Cup o' coffee and the Swans (Sunday Catch-up - 12th April 2015)

Another Sunday, another cup of coffee, another Swans catch-up.

Here we go!


Swansea City 1-1 Everton

Swansea were certainly the better team in the first half of their second home match in a row; probing Everton and almost coming away with a couple of things.

We saw a stunning shot from Bafetimbi Gomis which was tipped away by Tim Howard, although it caused an unfortunate hamstring pull, with the striker leaving the field soon after. Shelvey had his own excellent half-volley goal, which was disallowed due to an apparent foul in the build up by Wayne Routledge.

Shelvey's adept penalty (image: South Wales Evening Post)

Unfortunately it took just one smart move from Everton to conjure up their first real chance and - with it - their first goal, coming from Aaron Lennon in the 41st minute. Their confidence grew tenfold after that.

In the second half Swansea managed to equalise from the spot through Jonjo Shelvey with 20 minutes to go, after Seamus Coleman handled the ball while on the floor in the area. Gylfi Sigurdsson saw his well struck free kick punched away by Howard in the latter stages, but the game finished 1-1. Still no league win against Everton, but an entertaining match which probably ended fairly. (Find a full minute-by-minute round-up here).


Taylor misses two

After his 10th yellow card of the season in yesterday's match, Neil Taylor will miss the next two matches.

With Tiendalli out on loan (see below...), who will fill his boots for the away games against Leicester and Newcastle?


Europe bound?

I read an interesting article that essentially says if Arsenal are in with a shot at the title, surely Swansea are in with a shot at a Europa League place. And it's true - the Swans are currently in 8th place, seven points behind Spurs.

With six games left in the season and Spurs well off form, there's no reason Swansea couldn't catch up. Of course it'll take a great run from the Swans and, while a top six finish is almost certainly out of the question, this season - providing Liverpool finish 5th place and win the FA Cup - 7th place in the league would be enough to grab a Europa League spot.

Although this brings up the question: do we really want to be in Europe next season?


Tiendalli's unfortunate debut

It seems Middlesbrough fans now understand what Swansea fans feel when watching Dwight Tiendalli. He made his debut for Boro on Monday, when they lost 2-0 to Watford. Boro fans weren't pleased with their new acquisition, taking to Twitter to vent their frustration over his positioning mainly.

The defender was subbed after 63 minutes in that first game, and didn't feature in yesterday's 2-0 win against Rotherham (not even on the bench).

I'll leave you with some comments from a Tiendalli Twitter search...

Cup o' coffee and the Swans (Sunday Catch-up - 29th March 2015)

Quick, you're late! The clocks went forward last night and you've missed all the fun stuff because you were sleeping!

Oh well, grab your latte with a shot of hazelnut syrup (if that's what floats your boat) and let's see what's been happening this week.


Three-match March

March hasn't been a good month for Swans fans, as the club have only played three matches over the four weeks. And there was no Swansea match again this weekend thanks to the international break.

However, on the bright side, Swansea are safe in the Premier League for another season and they will be playing next weekend - at home to Hull City on Saturday, 4 April at 3pm.


Swans players in action

One good thing about the international break was that we got to see at least some of the Swans stars in action in a different environment. And they were all winners!

Captain of Wales

Yesterday evening the Welsh team beat Israel 3-0 in their European Cup qualifier, with Swansea's Ashley Williams and Neil Taylor both in action.

Elsewhere in Europe, Gylfi Sigurdsson played the full 90 minutes for Iceland in their comfortable 3-0 win against Kazakhstan, although he failed to score. And not forgetting Lukasz Fabianski, who is likely to start for Poland in tonight's match against the Republic of Ireland (7.45pm kick off - the match is live on Sky Sports 5).


Tiendalli has gone

Don't worry - he'll be back (as if anyone was worrying...). Yes, earlier in the week it was announced that Dwight Tiendalli would be joining Championship high-flyers Middlesbrough on loan until the end of the season.

Tiendalli in action...

With Kyle Naughton in good shape and Rangel a fine back-up, the right-back position is pretty much sorted, so there's little for Tiendalli to do apart from rust up on the bench. So it's a good move for both the club and the player - who definitely needs game time.

In 2010 Swansea borrowed Marvin Emnes from Middlesbrough and he produced a very memorable goal against Cardiff. Let's hope Tiendalli can be of similar use to Boro in their quest for the Premier League.


Jack in Time

Earlier in the week I wrote a new Jack in Time post about Swansea City's Football League Trophy Final escapades at the Millennium Stadium in 2006, with a couple of videos - check it out here.

Swansea City players: Five seasons, five of the worst!

As Swansea City fans we've seen some incredible talent at the club - mainly over the past five seasons as the Swans have made their way up the league ladder and into the top flight. We've witnessed major talent in Wifried Bony, Michu, Michel Vorm, Scott Sinclair and Gylfi Sigurdsson, to name just a tiny handful.

But it's been hard to applaud the team performance at times, knowing there has been some utter rubbish in the midst of the squad.

So I'm bringing you a short post to celebrate the worst Swansea City players over the past five seasons. Feel free to comment below, via Twitter or on our Facebook page to share any you think I may have missed (or if you feel the urge to defend the ones I've included!)

Remember: this is just for fun - we've written hundreds of positive articles about Swansea, so we have to balance it out now and again!

Alvaro Vazquez (aka The Goalmachine)

Come on... you knew he'd be first on the list didn't you? Alvaro Vazquez - although a product of the European Cup winning Spanish U21 squad - is the only player that can summon a 19,000 strong groan when his name is read out at the Liberty Stadium. He's not scored and doesn't look like he ever will.

While he may be a good athlete and a quick runner, we need a footballer not someone who'd impress in the Swansea Bay 10k. I feel some compassion because he's clearly lacking any sort of confidence, but it's hard to feel that bad when he's on so many thousand a week for doing bugger all.

Itay Shechter (aka Mr. Scores When He Wants)

It's hard to believe we celebrated the departure of Itay Shechter when one of his replacements was equally as poor (yes, I'm talking about Vazquez again, I'll stop it soon...). He scored just one goal for Swansea in his 18 appearances for the club. His long awaited goal came in a 3-2 win away against Wigan - his first in 856 minutes for club and country... wow.

The Israeli striker (at least that's what he called himself) left Swansea City at the end of the 12/13 season, then went on to slam the club saying "I experienced a tough season. I didn’t feel part of the team..." The reason, Itay, is because the other members of the squad were decent players.

Jordi Lopez (aka The Team Player)

Though he was signed on a free transfer by Paulo Sousa, Lopez was one of the highest earners at Swansea at the time, which must have been great for a player who spent most of the time on the bench/out of the squad with injury.

Lopez made just 15 appearances for the club, scoring no goals, over two seasons. God knows how much money he took from the club for doing so very little. Cheers Jordi...

Dwight Tiendalli (aka Mr Dependable)

 

Like Vazquez, Tiendalli is a current part of the Swansea City squad. While he's made more of a positive impact than the Spaniard (hell, I've made more of a positive impact than the Spaniard), there is no denying that Tiendalli can make your blood boil.

He's a defensive liability who loves being out of position and getting an unnecessary yellow card. Bizarrely Tiendalli scored his only goal for the Swans in the same 3-2 win away against Wigan that Shechter scored in! He actually scored the winner... should that exclude him from this list?

Vangelis Moras (aka The Greek Ashley Williams)

One Twitter user (@nickyfran75) summed up Moras perfectly in two simple words: "Absolute garbage." The Greek centre-back joined the club on trial in September 2011, before signing on a permanent deal.

He made his one and only competitive appearance for Swansea City against Wolves in October 2011. The game saw Swansea 2-1 ahead, before Moras came on for Mark Gower in the 86th minute. Swansea then conceded a late goal and ended up dropping two points in a 2-2 draw. Was Moras at fault? Probably. He never played for Swansea City again.

Flying High / Clipped Wings - Week #2

It's time for the second installment of our new weekly feature...

Flying High

After a poor performance last week against Norwich, Ashley Williams looked more on form. He committed himself to tackles and put his body on the line more than once. He also handled the threat of Lukaku well. And we must thank him for not gifting the ball to the opposition, which usually results in an away goal.

Elsewhere the singing Swansea City fans were on top form as they belted out some thoroughly entertaining songs - mainly Cardiff bashing - which we all enjoyed. "Vincent Tan is a Jack, he hates Cardiff!"

Clipped Wings

This may seem a little harsh as he scored Swansea's only goal of the game, but Dwight Tiendalli was pretty non-existent for much of the game. He didn't close down or run back quick enough and looked fragile in the air. I'd prefer to see Taylor work on his right-back skills and have a go at filling in for Rangel now and again...

And Wayne Routledge didn't look too hot yesterday. While he had a few decent runs and slid through a nice ball for Bony, his overall game is well short of where he's been in the past and he looked quite uncomfortable at times.

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Agree or disagree with these choices? Let me know your thoughts in the comment box below, via Twitter (@ForzaSwansea) or on our new Facebook page.

Swansea City vs. Aston Villa: Defensive woes...

The clearest, biggest, fattest issue that must be addressed before we discuss the upcoming game against Aston Villa is Swansea City's defence. Or lack of it...

We all winced when we saw Neil Taylor stretchered off against Sunderland. The wince turned into a violent shudder when we heard he would be out all season with a fractured ankle. One vital player down. In the same game, another defender ruled himself out of the next three games - the ever-feisty Chico Flores. He'll be serving the first of his three-match ban for his stupidly high tackle on Louis Saha. That's another key man gone.

Then we had a moment of good news/bad news. The good news was we all remembered Kyle Bartley had been signed for situations just like this! Brilliant - an ex-Arsenal/Rangers defender, eager to make his mark on the team! The bad news... yeah, you guessed it - he's injured. Ruled out for three months with a thigh injury picked up in training. Typical.
Don't fret (or stop your current fretting) - Swansea do have a few options. There are those full of potential, like Jazz Richards and Ben Davies, but Swansea do need someone with experience to fall back on. Thankfully, the club have signed former Holland under-21 international Dwight Tiendalli on a season long contract (a good-value free-transfer). He'll replace Taylor on the left. I've not seen anything of Tiendalli, so whether he will be as strong going forward (or at the back for that matter) will need to be seen.

Now... this is it for Alan Tate.

Really, this is his big chance to make an impact in the Premier League. Tate had a frustrating time last season with injuries and defensive competition, but he now has three full Premier League games to show that he can cope with the power and pace of the best attackers in the country. He will slot into the centre-back role next to Williams. Come on Alan - this is your moment.

Elsewhere, the Swansea starting XI (that's '11' for those who didn't do Latin in school) still isn't as predictable as last season. In a good way I guess, as there is a little choice among the rest of the squad.

We should see the same effective trio start in the middle: Britton, Michu and de Guzman. Originally I had a feeling Sung-Yueng would start this one, but he is likely to begin on the bench after fitness concerns. He played 90 minutes for South Korea in their World Cup qualifying match on Tuesday - we don't want to risk another injury now, do we?

Nathan Dyer, overlooked for the England squad once again, will appear on the wing. While his exclusion from the England squad seems ridiculous to everyone except Roy Hodgson, at least every time he pulls on a Swans shirt he will feel like he has something to prove, and that can't be a bad thing for Swansea City.

Joining Dyer on the wing will probably see the début appearance for Pablo Hernandez. This may be a little harsh on Wayne Routledge who has been nothing short of superb in the opening games, capped off by a superb goal against Sunderland two weeks ago. It would be good to see what Hernandez can do though, so I wouldn't say no to Routledge sitting this one out.

Now, onto Aston Villa. It's not been a convincing start for Paul Lambert's men - one point from three games sees them just one place above the relegation zone in this early stage. Without a win in 13 Premier League games, Villa will be gagging for three points.

Not sure about you, but I have a feeling Villa may nick it. For the first three matches I was optimistic but I just have this looming feeling of a loss on the cards for the Swans.

As you know, now and again I like to link up with an opposition blogger to share thoughts ahead of the game. This week we have Stuart Young from avillafan.com, who knows Villa inside out and has given us some brief thoughts:

There is a new positive vibe around Villa Park following the appointment of Paul Lambert. Too many people in the media were quick to jump on the Villa faithful last season for them not getting behind Alex McLeish. In reality, the vast majority did give him a chance, but his negative style of football soon turned us.

Anyway: this is a new Aston Villa. We wont make out that we will return to the heights we found ourselves under Martin O'Neill this season but we hope for slow and steady improvement to get back into that position.

Lambert, didn’t hang around, and brought in seven new faces during the summer - some will make an instant impact, while others will take time. I fully expect the new manager to stick with the same side that managed a score-draw with Newcastle. So we should line up something like this:

Guzan 

Lowton, Clark, Vlaar, Lichaj 

Holman, El-Ahmadi, Ireland, Bannan 

Weimann, Bent

I wouldn't be surprised to see both Gabby Agbonlahor and new signing Christian Bentake come off the bench and make some kind of impact.

It wont be an easy game for us, but I believe we must get a win and really kick start our season. 

Thankfully Swansea's first three games have produced seven points, so a slip up won't be taken too badly. This doesn't mean Swansea can afford to lose this match - there will be plenty of time to lose matches against bigger teams. Aston Villa, once a top six club, are now struggling at the wrong end of the table and Swans need to kick them when they're down so to speak.
 
As I mention, I'm not as confident as usual for Swansea to get a result, despite the amazing start. I will say Aston Villa to win 2-1 (odds around 7/1). Another bet I've been happy to cover recently is Michu to score two or more, this week at around 18/1 - worth a pound or three with his record!