Phil SumblerWe are only a few days into the international break and already we are hearing plenty about it’s time to recharge the batteries and we will come back stronger for the break, each of them feels like an excuse for what has become a worrying series of sub standard performances.
The positives are that the team sit 3rd in the Championship table and a chance of automatic promotion is very much alive. The negatives are that we have completely lost touch with Norwich since we beat them at the Liberty at the start of last month and we are in danger of seeing the same happen to Watford who hit form at just the right time for them leading into the international break.
It is fair to say that the team looked tired in the weeks leading up to the break but not all of our issues can be put down to that tiredness and we shouldn’t use it as an excuse given that there are 23 Championship sides who have had the same intense fixture list but have managed to put teams together.
We worked hard to get ourselves into the position that we were in in February but since that Friday night when we were clearly a better side than Norwich we have looked second best for the large majority of every match that we have played. Chances are few and far between, passes have become sloppy and it seems to be a lack of confidence that is impacting us more than any tiredness. And if the squad was genuinely that tired then we would see more rotation than we are and a desire to change things up during games more with injections of fresh legs.
Cooper said at the start of the week that we needed to regroup and work on the training ground during this group and now midfielder Korey Smith talks about recharging batteries in the time that we have and come back raring to go. I don’t disagree with Smith but at the same time we cannot surely keep doing the same thing game and game again.
Against Cardiff we had 23 attempts at goal – 1 of them on target. The on target statistic is worrying enough but the 23 shots were not what we have been managing. The three games before Cardiff saw us have just 25 shots at goal with just 5 on target in three games. That isn’t tiredness that is causing that, it is a defensive attitude.
Fingers used to be pointed at Swansea that we were all about possession but (Cardiff excepted) we rarely have the majority of possession any more. It may well be down to tiredness and only the return of football a week tomorrow after the break will tell us the answer to that but for me it is not about recharging the batteries it is about working out what we want to achieve and the best way to go about it because what we have done in the past month will not see us advance anywhere out of this division for next season.
“We’ve got mixed emotions going into the break. It’s frustrating obviously losing the last game and having to wait two weeks for another one,” Smith said.
“At the same time, it’s an opportunity to recharge the batteries; we’ve had a lot of games. We’ve got to recharge.
“The fixture list has been really demanding, and the time is right for a break. Then we’ll come back raring to go.”
The key really from the break is to come back and prove that what we saw leading up to the Norwich game is the real Swansea City and not just that we weren’t able to deliver when it mattered. That is really all that matters.
There has clearly been a loss of confidence. I’ve never seen a Swansea defence hit so many aimless long balls – to a front two whose hold-up play is not their strength. We’ve lost confidence in playing out from the back, our midfielders don’t come deep to take the ball much. When they do they pass backwards lacking the confidence in possession to turn with the ball and play forwards. Is it nerves at being contenders? Grimes looked a different player in the last quarter against Cardiff when, in desperation, he came deep for the ball, went forward and tried to do something with it. He needs to do that on a regular basis. Hourihane turns out to be a one-trick pony and is not mobile enough. Time to try the kids more, like Cooper? The manager should tell the team to pass it for fun and enjoy themselves. Trying to be careful and pragmatic hasn’t worked.