Planet Swans ArchivesI have to confess that at half time yesterday I was worried – there were too many similarities to the Crystal Palace game for my liking in that we were the better of the two sides in the first half but were unable to turn any of our advantage into the two or three goal advantage that we probably deserved at the break.
And those worries were shown to be spot on in the second half as another poor display let the visitors into the game although this time around the result was worse as the Swans succumbed to not just surrender one of the points to our opponents but all of them as two goals gave West Brom only a second victory on the road this season.
The way in which we have surrendered so meekly in the last two second halves is the biggest worry of me this season as it has changed dramatically in the last few weeks after a series of high tempo performances where we looked as if we were up for the fight that we find ourselves in. Whether it is nerves I don’t know but it is something that we have to change and soon especially with two tough away trips coming up before Norwich arrive at the Liberty in two weeks time.
Leon told Sky Sports after the game “We played really well in the first half and could have been two or three up but we were very poor in the second half.
“We invited pressure and when you do that the other team score.
“West Brom started strongly in the second half and we couldn’t match it.”
I’m not sure that it was necessarily a case of West Brom starting well in the second half but more a case of us almost seemingly sitting back and letting them into a game. At half time I thought the visitors looked a beaten team but we did let them back into it and their confidence grew at a level equal with the way ours was going down.
“Scrappy play from ourselves helped them get their winner, even though he struck it well – but we should have got rid of it.
“In the first half we moved well, passed it well and created chances but we were a different side after the break.
“I suppose in the coming days we will watch the video and see where we went wrong.
“But we’re in a relegation battle and must battle hard from now on. We’ve got nine cup finals.”
Leon’s words are spot on but the time for words has been passed. A couple of months back we heard similar from Wayne Routledge and these two are not exclusive in telling us that they are up for the fight but on the evidence of yesterday’s display that does not play its way through into performances on the pitch itself. Less words, more action please.
