Swansea City: Historic semi-final and a boy with a ball

Another trip to Wembley looms after Swansea City hung on to a 2-0 aggregate victory over Chelsea at the Liberty stadium last night. The game certainly had its share of drama, but the important thing is a cup final is now just a month away and a trophy is just 90 minutes from that.

Swansea performed very well over two legs - first nicking a good win at Stamford Bridge, then playing their away game at home, with deep defending and exciting counter attacks, absorbing Chelsea's limited pressure.

Ashley Williams and Chico Flores were both outstanding and deserved to share man of the match (though Williams took the award himself). Gerhard Tremmel showed why he has made first choice keeper throughout this cup. Leon Britton was rapant as usual, despite the golf ball sized lump on his head after an accidental elbow. Wayne Routledge was, again, brilliant - he has really found his stride and has been consistent for so many games. Overall there were no underachievers last night.

But, annoyingly, most of the post-game chatter wasn't about Swansea's historical feat of a Wembley league cup final. Instead talk was shadowed by #ballboygate. And it seems this blog post will be overshadowed by it too...

Firstly, I don't believe Hazard should have kicked the ball boy, no matter how frustrated he was. But looking into it, 'ball boy' (whose real name is Charlie Morgan) is not an innocent child as we all first thought. He is 17 - and he actively planned to time waste. Check his Twitter account for the full confession.

I feel a little sympathy for Hazard, despite him being a diver himself. It wasn't the 'Hazard kicks a child' scenario we all thought at first, but more 'a 22-year-old kicks a 17-year-old for interfering with the game.'

The ref had no choice but to red card him, but I can see why Hazard was frustrated. Ultimately, ball boys aren't there to interfere with games, they're there to assist - no matter what the team, no matter what the competition. I may take stick for saying that, but it's what I believe.

I'm not complaining as such - Swansea had an easier ride after Hazard was sent off - but the truth is Swansea didn't need time wasting from an adolescent to see them through. They were doing a fine job of making their way to Wembley by playing good football. 

The only other things of note in the match, I felt, were a few of the Swans' chances were wasted. Many was the time that players (notably Ki and Hernandez) had an opportunity to uncork a shot at the target but hesitated and/or passed. Sometimes a shot is worth taking, even if it is way off target. It's not always easy to pass it in, like in the Championship days (remember those)?

Onto Wembley next month for a certain cup win against minnows Bradford! Not so fast - Bradford aren't in the final for no reason. It'll be a tough game, but the Swans certainly have to fancy their chances now. Favourites going into a final - who'd have thought it!?

Swansea City: Capital One Cup, Man United and Villa (David, not Aston)!

It's been an eventful week for Swansea City, so let's sum it up in a best bits blog!


Swansea City vs Chelsea - Capital One Cup semi-final

After Chelsea eventually bettered (and battered) Leeds 5-1 in the Capital One Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday night, they seemed destined to be Swansea's semi-final opponents.

From what I can see, reaction from Swans fans is mixed. Some would have preferred to play Aston Villa or Bradford, while some are happy to get Chelsea out of the way first.

I agree that it may be less daunting for the Swans to play Chelsea over two legs. As long as Swansea keep themselves in it during the first leg at Stamford Bridge, they will have a brilliant advantage with the home crowd for the second game.

Then it is just the case of brushing Bradford or Aston Villa aside in another Wembley final! Or, as one tweeter wrote this week - ‏@NeathJack1 said: "We'll probably beat Chelsea and then lose to Bradford in the final!! #TheSwanseaWay"

The first leg at Stamford Bridge kicks-off at 7:45pm on Wednesday, January 9th.


Welcome to Swansea, David Villa?

In my last post I said Swansea needed a new striker, but I didn't expect Barcelona's David Villa to be the first (or anywhere) on the list. However it seems to be quite a solid rumour at the moment and, with odds being slashed from 40/1 to 8/11 on Wednesday, everyone has gone mental!

We all know that bookies slash odds all the time and it comes to nothing. They panic and lower odds when they notice a big surge of bets on one particular outcome. Or perhaps they know something that we don't. Either way it is very interesting and enjoyable to hear these rumours.

Would he really give up the beauty of Barcelona for the sobering sight of Hafod? I guess if the money is right and regular football is on offer, he may consider it.

This is where it becomes unrealistic though - can Swansea City afford Villa's wages? At probably £100,000+ a week it's unlikely, unless he fancies a severe pay cut.

However it's certainly one for Huw Jenkins to mull over - we know Villa is a more accomplished goal scorer than, say, Shefki Kuqi was. He would be the goalscorer the club are in need of to take the strain off Michu. With Villa leading the way, Swansea could actually set their sights on a top four finish!

Either way, at least now these crazy rumours have some element of believability to them, which is always good news for Swans fans.


Swansea City vs Man United

With so much going on, it's easy to forget the fact that Man United will visit the Liberty on Sunday for just the second time. Last time round Swansea were on the verge of sharing a point with United, but a Michel Vorm mistake gave Chicharito his first goal in Wales.

This time Man United will pose the same threat. Sitting comfortably at the top of the Premier League table, Man United don't seem to have wowed much this year, but are capable of winning game after game, as everyone expects of them.

It's safe to say United are favourites for Sunday's festive football, but Swansea always have a chance to take something at the Liberty Stadium, regardless of who they play.

The unfortunate factor for Swansea are the injuries - Taylor is still out, while Vorm and Rangel are fighting to be fit ahead of the game. Meanwhile, Michu says he's willing to get hurt again against Man United. I like the commitment but hopefully Ferdinand doesn't see this as an excuse to break his leg.

Whatever happens, we will need a better, more enthusiastic performance than the game against Spurs. Swansea shouldn't give Man United the respect the deserve. If they are up for it on Sunday, I will go for a 1-1 draw!