John Hollins believes that the Swans could cause an upset at Stamford Bridge this afternoon<\/p>\n
The former Swansea City manager told the Evening Post\u00a0“This match is far from being a foregone conclusion<\/p>\n
“There is a very big gap between the Championship and the Premier League, but Chelsea are toiling a bit at the moment.<\/p>\n
“They have a new manager and new players, and it is taking a little time for them to gel.”<\/p>\n
Hollins senses an opportunity for Swansea to confound expectations at Stamford Bridge, particularly so if the visitors sustain the style of play which has become such a signature of Brendan Rodgers’s side.<\/p>\n
“I have watched Swansea on television and they are playing very confidently with the ball,” says Hollins.<\/p>\n
“There has been no change in style.<\/p>\n
“There are still strong elements of Roberto Martinez’s style, and Brendan Rodgers has done very well to get them into the Premier League.”<\/p>\n
More than simply keeping possession in a pretty manner, however, Hollins is urging Swansea to attack and make the most of what has been a largely underwhelming Chelsea team of late.<\/p>\n
“What I want to see is for Swansea to come and play,” he says.<\/p>\n
“Teams go to Stamford Bridge and sit, and you will not win like that.<\/p>\n
“You have got to have a threat, and you must attack.<\/p>\n
“I would encourage Swansea to attack because they have the capability to do it.<\/p>\n
“David Luiz has become quite a crowd favourite in central defence,” he says.<\/p>\n
“But if Luiz pushes forward from the back, Swansea might be able to catch Chelsea on the break.<\/p>\n
“You need pace in this league, and Scott Sinclair is a very quick player.<\/p>\n
“Sinclair can cause Jose Bosingwa problems at right-back.<\/p>\n
“Bosingwa cannot give any fouls away, because Sinclair will be a threat from free-kicks.<\/p>\n
“Swansea are not a particularly big side,” Hollins says.<\/p>\n
“I do feel that, defensively, corners could prove to be a problem for them.<\/p>\n
“Chelsea are a physical side and they could be a threat at corners, with guys like Alex and John Terry going forward.<\/p>\n
“Even if Swansea can contain Chelsea, they will have to be wary of the danger from set-pieces.<\/p>\n
“Some of the players have still not found the right tempo this season,” says Hollins.<\/p>\n
“I think Frank Lampard is still struggling for form after his injury.<\/p>\n
“He does not look like the player he was.<\/p>\n
“He is a bit like a battery at 50 per cent, and he needs a little more game time.<\/p>\n
“And it is taking a little time for the new manager to settle in as well,” Hollins adds.<\/p>\n
“Andre Villas-Boas is very active, up and down and shouting.<\/p>\n
“I think he has been a little fortunate, as most have results have come because of late goals. The situation is quite tender at the moment.<\/p>\n
“If Swansea can quieten the supporters as they did against Arsenal, that will be a big factor,” says Hollins.<\/p>\n
“The support will be magnificent from the Swansea fans.<\/p>\n
“They will sing Chelsea to death.<\/p>\n
“I remember managing Swansea when we played West Ham in the FA Cup, and the Swansea fans were singing and singing.<\/p>\n
“The West Ham fans were certainly not blowing any bubbles that day.”<\/p>\n
Hollins clearly has fond memories of his time in South Wales and, even though Swansea are competing against a team with which he so closely identifies, the Chelsea icon admits he will have mixed feelings this afternoon.<\/p>\n
“I will be torn,” he says. “Swansea have done so well to get where they are.<\/p>\n
“I just want to see a good game of football, and for both teams to have a real go.<\/p>\n
“May the best team win.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
John Hollins believes that the Swans could cause an upset at Stamford Bridge this afternoon The former Swansea City manager told the Evening Post\u00a0“This match is far from being a foregone conclusion “There is a very big gap between the Championship and the Premier League, but Chelsea are toiling a bit at the moment. “They […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":453,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jackarmy.net\/wp67\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jackarmy.net\/wp67\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jackarmy.net\/wp67\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jackarmy.net\/wp67\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/453"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jackarmy.net\/wp67\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jackarmy.net\/wp67\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18484\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jackarmy.net\/wp67\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jackarmy.net\/wp67\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jackarmy.net\/wp67\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}