Phil Sumbler
Another game, another poor Swansea City performance and another game where many players should take a hard look at themselves as many failed yet again to impress on an afternoon where the lack of fight in this squad was obvious.
At the end of the afternoon the 2-0 scoreline probably didn’t sum up enough just how far the Swans were from returning from Middlesbrough with anything to show for their efforts but that was driven purely by the fact that the effort was missing for pretty much most of the game.
After the disappointment of the poor performances against Sheffield Wednesday and QPR the Swans arrived in the North East in need of a performance as much as a result and proof that the words uttered in the aftermath of those two Easter games were not as hollow as some of the words that have been uttered.
With Luke Williams continuing with Jerry Yates up front and Jay Fulton in midfield then a first half that ensued was entirely predictable – it has often been said about the definition of insanity so it was never a surprise to see a Swans performance that was reduced to walking pace (or if you want a true accurate description, at times we sped up as fast as walking pace)
To be fair Josh Key and Ronald tried to do their best to inject some level of urgency into an attack but with the final ball either poor or finding an out of position Yates the threats on the home side goal in the opening hour were pretty much zero as Boro dealt with the Swans with some ease.ย ย As has become the norm for sides against us.
The loss of Josh Tymon through injury midway through the second half did not help any attacking intent that we had and the warning signs were already in place as Boro threatened the Swans goal on a couple of occasions before they took the lead in the first half stoppage time caused by that injury to Tymon.
And the goal summed up all the frailties that we see in the Swansea defence as a ball from the right hand side was completely missed by Nathan Wood and Latte Lath picked up the ball.ย ย With five defenders and the goalkeeper within touching distance of the forward you would have been safe to assume that the ball should be cleared but our lack of desire to get to the ball cost us dear and the Boro man got his shot in and into the bottom corner of the net despite the pathetic attempts of the Swans defence to get to the ball.ย ย The end of another half with the Swans failing to trouble the home keeper yet again sums up the nonsense that we are served up to watch at the moment.
With no changes at half time the question continues to be asked as to why we can serve up that kind of nonsense for forty-five minutes without there seemingly being any consequence to the players on the pitch.ย ย This line is not to single out any particular player but there are several players who keep turning in the dreadful performances we watch and yet continue to be picked week in week out.ย ย A sad indictment really on our recruitment policy under the ownership which Andy Coleman and Paul Watson are keen to criticise but it all happened on the same ownership watch.ย ย And shows strong signs of giving us a much stronger battle to stay up next year than we have experienced this which, as we have suggested before, worries us as there does not appear to be too much fight in this particular bunch of players when the chips are down.
Jamal Lowe tested the keeper ten minutes into the second half with a weak shot from the edge of the area but the Swans really were dreadful to watch as the game ticked past the hour mark with Luke Williams making a triple change to try and shake his team up.ย ย As has become the norm the desired shake up came with like for like subs with Walsh, Cullen and Cooper introduced for Fulton, Yates and Paterson.ย The one thing that we see very little from recent Swansea City managers is a desire to change Plan A when it is blatantly not working in games, if your average football fan can see the need for this then I fail to understand how it cannot be seen from the touchline.
As we ticked towards seventy minutes you had to start feeling more than a dose of sympathy for the Swans fans who had made the trip to the North East as they watched a side of players who seemingly looked disinterested in the game that was going around them.ย ย Summed up for me by Jamal Lowe giving away a cheap free kick to save any effort to actually try and defend and win back a ball as Middlesbrough threatened another attack.ย At 1-0 down there can be multiple frustrations in watching Darling, Wood, Rushworth and Grimes pass the ball around the back four area at walking pace and I dare to say that noises out of the away end were reflecting this.
You could probably sum up the Swans afternoon from a free kick in the 74th minute.ย After Ronald was fouled on the right hand side of the penalty area Matt Grimes stepped up to take a free kick in a very attacking position.ย ย A woefully overhit free kick caused Abdulai to rescue the ball on the left hand side and his ball back to Walsh saw the midfielder overhit a cross to disappear harmlessly out of play for a goal kick.ย ย Basic controls from seemingly professional footballers sadly lacking.ย ย This though is the Swansea City of 2024 version and the basics just fail us on too many occasions.
Five minutes later Middlesbrough doubled their lead and ended the match as a contest.ย ย And it was Latte Lath again who scored the goal as he latched onto a through ball and with his first touch he wrong footed Harry Darling and with his second he curled the ball past Rushworth and into the back of the net.ย ย If the Swans looked unlikely to come back at one down, at two down it was a proverbial mountain that needed climbing and there was simply no way that we were going to do it.
Another Grimes free kick and another pathetic delivery saw another promising position peter out into nothing and it was the home side who took the turn to make a triple change which included the double goalscorer of the afternoon being taken off, presumably to keep him fresh for the midweek games.
The addition of four minutes at the end of the game just signalled four more minutes off turgid nonsense from the Swans who spent the first minute of the four bringing the ball out of their own half before turning and passing back into their own halfย on two separate occasions.ย ย Welcome to Swansea City, possession stats are all important.
A last minute Swans corner was greeted with all the lack of urgency that we have grown to expect from the Swans and of course the whole episode was completed as the corner sailed harmlessly over the penalty area and eventually for a goal kick to the home side.ย ย Game over.
As Alan Curtis mused as the final whistle blew we are simply going through the motions at the moment and have no real attacking threat.ย ย We had multiple players on the pitch today who should not be able to hold their head up at the final whistle and what is the most worrying thing is that this happens week in, week out and we are seemingly unable to stop it or improve on our performances.
Stoke and Rotherham at home in the next week – nothing less than six points is acceptable.ย ย Do you have any confidence we will achieve it?ย ย Because I don’t
MATCH FACTS AND LINE UPS
OTHER CHAMPIONSHIP SCORES
LATEST TABLE
ยNEXT UP FOR THE SWANS
