A rammed Liberty Stadium once again witnessed a 0-0 draw that only told half the story.
Swansea's general possession was less dominating than previous games, but their chances in front of goal increased, which is a positive. However, like the game against Wigan, they were not able to put anything in the back of the net, taking the "games-without-scoring" tally to four.
Scott Sinclair and Nathan Dyer were typically the main routes to goal, both creating several chances - Sinclair saw his rocket of a strike slam off the crossbar in the first half, while Dyer showed his strengths in skill and agility, as well as his one weakness: shooting!
Sunderland will also feel it was two points dropped as they were not without their golden opportunities. These emphasise Vorm's importance once again, as he kept Swansea in the game with a number of top quality saves, including the one-on-one with Gyan in the 72nd minute. Interesting coincidence: the penalty that Vorm saved against Wigan also fell in the 72nd minute!
Mentioning Asamoah Gyan, the battles between him and Ashley Williams were enjoyable to watch, while Steven Caulker, apart from one little blip, had another comfortable game - very confident in the air.
The middle three were unchanged from the match against Wigan and rightly so. It's a combination that seems to be working well, with Agustien's strength, Routledge's speed and Britton's determination to get the ball when, technically, he shouldn't be anywhere near it!
This brings us to Danny Graham, who, once again didn't score. I mean, the rest of the team didn't score either, but Graham has to be singled out as he's the striker that promised so much. It may just be the case of adjusting from Championship to Premier League, and one goal will open the cat flap (listen to me chatting with Ian Wright below for that cliché!), but the opportunities were there; opportunities that a striker should be putting away. Let's put it down to nerves – the pressure for him to get a goal now is very high, so when he receives it in the box he probably thinks too much instead of actually putting his foot through it. They'll come. If not, at least he didn't cost £50 million.
The next game Swansea will play will be after the international break, against Arsenal in two weeks time – a game which the Swans won't be expected to win, or probably even score in. So, with that pressure off, expect to see Graham come out of his shell and grab a hat-trick!
Absolute Radio called me up earlier in the week, asking me to take part in Ian Wright's 'Rock n Roll Football' show after the Swans match. I agreed; here's how it went!
Absolute Radio - Chris Carra / Ian Wright - Swansea City chat by ChrisCarra
No comments:
Post a Comment