incomprehensible to me.

And the lack of goal mouth action..

And the value of Pelle Clement in a game like that. My garage door can provide wall passes back go me, AND won't lose possession in dangerous areas.

Rant over

Watched some German league last night - RB Leipzig (who lost) and Bayern Munich (who won) in different games .... and that's exactly the style of football they play. Pass, pass, pass ... even with 5 mins to go RB Leipzig (losing 0:1) were passing the ball around side-wise, backwards etc. with no penetration at all. I found it pretty boring to be honest - and think it only really works if you have really lethal strikes up front, who will take advantage when they get their chance. As we totally lack that, it ends up a rather boring and ineffective affair. I have to say that even if this approach seems to be the new philosophy, I found it God awfully boring and is in my mind ruining the game. It all started with Barca's tiki-taka ... which I've always found incredibly boring. The number of times a player receives the ball on the edge of the penalty box with space around him and just passes it back .... always baffles me. I'm shouting, turn, turn ... have a shot. Oh no. Pass it back - don't take any risks. Boring, boring, boring.

[Nameless]

It is odd how people can see games so differently.
For me Jakkola never looked uncomfortable, there were a couple of occasions when he had no options for an easy pass out but he never panicked, didn't do anything daft and looks far more solid with his feet than Al Habsi did.
Swift did some excellent work, there was one challenge with Sanchez when he made it first to a 50:50 and with his first touch flicked the ball away from Sanches with the outside of his foot round the corner to Evans. Extremely skilful. As was pointed out his substitution was in no way based on performance but because it was his first game back after a lay off. Hopefully by taking him off it means he'll be available for Saturday.
Popa and Beerens both had excellent spells but lacked a target in the box. Can't help think Edwards would have been very handy arriving late. Not sure where he was tonight.
Good to see Obita back although he did get exposed due to lack of cover from his winger. Blackett looked very up for it when he came on, wonderful old fashioned tackle !

Considering how strong a side Swansea put out Inwasn't that impressed for much of the game. Bony looks so far off the pace that he may never get fit enough. Sanches had his moments but should have run that game and didn't. Some lovely touches but Swift had just as many whilst he was on the pitch.

Another somewhat disappointing ref. Let the incident at the end of the 1st half carry on for far to long because he never sorted out what was going on or took any action. No idea what was going on with Olson in the second half but again it was poorly managed. He also allowed the Swansea players to throw arms into our players too often - Sanches did it several times. His involvement in the second goal,was unfortunate but just part of the game and there was no point fans or players getting upset over it.

[Nameless]

I also am getting to really like Bacuna. Does what Williams did except better, quicker and more positively.

[Hound]

tbh regarding the slow build up, I don't think thats how we want to play. Players like Aluko and Barrow are 'risk' takers in that they will run at defenders and try to make the spaces.

Obvs both were out last night, but I find the lack of chances and shots baffling, and surely not what Stam is trying to achieve.

Anyway, on to Saturday and a far more important game, and its starting to get to the stage where Stam and the team have to get things right. No excuses now - everyone back fit bar Yann, new players all been here a month or so, home game against opposition we should beat.

[wiggso]

It was a frustrating evening but not as bad as has been painted by some posters here! The stats suggest a very even game in terms of possession, attempts on goal, corners, etc and that was certainly the case in the first half when we more than held our own. But we were not clinical in front of goal (I know - same old story!!) and Swansea edged the second half and deserved to win although their second goal, accidentally assisted by the referee, was a lucky one. The ref 'deserves' a special mention as some of his decisions (for both sides) were inexplicable!!

Individually - Jaakkola looked very unsure of himself when the ball was at his feet. Swansea pressed high (although not as high or as persistent as Bristol City did a week ago) and, as has already been said, we can expect more of that from other teams this year. Evans and Swift were very poor and gave the ball away regularly. It was no surprise that Swift was replaced with Kelly (who did pretty well) early into the second half. Moore, as usual, was Mr Reliable and I thought Bacuna had a good game. He was very unlucky to get booked after Fer's very obvious (from my view) dive!

Reading MOTM for me was Popa who worked tirelessly but with no reward. Clement and Ilori never really got into the game to exert any influence on it but I thought Blackett was good when he came on. He is improving!! Beerens was pretty good in the first half but faded in the second. Obita did OK and Gunter was Gunter although he seemed to play a more forward role than usual. We got plenty of crosses into their box but seldom were there sufficient of our players in the box to take advantage of those.

Generally we need to move faster in attack. Players need to be aware of others making runs and respond to them. When players don't have the ball they should be getting into a position to receive it if required and being aware of others around them so they know what choices of pass they have. And they should be looking for forward passes rather than safe passes.

We have the basis of a very good side but they need time to gel and someone who can put the ball into the back of the net!!!

You must have been at a different game to me and your comments are quite baffling. I thought Evans was the best player on the pitch, followed closely by Bacuna. Evans particularly, controlled the midfield with important interceptions and fabulous through balls.

As for Swift it was his first game back from injury and showed some lovely touches. He will improve as he gets back up to speed.
Clement was just

I'd agree with the comments about Evans, thought it was a really good performance, strong in the tackle and generally good distribution. Certainly not "very poor"
Agree Popa was good and thought Bacuna showed experience against some of their quality players.

All in all i thought it was a decent performance. Thought our passing moves were slick and we competed with them in most areas.
Once they scored they could slow the game down and keep the ball, their 2nd was a freak goal.

For all these nice moves though it is worryingly obvious that Stam does not know where our goals will come from. For all the possession I cannot really remember being in and around their area.

[Sanguine]

Why do they and other clubs get it so right and we f...k it up?

I think the answer to that is that very few clubs 'get it right' (and in Swansea's case even then it's a struggle).

Swansea, Stoke, Bournemouth (for now) - who else?

[OLLIE KEARNS]

The good, the bad and the ugly !

GOOD
I like the look of Bacuna. Strong, competitive but also has some real quality and the ability to play forward. Also, we are technically even better than last season in terms of possession and movement. If anything we were slightly better than Swansea in that aspect.

BAD
The front three in general. Nothing wrong with individual performances in relation to their strengths but collectively no threat at all. Our attacking options were either to play perfect football passing through the thirds or play a wonder ball in behind which we actually did on a couple occasions.
When we do find our way into the final third nobody gets in the box. We created a number of crossing opportunities but there would only be one player in the box. I don't think we'd have scored in a month of Sunday's

UGLY
Car parking just gets worse (luckily only 9,000) there last night and then the motorway is shut ! Going to games is becoming hard work !

I think everyone has come to realise just what a good player Kerm is. Not only is he a major threat in the box but he also gives us the option to go long and play off him. If we get him, Aluko and Barrow on the pitch and also get midfielders such as Swift and Edwards arriving in the box then we will score goals without doubt. There is hope !

[muirinho]

Well that was a depressing evening. Not so much the performance or even the result but how far we are behind Swansea as a club. Since the play off final they have gone from strength to strength winning a major trophy along the way and becoming an established Premier league club. Whilst we look a million miles off ever reaching those heights.

Wow, opinions certainly differ.

One of the positives I took last night was actually how close we were to Swansea. That was a relatively strong Swansea selection, and although we lacked a cutting edge, and the slow build up was very frustrating at times, we were certainly not outclassed.

Getting out of the championship is difficult, don't get me wrong. but we do not "look a million miles off", by any stretch of the imagination.

My ratings, fwiw, most of the team were decent, Bacuna good, Swift off the pace (but hardly surprising) and Clement very ineffectual. And we needed a striker.
I'm assuming Jon Dadi only got 15 minutes for safety sake, because if he was injured we'd really be in the soup right now. But it was annoying he didn't throw Sam Smith on for half an hour instead.

[muirinho]

I also am getting to really like Bacuna. Does what Williams did except better, quicker and more positively.

+1. My new favourite player (sorry Liam, you've been dumped)

[Billy The Fish]

Summed up for me in the first five minutes when someone, Beerens I think, broke free down the left, but when he looked up there was no one within 30 yards of the goal, and no one trying to bust a gut to get into the box either. So apparently we were playing without a striker at all.

I think we only had one presentable chance in the first half, which went straight to their keeper, and just one in the second half too, when Kelly fizzed the ball across the 6 yard box, but again, no one there to apply the finishing touch.

Very frustrating to watch.

[LightwaterRoyal]

I watched the game on an internet stream (I know )

-Bacuna is quality and fits into our style of play really well. Doesn't panic on the ball and breaks play up well. Needs to start
-Ilori, so composed on the ball. If teams are going to put us under pressure we need someone like him at the back. Needs to start.
-Popa was very good, great work rate and put some very good balls into the box that I feel Bodvarsson would have gotten on the end of (maybe, probably not)
-Blackett for the short amount of time he was on the pitch really impressed me. Carried the ball forward well and was very strong into the tackle.
-Beerens showed some flashes of pure quality, unfortunately, end product wasn't quite there but hopefully with more games under his belt that'll come.
-Evans switched play really well, in fact, I think he was the only player that even bothered. Broke attacks up nicely but did lose possession a fair bit.

We passed the ball well, however, when we switched play and pulled Swansea players out of position we didn't exploit them. Nobody attempted to get in behind (Popa and Beerens excluded) and when they did get in there was nobody making any sort of attempt to get into the box.

[muirinho]

I watched the game on an internet stream (I know )

-Bacuna is quality and fits into our style of play really well. Doesn't panic on the ball and breaks play up well. Needs to start
-Ilori, so composed on the ball. If teams are going to put us under pressure we need someone like him at the back. Needs to start.
-Popa was very good, great work rate and put some very good balls into the box that I feel Bodvarsson would have gotten on the end of (maybe, probably not)
-Blackett for the short amount of time he was on the pitch really impressed me. Carried the ball forward well and was very strong into the tackle.
-Beerens showed some flashes of pure quality, unfortunately, end product wasn't quite there but hopefully with more games under his belt that'll come.
-Evans switched play really well, in fact, I think he was the only player that even bothered. Broke attacks up nicely but did lose possession a fair bit.

We passed the ball well, however, when we switched play and pulled Swansea players out of position we didn't exploit them. Nobody attempted to get in behind (Popa and Beerens excluded) and when they did get in there was nobody making any sort of attempt to get into the box.

Apart from when he lost the ball dawdling on it, which led to the corner which led to the goal.

[Lower West]

Bacuna is a growing influence everytime I see him play.

Club should slash ticket prices to a fiver for cup games. Devoid of an atmosphere games such as this will be flat.