Swansea looked comfortable enough against Scottish giants Celtic with a 2-0 win, back at the Liberty Stadium for the first time since that immense game against Nottingham Forest.
During the first ten minutes it was actually quite nice to see a flare from the Celtic fans, momentarily turning the Liberty Stadium into the Stadio delle Alpi, before the stewards got involved for obvious health and safety reasons. Something different!
The resulting cloud of smoke had cleared up by the time the first goal was scored - Scott Sinclair took an edge of the area free kick which was on target but saved, though the spilled ball was mopped up by Rangel who made it 1-0 in the 63rd minute.
20 minutes later, a nice 20 yard run from Mark Gower set up substitute Stephen Dobbie who scored the second.
Like many fans, it was my first time seeing a number of the new players in action, including Gerhard Tremmel, who was in goals for the first half. Not officially a Swansea City player as he's still on trial, though he definitely took a step closer to signing after a solid performance between the posts, including a wonderful leaping save from a powerful Kris Commons strike on the 20th minute.
Up front, Danny Graham looked very hungry and strong, though not able to convert a few good chances into goals. Elsewhere, we only saw a little of Ryan Harley, though he looked keen enough while Steven Caulker looked a good pairing with Ashley Williams.
Moving onto the familiar faces, and the starting centre three of Allen, Britton and Agustien worked well in the first half, with opportunities being made, though the link play Stephen Dobbie usually creates was missing. Scott Sinclair looked a little rusty with his usually dazzling runs fizzling out to nothing and a one-on-one against Dominic Cervi on the 25 minute mark saw Sinclair try to poke the ball past the keeper a little too slowly and nothing came of the opportunity. He'll be back to his usual self by next week I'm sure.
Nathan Dyer was quieter than usual, though made some nice plays and showed good control and defensive ability at times. Nearing the end of the first half we saw him waltz past a few defenders before taking a shot, though this was saved too easily – when he finds out the how to score consistently, Dyer will be the best winger in the Premier League.
I know I am usually Luke Moore's biggest critic, but he looked fine when brought on for Dyer and made a good run towards the end of the match, before poking it through to Swansea's newest signing, fresh from Middlesbrough, Leroy Lita. Lita didn't have a great deal of time on the field, but showed strength in attack – I hope to see him start on Saturday.
Alan Tate had a great game, making sure he was always in plenty of space and went on a handful of good runs, as well as making a crucial defensive block. He captained the team well, and showed he will still fight for a place in the Premier League starting eleven.
Kemy Agustien impressed, with a good head at goal in the first half, though his temper got the best of him when some arguing saw him awarded a yellow card. He looked better than last season - a little faster and leaner - though no substitute for Stephen Dobbie's creativity up front, who kicked a little more life into the second half with purposeful runs and sharp vision.
Entertainment rating: an enjoyable game at times, though understandably had the slowness and flat points expected of a pre-season friendly: 5/10.
Kudos to the Celtic players, who gave it a go with a weakened team - Samaras and Brown impressed me. The Celtic fans were loud and proud, with aforementioned flares, green smoke bombs, odd Man City-esque dancing (Edit: the Celtic Huddle is what it's called! Thanks to the Celtic fans for setting me straight!) and plenty of song - a shame for them that their biggest cheer came from hearing Rangers were out of the Champions League qualifiers!
Saturday (against Real Betis) will be another, slightly different test for Brendan Rodgers' men and the last chance to tinker before the squad head to Manchester!
Showing posts with label Celtic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Celtic. Show all posts
Thursday, 4 August 2011
Monday, 1 August 2011
Friendly Previews: Swansea vs. Celtic / vs. Real Betis
As the title suggests, this is a brief preview of Swansea's friendly matches between both Celtic and Real Betis.
Admittedly, these matches don't impact the club much in the long run, but they have their importance. It'll be the first time many fans will see the likes of new recruits Leroy Lita and Wayne Routledge, as well as the other summer signings such as Danny Graham, Steven Caulker and Jose Moreira, if they didn't attend the friendlies in Neath, Port Talbot and Afan Lido. It might also be one of the only matches in the Liberty some fans will see if they weren't lucky enough to get a season-ticket / don't want to queue over night next season.
The three friendlies I just mentioned, as well as the two abroad (including a loss to the UAE Olympics team) were nice warm-ups for the team and more of a chance to stretch their legs, practice playing with new team mates and an opportunity for the reserves to play what will probably be their only games in a Swans shirt this season.
The games against Celtic and Real Betis are the final two opportunities for Brendan Rodgers to try out anything new and look towards what starting eleven he'll field against Man City in just under two weeks time. However, these are big name teams so there is a little more attention and hope on winning these two than there was at, say, Neath.
Swansea first play Scottish giants Celtic on Wednesday (7:00pm) at the Liberty Stadium, in the first game there since that euphoric night against Nottingham Forest back in May.
Oddly enough, Celtic have already begun their 2011/12 SPL season with a 2-0 win against Hibernian but their new season took an immediate break to play a series of friendlies. Within the last week they have lost 2-0 against Wolves and another 2-0 loss against Inter Milan so will be looking for a good win against a Premier League side, especially a Welsh one after their efforts, along with Rangers', to break into the Premier League were unsuccessful.
In reality Swansea have nothing to lose, though Cardiff may think differently. I heard an amusing theory a few days ago: Cardiff lost 1-0 to Celtic in a recent friendly, so, should Swansea lose by more than a goal to Celtic, do Cardiff have one-up on the Swans? I don't see it being much of an issue. Cardiff fans have been uncharacteristically quiet recently, and I don't think their friendly successes (or lack of) will be much to cheer about. They now have bigger problems than Swansea.
Moving onto the match against Real Betis (Saturday 6th, 3:00pm) and we encounter a team I actually don't know too much about.
Last season they won the Spanish Segunda División, achieving promotion to La Liga, so Betis are effectively in the same boat as Swansea – a team gaining promotion and wanting to build confidence against a top tier side from another country. Swansea will get to sample some high quality European football, while Real Betis will get good practise for playing Barcelona if Swansea continue their quick passing, high possession game!
Real Betis will not be an easy team to beat and will be up for showing Swansea why they were champions last season. Recently the Spanish side hammered Havant and Waterlooville 7-0 and, while the H&W Hawks are not really at the same standard as the Swans, it shows that Betis will want to grab as many as they can from what may be a relatively new Swansea side.
So on to my predictions, where I foresee a calm 1-1 draw against Celtic, before a more energetic 2-1 win for Swansea against Real Betis.
Whatever happens, I'm sure these will be fun games to watch and interesting for fans to see how Swansea cope against teams they may not encounter again for a while (maybe not until Swansea leap into the Champions League... give it a few years though)!
Admittedly, these matches don't impact the club much in the long run, but they have their importance. It'll be the first time many fans will see the likes of new recruits Leroy Lita and Wayne Routledge, as well as the other summer signings such as Danny Graham, Steven Caulker and Jose Moreira, if they didn't attend the friendlies in Neath, Port Talbot and Afan Lido. It might also be one of the only matches in the Liberty some fans will see if they weren't lucky enough to get a season-ticket / don't want to queue over night next season.
The three friendlies I just mentioned, as well as the two abroad (including a loss to the UAE Olympics team) were nice warm-ups for the team and more of a chance to stretch their legs, practice playing with new team mates and an opportunity for the reserves to play what will probably be their only games in a Swans shirt this season.
The games against Celtic and Real Betis are the final two opportunities for Brendan Rodgers to try out anything new and look towards what starting eleven he'll field against Man City in just under two weeks time. However, these are big name teams so there is a little more attention and hope on winning these two than there was at, say, Neath.
Swansea first play Scottish giants Celtic on Wednesday (7:00pm) at the Liberty Stadium, in the first game there since that euphoric night against Nottingham Forest back in May.
Oddly enough, Celtic have already begun their 2011/12 SPL season with a 2-0 win against Hibernian but their new season took an immediate break to play a series of friendlies. Within the last week they have lost 2-0 against Wolves and another 2-0 loss against Inter Milan so will be looking for a good win against a Premier League side, especially a Welsh one after their efforts, along with Rangers', to break into the Premier League were unsuccessful.
In reality Swansea have nothing to lose, though Cardiff may think differently. I heard an amusing theory a few days ago: Cardiff lost 1-0 to Celtic in a recent friendly, so, should Swansea lose by more than a goal to Celtic, do Cardiff have one-up on the Swans? I don't see it being much of an issue. Cardiff fans have been uncharacteristically quiet recently, and I don't think their friendly successes (or lack of) will be much to cheer about. They now have bigger problems than Swansea.
Moving onto the match against Real Betis (Saturday 6th, 3:00pm) and we encounter a team I actually don't know too much about.
Last season they won the Spanish Segunda División, achieving promotion to La Liga, so Betis are effectively in the same boat as Swansea – a team gaining promotion and wanting to build confidence against a top tier side from another country. Swansea will get to sample some high quality European football, while Real Betis will get good practise for playing Barcelona if Swansea continue their quick passing, high possession game!
Real Betis will not be an easy team to beat and will be up for showing Swansea why they were champions last season. Recently the Spanish side hammered Havant and Waterlooville 7-0 and, while the H&W Hawks are not really at the same standard as the Swans, it shows that Betis will want to grab as many as they can from what may be a relatively new Swansea side.
So on to my predictions, where I foresee a calm 1-1 draw against Celtic, before a more energetic 2-1 win for Swansea against Real Betis.
Whatever happens, I'm sure these will be fun games to watch and interesting for fans to see how Swansea cope against teams they may not encounter again for a while (maybe not until Swansea leap into the Champions League... give it a few years though)!
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