Phil Sumbler
The Swans have travelled to the North East for today’s fixture against Middlesbrough knowing that they need to produce a performance to make up for the poor standards that they showed over the Easter weekend.
A draw at Sheffield Wednesday and a home defeat to QPR was not the return the boss would have wanted on our return from the international break especially when that break was preceded by the best performance of the season as we dismantled Cardiff.
That 2-0 win in the derby fixture is starting to look more and more like a performance that was away from the norm with the two games last weekend leaving much to be desired both in terms of style but, more worryingly, in terms of effort with the team static and playing walking pace football for long periods.
The two performances were in strong contrast to what we are told is the football we are trying to play and it led to several front foot media comments this week about how we are progressing and how excited we should be for next season but the reality is we need to be able to see more of the proof behind these statements to prevent them being labelled as just words.
Away to Middlesbrough is followed by home games against Stoke and Rotherham in the next week and there should be no reason why we should expect anything less than at least two wins from those games particularly with two of the opponents being below us in the league.
Whilst the general levels of the 2023/24 season will be quickly forgotten when the season ends next month we could at least take some levels of optimism into next season with some strong performances particularly given so many players are seemingly playing for their future you would like to think that there is at least things for some to prove.
With six games left and forty-seven points on the board you would like to think the Swans have a capability of returning a total haul for the season of mid to late fifties in the points column although that would require a significant increase in performance from the team as hinted at by Luke Williams in his pre-match comments.
We, of course, have gone to the North East with both Joe Allen and Placheta out through injury but Liam Walsh’s return from injury last week as a substitute could see him competing for a starting spot at the Riverside this afternoon.
Looking Ahead – Luke Williams – “The Cardiff game is a big game, and it can be a good reason to get to that level of performance, as the culmination of good performances where we had played on the front foot and increased the way we pressed the opposition and the way we could play forward.
“But you cannot then dip down. We need that every week, we need to aim to get to a new level to because otherwise you cannot perform.
“I am not saying we did not play at all well against Sheffield Wednesday, or that we did not play at well against QPR, that would not be fair on the players.
“Much of it is good, but there is an element missing, the seasoning is missing, and the fans can taste that difference.
“They know the difference between when it’s the real deal and when it’s not. We have to talk about that, me and the players, and address it.”
JackArmy.net Prediction – Middlesbrough 2 Swansea City 1
