S25/26 | The Official Match Thread | Swansea 1 Derby 2 | Att: 14,251 | 25/11/25 | The EFL Championship | The Swansea.com Stadium

[Ringwood]

He did identify the issues.. does he have the squad to put these things right

 

[sit_down_jack]

It's encouraging he highlighted that we need to speed things up, overlap etc and get more people in the box. I defo think we saw a small glimpse in first half of what he wants. But we started to go into bad habits in second half. For me this is gonna be more about man management than anything else. The style will come, but he needs to put confidence into these players. He is reported to be good at this so let's see

It’s funny because what he describes are basic patterns of play

 

[sit_down_jack]

Trying to be a bit optimistic here - we finished 11th last season with not far off the same players. Darling and O’Brien the only exceptions and Darling is below us in the league. LOB was important but surely not the difference between 11th and relegation?

I don’t know, grasping at straws…

 

[J_B]

It's encouraging he highlighted that we need to speed things up, overlap etc and get more people in the box. I defo think we saw a small glimpse in first half of what he wants. But we started to go into bad habits in second half. For me this is gonna be more about man management than anything else. The style will come, but he needs to put confidence into these players. He is reported to be good at this so let's see

He’s very right about the lack of people in the box. Whilst Ronald and Eom are very frustrating because they rarely get a cross in, even Tymon who’s the best crosser by miles at the club, rarely finds a forward because apart from from Vip or Idah, no midfield player arrives late or even at all so there’s precious little to aim at.
We’re a diminutive team as well so, apart from a set piece with the defenders up, crosses from open play, even good ones, are a long shot at best.
I think we’re better off pulling low crosses from the byline back to the edge of the box to midfield players running in. Of course, we need wide players who can get to the byline so that’s another problem.

 

[Swans Jack]

Trying to be a bit optimistic here - we finished 11th last season with not far off the same players. Darling and O’Brien the only exceptions and Darling is below us in the league. LOB was important but surely not the difference between 11th and relegation?

I don’t know, grasping at straws…

I'll take some of those straws. I genuinely feel down. Like many. Give it 24 hours I'll be more happier. But something in my gut is off with this team. Ridiculous for me to say it. Can I just fast forward to April/May and get this season over with

 

[Swans Jack]

He’s very right about the lack of people in the box. Whilst Ronald and Eom are very frustrating because they rarely get a cross in, even Tymon who’s the best crosser by miles at the club, rarely finds a forward because apart from from Vip or Idah, no midfield player arrives late or even at all so there’s precious little to aim at.
We’re a diminutive team as well so, apart from a set piece with the defenders up, crosses from open play, even good ones, are a long shot at best.
I think we’re better off pulling low crosses from the byline back to the edge of the box to midfield players running in. Of course, we need wide players who can get to the byline so that’s another problem.

Good call. . Valid points. I genuinely feel like we will get there. But alot more pain is to come first.

 

[PenlanJack]

Trying to be a bit optimistic here - we finished 11th last season with not far off the same players. Darling and O’Brien the only exceptions and Darling is below us in the league. LOB was important but surely not the difference between 11th and relegation?

I don’t know, grasping at straws…

First half was encouraging, but second half, Derby sat in a bit, but moved 10 yards up the pitch and down the pitch in their shape and set traps, especially on Key and Cabango's side, and they got in multiple times, plus our midfield were terrible in the 2nd half.. i don't know what instructions are given to Franco, but the gap he leaves between him and Stamenic and the back 4 (sometimes it's a back 3 because key and tymon are awol) gets exploited week after week.. but Matos will go back and watch the footage, and he'll notice everything.. our positional approach is confusing and I'm not sure what our plan is..

 

[MajorR]

Much of what we did that was good in the first half involved him. He moved the ball quickly and rarely took more touches than needed.

I defend him quite a bit and I'm not claiming that he's the answer, but 300 games in the top two divisions is no fluke. He's a much better player than most give him credit for.

Well said.

 

[mrploppy]

Amongst all the other dross, Vig is starting to bother me. He's often rooted to his line when he could come and collect but he also half comes for the ball sometimes. He did it last Saturday for their second goal. He did it again tonight but got away with it. He could have done better with Derby's first goal also. The last thing we need is an uncertain goalkeeper.

 

[Jackareme]

If you close your eyes and let your mind go- you can see a player in Eom. On the other wing we need to open our eyes and smell the coffee.
I was excited to see Ronald getting subbed - but bugger me i am not sure that Benson was worse - and the bar is as low as a snake’s belly.
Don’t get me started on Cullen. Between Ronald Cullen and Key we are carrying more passengers than the X13 bus

 

[PenlanJack]

I'm so confused with our game plan, if you leave gaps in midfield at this level you'll get punished, if you leave gaps between CB and FB you'll get punished.. but we do this week in, week out chasing some high press, high line football, that only elite teams do, but managers are working them out at the moment, Arsenal are a shape, discipline machine this season, Liverpool and Man City are getting found out.. managers are working this type of football out, the counter attack capability is just there.. Man City without Rodri is just one case of this happening, as soon as Rodri got injured, teams are exploiting it, and Man City look vulnerable and not a destructive force they once were.. Liverpool are struggling because Robertson has gone at that level, and it shows how Salah is missing Trent Alexander Arnold.. with all due respect to Bradley and Kerkez, they're just not elite players..

 

[crazedbison]

He’s very right about the lack of people in the box. Whilst Ronald and Eom are very frustrating because they rarely get a cross in, even Tymon who’s the best crosser by miles at the club, rarely finds a forward because apart from from Vip or Idah, no midfield player arrives late or even at all so there’s precious little to aim at.
We’re a diminutive team as well so, apart from a set piece with the defenders up, crosses from open play, even good ones, are a long shot at best.
I think we’re better off pulling low crosses from the byline back to the edge of the box to midfield players running in. Of course, we need wide players who can get to the byline so that’s another problem.

I think Eom actually can cross a ball, but the problem is that by playing him on the left we will never see it. He has no left foot, as evidenced a number of times today.

If we're serious about crosses we need to get Tymon further up the pitch. Play him in midfield on the left side or as a LW. Samuels-Smith seemed to be a decent enough defensive LB. Eom then on the right side.

 

[SwanseaBoy123]

If you close your eyes and let your mind go- you can see a player in Eom. On the other wing we need to open our eyes and smell the coffee.
I was excited to see Ronald getting subbed - but bugger me i am not sure that Benson was worse - and the bar is as low as a snake’s belly.
Don’t get me started on Cullen. Between Ronald Cullen and Key we are carrying more passengers than the X13 bus

Eom would do well in the Dutch/Belgium/Swedish league, something along those lines where the tempo is a bit slower and the physicality is less. I could see the logic in his signing tbh I don't blame them for that, he's got good technique and some pace about him. But unfortunately this league is just a bit too much for him.

Ronald on the other hand is hopeless genuinely not one redeeming faucet to his play. Got no technique, no pace, can't shoot, no footballing iq just absolutely nothing. He's only method of trying to get past someone is putting his head down and kicking it against an opponents body and praying he gets a lucky bounce and even when it somehow works his cross won't clear the first man anyway.