RobHawk Posted 4 August 2009 Posted 4 August 2009 Living in Swansea gave me the opportunity to head to the Liberty Stadium on Saturday and check out our 1st opposition of the season. They played Kilmarnock and won comfortably 4-1. To be fair I was impressed, I saw Swansea a few times under Martinez and the style of playing doesn't seem to have changed all that much. They will pass the ball around and close down quickly whenever they lose possession. Kilmarnock were well and truly trounced. Looked like a 3rd rate non league team. Lucky to get the goal they did because other than that I can only remember one shot on target. Anyway to the players, GK - Dorus De Vries - Made one good save but other than that had little to do. Very vocal and a pretty solid keeper. LB - Alan Tate - Versatile defender, good positioning but is generally considered the weak link of the team, not a lot of pace so could be exposed against faster opposition. CB © - Garry Monk - Good solid Defender however his distribution can be poor. CB - Ashley Williams - Very Good defender, solid in the air and comfortable with the ball at his feet. One to watch from corners. CB - Albert Serran - Looked solid - good in the air and strong in the tackle. May be played at right back if Rangel is not fit. RB - Angel Rangel - One of the best right backs outside the Premiership, Loves to get forward and send dangerous balls into the box. Only played 45mins in preseason due to injury so may not play on Saturday. LM - Mark Gower - Scored a hat-trick on Saturday, the third of which was a stunner. Will constantly change wings with Dyer and is dangerous cutting in from the left on to his right foot. Very confident in preseason, one to keep an eye on. CM - Joe Allen - Young Welsh midfielder similar to Andy King in many ways. Had a great breakthrough season last year and will be looking to build on that. CM - Leon Britton - Small but tenacious midfielder, doesn’t score a lot but never stops running. Very Robbie Savage-esq but without the hair. CM - Jordi Lopez - Defensive midfielder, Happy to sit back and protect at the back. Always there for the simple pass when required. Can be dangerous from dead ball situations. Looks a very good signing for Swansea this summer. CM - Shaun MacDonald - Tall midfielder with bright ginger hair. Didn’t look bad but didn’t do much! CM - Andrea Orlandi - Experienced midfielder usually played out wide. Sousa played him in the centre and he looked cool and composed. Solid but not spectacular. RM - Nathan Dyer - KEY MAN! This guy will run at defenders all day, loves to get past his man and get the ball into the box from the byline. Can definitely be a match winner. Won a penalty for Swansea’s 1st and created the 2nd with a good run to byline. Will switch with Gower over to the left but is much more dangerous down the right. Has pace to burn. ST - Gorka Pintado - Will put himself about, very strong and will run all day. Certain lack in technique at times. Not Capable of scoring 20 a season but will pop up with a few through out. ST - Stephen Dobie - Signed over the summer and looked really sharp on Saturday, quick on the turn and could be a shrewd signing but I don’t feel he will score enough to replace the presence of Jason Scotland. Sousa played the 1st half in a 4-5-1 formation, started the 2nd half in a 3-5-2 formation and then finished in a more orthodox 4-4-2. I would expect him to start Saturday with the 4-5-1 formation but due to Rangel’s injury may see the 3-5-2 formation. Strengths Very composed on the ball, if you lose it, it may be a while before you get it back. Pressurize well when they don’t have the ball making it hard for opposition to play. Seemed solid at the back although Kilmarnock looked awful. In Gower and Dyer they have 2 very good wingers and will always look to create chances. Weaknesses No real goal scorer up front. They may struggle against our defense. Zonal defending on corners, this is how Kilmarnock scored. Unconventional and not always effective. With Rangel injured they may not start the game with an out and out full make. Tate and Serran while steady are not out and out full backs. This could definitely be exploited by Lloyd. This is all observation from what i've seen and heard from Swans Fans. I hope you find it all interesting. Paula Sousa seems very competent and I think Swansea will do ok this season. Exactly how well could depend on what caliber of striker they bring in. Much like us really!!! Roll on saturday, i think it will be close but i think we will win!!
Fez of Mahrez Posted 4 August 2009 Posted 4 August 2009 Believe that should be Stephen Dobbie rather than Scott Dobie, interesting write up though, cheers.
Dr The Singh Posted 4 August 2009 Posted 4 August 2009 Great write up!! Thanks Hawky!! I think the game maybe a draw, we both seem alittle toothless in attack!!
ousefox Posted 4 August 2009 Posted 4 August 2009 Thanks. Good insight! Maybe we should think about playing Gradel on the right wing to expose that left back.
lou Posted 4 August 2009 Posted 4 August 2009 RB - Angel Rangel is that name for real? Looks like a close, low scoring game then possibly...... it will end up 5-4 now Ive said that! Thanks for the info
josh_baskin Posted 4 August 2009 Posted 4 August 2009 If you want to the judge the outcome of saturdays game by that report its easy to predict a draw. City 3 Swans 1 me thinks.
Hitesh Posted 4 August 2009 Posted 4 August 2009 is that name for real? Looks like a close, low scoring game then possibly...... it will end up 5-4 now Ive said that! Thanks for the info If that's to Leicester than I won't be complaining. Nice report there btw RobHawk!
Fox92 Posted 4 August 2009 Posted 4 August 2009 Great report Obviousley, I have never seen them live but when I watched them last year on the TV they looked good, playing great football. Now though a change of manager and he will continue to play the same way as Martinez. Glad that Scotland has left as he was the threat although they still have some nice players, I like Angel Rangel and Alan Tate, didn't know he sat in at left back though. Cannot wait to see them for real on Saturday, it should be a great game with it being our first Championship game under Pearson, Swansea have a new manager and they will no doubt bring alot of fans of course it is their first visit to The Walkers. Still going for a 1-1 draw though.
Guest Posted 4 August 2009 Posted 4 August 2009 No wonder they won with the old 5-7-2. It's a cunning tactic, not often seen these days. Takes some serious balls to play in that formation
Swansfan Posted 4 August 2009 Posted 4 August 2009 Hi all, swans fan here. Very good report. Dyer and Gower do change around a lot and under Sousa so far we've played some excellent football. I also agree and don't know where our strikers will be prolific but Sousa is looking to bring someone in before sat, but guess its a wait and see thing. Mark Gower has scored 4 goals in pre season (having gone all last season without scoring) and his confidence is high. I believe him and Dyer (if they play) will be tricky for you to handle. Im not sure of the team that Sousa will play but we've got about 500 tickets left to sell so we're bringing alot of fans to your place. Good luck for the season (but not against us of course!).
David Guiza Posted 4 August 2009 Posted 4 August 2009 I am worried about Berner facing Dyer to be honest he has struggled in the past against pacey wingers. However im glad that Angel Rangel could be out becuase what i'v seen of him he's a really good player.
dilko2008 Posted 4 August 2009 Posted 4 August 2009 [Having a guy called Monk at centre back is legendry!!
Dan Posted 4 August 2009 Posted 4 August 2009 I am worried about Berner facing Dyer to be honest he has struggled in the past against pacey wingers. However im glad that Angel Rangel could be out becuase what i'v seen of him he's a really good player. Agree with that, our biggest threat this season will be quality right wingers, Swansea's star man being one Great report by the way mate
Heart-Shaped Fox Posted 4 August 2009 Posted 4 August 2009 Cheers for the info on them. I think we will win this. I have a feeling. Heard this keeper is quite good so we will need to test him.
Swansfan Posted 4 August 2009 Posted 4 August 2009 Cheers for the info on them. I think we will win this. I have a feeling.Heard this keeper is quite good so we will need to test him. Hes been good for us the past 2 seasons. If you get a penalty though you will definately score. DeVries saved his first penalty for us in a preseason friendly in spain. Hasn't saved one for us in the league though. Angel Rangel is injured but has featured in the last 2 games (not for 90 mins though). He'll more than likely feature at some point on saturday though.
MPH Posted 4 August 2009 Posted 4 August 2009 Hes been good for us the past 2 seasons. If you get a penalty though you will definately score. DeVries saved his first penalty for us in a preseason friendly in spain. Hasn't saved one for us in the league though. Angel Rangel is injured but has featured in the last 2 games (not for 90 mins though). He'll more than likely feature at some point on saturday though. good luck for the season always like passing teams to do well...
JackFish Posted 4 August 2009 Posted 4 August 2009 Very accurate assessment, RobHawk, pretty much spot on. I'm not sure where our goals will be coming from at the moment, certainly don't think either Pintado or Dobbie are capable of scoring 20 odd, but we are looking at bringing in at least one, probably two before the end of August. We're also looking for another centre half, possibly Millwall's Zak Whitbread. Other than that we have Marcos Painter who usually plays left back, but has been out since October with a cruciate injury, probably won't play on Saturday. Bodde and Pratley would usually start in the midfield three, but are both injured as well.
Joe. Posted 4 August 2009 Posted 4 August 2009 So if you can't score and we can't score this has all the makings of a classic... Or not.
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