Changes need to be made for Cardiff clash

If there is one thing that we should have learned from the recent fixtures is that it is the age old definition of insanity which simply says that the definition is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” rings very true for Swansea City at the moment.

Quite simply we have not hit top form since Norwich were beaten at the Liberty back at the start of February.  We have shown occasional signs but they have been very occasional and largely – despite managing to get some results going our way – we have flattered to deceive pretty much most of the time and looked almost out of our depth as a promotion chasing side.

It is clear to everyone watching that things need to change both from a personnel point of view but also from a tactical one as we have become uber cautious and defensive more often than not.   Someone on the forums here earlier today compared it to the last months of Carlos Carvahal and it feels a fair comparison in so much as we have done all the work to get us into contention but we now seem to approach a game with the mentality of trying not to get beat rather than actually trying to win the game.

Last Saturday at Luton was a classic case in point for me.   A goal inside three minutes should see us ready to push on and try and create a good position for our goal difference as well as points but we sat back, invited pressure and relied on our ability to keep out the opposition rather than pushing forward a little bit more to try and kill the game off.

In the nine league games since we beat Norwich on that Friday night at the Liberty we have gained sixteen points which, in itself, is not a disaster.   We have won five of those nine games but each of them has been by a one goal margin whilst the three defeats have been by two goals (once) and three goals (twice).  The nine games have, in short, seen us advance our points tally but our goal difference has gone backwards.   Simply put you cannot sit back in games and expect to continue winning enough games.

Look at Norwich, Watford and Brentford.  When they win they tend to win handsome and they always look likely to score goals.  We simply don’t and that is a tactical change we have to make.

Last night we saw what seemed like more threat from Morgan Whittaker in forty-five minutes than we have seem from Jamal Lowe in that whole nine game patch.    The former Wigan man has not scored a goal since 16th January when he netted his 7th in as many games in a win over Barnsley.   He looks a player so devoid of confidence but also, and maybe more tellingly, a player who looks totally in need of a rest.   Last night he conceded the ball every time he got it with some ease and looked off the pace.   When he found himself on the bench against Middlesbrough a week or two back then the Sky commentators on that game talked about him needing a rest and recharging his batteries and confidence but he has come back in almost immediately and that is damaging him as much as it damages us.

Whittaker has found game time hard to come by since he joined the club back in January. o His goal against Manchester City in the FA Cup was well taken and last night he was simply the only goal threat that we had.  In itself that has to be worth a start.   Steve Cooper’s comments on the official website about Whittaker are that we signed him for the future but if that was the case then why have him on the bench.   For all the good decisions Steve Cooper can make this seems to be one of his oddest.

“We brought him in during January for the future really, but we wanted to put him in the first-team squad straightaway because of the position he plays.  He is doing well and, the more opportunities we can give him in the shorter term, the better” Cooper said.

Quite simply he should have that opportunity now on Saturday to start a game.  He did enough on Tuesday evening to warrant that start and we should not be afraid to make a big decision and make the change.   The easy thing on Saturday would be to play Lowe again but simply put that is not right and Whittaker needs to take his place.

If we are to push on from the position we are in then we have to make these changes and become attacking.  We will not make the top two on our current tactics and I would fear for us in the play offs if we have become too accustomed to sitting back.  To take a place in the Premier League we need to be brave and that is both in our style of play and our team selections.

The question is – how brave is Steve Cooper?