Season 20/21: Swansea v Barnsley, Championship Play Off Semi Final 2nd Leg, Match Thread

[swansnews]

Swansea City v Barnsley
EFL Championship Play Off Semi Final 2nd Leg
The Liberty Stadium, Swansea
Saturday 22nd May 2021
6.30pm Kick off

THIS GAME WILL BE BROADCAST LIVE ON SKY SPORTS



CAN THE SWANS FINISH THE JOB AND EARN THEIR PLACE AT WEMBLEY

After Andre Ayew's goal settled the first leg, the Swans will welcome fans back to the Liberty Stadium on Saturday for the second leg where the team that progresses to Wembley will be decided.

Last season the Swans were unable to finish the job after a 1-0 first leg win but this time around Steve Cooper will be hopeful that his side can finish the job and extend the season by one final game - the richest game in football.

As ever you can keep up to date with all the action here in our matchday thread - back the boys whether you will be at the Liberty or not for the game.

THIS IS OUR DAY?

 

[Skippyjack]

Woodman

Naughton
Guehi
Cabango
Bidwell

Grimes
Smith
Fulton

Ayew
Routledge
Lowe

Routledge for Cullen who was disappointing tonight and Smith has to come in for Hourihane, plus we need to keep possession better in the 2nd leg, and we should scrape through... But I think Brentford and Bournemouth have too much for us in a final after watching the two games

 

[JackFish]

Agree with that team Skippy, don’t think either Hourihane or Cullen did enough to warrant their inclusion.

 

[Fireboy]

Agree with that team Skippy, don’t think either Hourihane or Cullen did enough to warrant their inclusion.

Isn't it good to have these dilemmas?

We seem to have decent options off the bench.

 

[DJack]

Woodman

Naughton
Guehi
Cabango
Bidwell

Grimes
Smith
Fulton

Ayew
Routledge
Lowe

Routledge for Cullen who was disappointing tonight and Smith has to come in for Hourihane, plus we need to keep possession better in the 2nd leg, and we should scrape through... But I think Brentford and Bournemouth have too much for us in a final after watching the two games

Tidy post Skippy and i agree with you 100%

 

[Badlands]

Difficult call ... defend for 90 or play to win.
If we defend ...
Woodman
Naughton Cabango Bennet Guehi Manning
"....... Smith ... Grimes... Fulton
"...........Ayew ..... Lowe

Attack
Woodman
"..."....Cagando ... Bennet ... Guehi
Roberts..................................Bidwell
..........Smith ....... Grimes .... Fulton
...........Ayew .....".......... Lowe

 

[Ringwood Jack]

Not sure the 3 man midfield is a good idea unless Hourihane pulls his weight. We had very little control in the middle last night unless we resort to lumping it forward. I would consider dropping Cullen and go 5-3-2 and get Roberts back in for this but Cooper will probably stick with 4-3-3

Smith for Hourihane needs to happen but i suspect Hourihane will play and maybe even Cullen will start again

 

[Fireboy]

It will be interesting to see how cooper sets us up for saturdays game.

Remember barnsley have to score so will he try to protect the slim lead we have or will he go for the kill?

For me I'd go for it, barnsley will push up looking for that goal so they might leave space at the back, fwiw I think cullen should start again, he will have learnt from last night and he's got that predatory instinct in the box, he could be the man who gets us to wembley.

 

[sainthelens]

The morning after, and for the life of me I can't see us blowing it on Saturday.
We've beaten them 3 times this season ( so the lads will know they have their number)
They ran out of ideas against us last night, even if both sides play better we are little stronger.
Plus Coops can now play a couple of formations against em knowing we are a better side.
Gonna take a monumental bottle job not to progress imo. Thats not any kind of Hounslow F.C arrogance, just saying what we all saw.
But would like us to go for an early goal....literally kill it off.

 

[Hammy]

The morning after, and for the life of me I can't see us blowing it on Saturday.
We've beaten them 3 times this season ( so the lads will know they have their number)
They ran out of ideas against us last night, even if both sides play better we are little stronger.
Plus Coops can now play a couple of formations against em knowing we are a better side.
Gonna take a monumental bottle job not to progress imo. Thats not any kind of Hounslow F.C arrogance, just saying what we all saw.
But would like us to go for an early goal....literally kill it off.

Yes, we seem to have Barnsley's number ... their league 1 level hoofball game of kicking the ball into the box and hope for the best hasn't worked for 3 games, so unless they change drastically can't see it happening on Saturday. I think we need an early-ish goal and we should be fine.

As for the final, I can see Cooper going ultra defensive, probably won't change the 433 at this stage, and hoping we can squeeze out a goal and keep a clean sheet ... this is probably not the time to try and do something we haven't been doing all season (i.e., trying to play an attacking passing game). It's a cup final with a huge prize !!

 

[MrSwerve]

The morning after, and for the life of me I can't see us blowing it on Saturday.
We've beaten them 3 times this season ( so the lads will know they have their number)
They ran out of ideas against us last night, even if both sides play better we are little stronger.
Plus Coops can now play a couple of formations against em knowing we are a better side.
Gonna take a monumental bottle job not to progress imo. Thats not any kind of Hounslow F.C arrogance, just saying what we all saw.
But would like us to go for an early goal....literally kill it off.

I agree with you that I think we have enough to just about see them off, but I don't think it would be a monumental bottle job not to progress. We've seen that we struggle to score at the best of times and if Barnsley come out all guns blazing and get a goal, who knows what could happen.

It's going to be a very edgy affair.

 

[Sherpa]

Hourihane on the bench for me.

If he starts, he won't last 120 minutes. If it goes to penalties I want him on the pitch.

 

[AlarchAlmaenig]

I want to see Brentford vs Bournemouth and then travel but if it goes into extra time I'll need to miss the end. It's win win because we get to see Brentford cry or we get them in the final which is the easiest of the two.

I'm thinking of coming up early and watching it in the pub.

 

[Ringwood Jack]

For the 3K fans attending make yourself loud and proud and be the 12th man..

Be good to see more flags there too

 

[LeonWasTheDog's]

Difficult call ... defend for 90 or play to win.
If we defend ...
Woodman
Naughton Cabango Bennet Guehi Manning
"....... Smith ... Grimes... Fulton
"...........Ayew ..... Lowe

Attack
Woodman
"..."....Cagando ... Bennet ... Guehi
Roberts..................................Bidwell
..........Smith ....... Grimes .... Fulton
...........Ayew .....".......... Lowe

Second one for me is the best combination of our best players playing in positions that best suit them. It can be both defensive or attacking.