Phil SumblerIt may have been a change that was forced on Steve Cooper because of circumstance but the performance of Steven Benda between the sticks yesterday would have given him great comfort as the keeper did not look at all out of place on his Swansea senior debut.
Benda was thrown in as a replacement for the ill Freddie Woodman and despite conceding the first league goal against the Swans this season commanded his area very well and, for me, his distribution added a new dimension to our game and is certainly an improvement in that area on Woodman.
Very proud moment making my senior debut for Swansea today. Big 3 points against a tough opponent 💪🏻 thought the team was excellent today. Let’s keep working hard 🔥@SwansOfficial pic.twitter.com/KYDSGRlIyq
— Steven Benda (@stevenbenda1) October 3, 2020
To the untrained eye I would certainly say that he could – and probably should – have done better with the Millwall goal but then again the hesitation in the Swansea defence did leave him a little exposed as you could argue we should have prevented the player getting the shot away in the first place.
What was key though was that Benda did not take chances in the area and I felt that he did what people want of goalkeepers and that is to command the area and take control of the ball particularly in his six yard area.
For this alone I would give Benda an extended run in the team when the international break is over. Possession can be nine tenths of the law and whilst his elevation into the team may have been done through circumstance there was nothing he did yesterday that suggests he should step back into the shadows. In the same way as he started the season as understudy to Woodman then this should reverse now with Woodman waiting for his chance to come back in.
I am not sure though that Cooper will think the same way as he has shown in all his time at Swansea that he has a clear preference for Woodman and bringing him back on a second season long loan tends to back that up. And I understand why as he is a decent keeper but based on performances to date I would say that Benda offers us a little more in the team set up at the moment than Woodman.
The other difference for me yesterday was that I was very relaxed whenever Millwall were attacking which again suggests the keeper is giving off the right signals with his play. When Nordfeldt was coming into the side as back up you always felt there was a slip waiting to happen there somewhere but that was just not the case yesterday.
So, for me, I would give Benda a run in the team but for the first time in quite some time the Swans have competition for the place between the sticks and that has to be a good thing for us overall?
