| The so called "Swansea Way" 21:36 - Jan 25 with 3376 views | rockinj |
I was asked a question about this and I think it is important.
What is it and why is it important.
For me it's about ethos and continuity. It has provided us with our 'identity' - in business you would call it a 'niche' in the lower leagues it set us apart we didn't have the capital of other clubs but we had the dynamic play and we had this ethos running through the club.
There has been a noticeable drift in this and many are questioning the merits of staying true to something we held dear back in the lower leagues. I think this is fundamentally misguided.
Why do I say this?
Because this is what made teams "fear" us - they knew that we would give them a game whoever we were playing. They found us very difficult to play against and yet on paper that should not have been the case.
But when this has slowed or we've 'reverted' then there is a causal relationship not just with entertainment, but results. Our style hasn't just been good on the eye, it has been successful. I can sense a change and this is worrying.
We lose our football, we plummet. |  | | |  |
| The so called "Swansea Way" on 21:41 - Jan 25 with 2517 views | Darran |
Rockin I think it's bollox.
Here's a serious for every fan of every club in the Premier League,how many of your teams play THE SWANSEA WAY? |  |
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| The so called "Swansea Way" on 21:43 - Jan 25 with 2509 views | rockinj |
| The so called "Swansea Way" on 21:41 - Jan 25 by Darran |
Rockin I think it's bollox.
Here's a serious for every fan of every club in the Premier League,how many of your teams play THE SWANSEA WAY? |
You're equating passing football with the Swansea way it's not the same thing.
Just keeping it on the deck isn't the same thing at all | | | |
| The so called "Swansea Way" on 21:48 - Jan 25 with 2485 views | Darran |
| The so called "Swansea Way" on 21:43 - Jan 25 by rockinj |
You're equating passing football with the Swansea way it's not the same thing.
Just keeping it on the deck isn't the same thing at all |
Bollox and stop changing your name.
It's impossible to do this SWANSEA WAY forever regardless of what anyone says | |
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| The so called on 21:49 - Jan 25 with 2480 views | C_jack |
'The Swansea Way', since 2007 anyway, has been about the working blend
of our philosophies, on and off the pitch.
On the pitch it was various incarnations of possession based football, the players to suit that are often cheap on the continent, and the next generation of managers in the game are typically adopting that style of play. It was a perfect recipe for what we needed to do off the pitch.
Off the pitch it was to be frugal, but sharp and in line with what was right for the club. Avoiding overpaid mercenaries, but young, 'lost' footballers that would bring value both on, and off the pitch.
The (modern) Swansea Way died an inevitable death the day we became a PL team, sadly. Our old model is nowhere near sustainable, for where the club is now. [Post edited 25 Jan 2015 21:50]
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| The so called "Swansea Way" on 22:09 - Jan 25 with 2425 views | Kilkennyjack |
For me, the Roberto style of play has represented the successful on field identity of the club - until this season. Possesion, possession, possession - win, lose or draw. And then win it back quickly when opponents have it. With a good pitch and a good referee then the good performances produced good results. This year has been very different. |  |
| Beware of the Risen People
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| The so called on 22:11 - Jan 25 with 2404 views | Darran |
| The so called on 21:49 - Jan 25 by C_jack |
'The Swansea Way', since 2007 anyway, has been about the working blend
of our philosophies, on and off the pitch.
On the pitch it was various incarnations of possession based football, the players to suit that are often cheap on the continent, and the next generation of managers in the game are typically adopting that style of play. It was a perfect recipe for what we needed to do off the pitch.
Off the pitch it was to be frugal, but sharp and in line with what was right for the club. Avoiding overpaid mercenaries, but young, 'lost' footballers that would bring value both on, and off the pitch.
The (modern) Swansea Way died an inevitable death the day we became a PL team, sadly. Our old model is nowhere near sustainable, for where the club is now. [Post edited 25 Jan 2015 21:50]
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That's a brilliant post and it certainly isn't sustainable,I think the biggest reason why is because it's called football | |
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| The so called "Swansea Way" on 22:20 - Jan 25 with 2356 views | PozuelosSideys |
Im not so sure about the last bit - "the day we became a Premier Lague team it died"..
Under Rodgers - we continued it. Although still an unknown quantity.
Under Laudrup (for the first bit at least), we couldnt have been more "Swansea Way" had we tried. Picking up unknowns and crocks and cast-offs from around Europe - Michu, Jdg, Hernandez etc, and were expected to go down - but were fantastic.
Even under Monks first half a season he picked what needed to be changed after ML and he did it, it worked and we were back to ourselves. Beginning of this season, exactly the same.
Its just the last couple of months. Its all on the slide and it comes from the top. Share sales, buying the stadium, hell, were spending far too much on average players. Its as tho we've peaked and the standards have started slipping. |  |
| "Michu, Britton and Williams could have won 3-0 on their own. They wouldn't have required a keeper." | | Poll: | Hattricks |
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| The so called "Swansea Way" on 22:20 - Jan 25 with 2355 views | AngelRangelQS |
Plus our formation is getting a bit outdated - 3 centre halves seems to be the way things are going. |  | | |
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| The so called "Swansea Way" on 22:25 - Jan 25 with 2331 views | Joe_bradshaw |
| The so called "Swansea Way" on 22:20 - Jan 25 by PozuelosSideys |
Im not so sure about the last bit - "the day we became a Premier Lague team it died"..
Under Rodgers - we continued it. Although still an unknown quantity.
Under Laudrup (for the first bit at least), we couldnt have been more "Swansea Way" had we tried. Picking up unknowns and crocks and cast-offs from around Europe - Michu, Jdg, Hernandez etc, and were expected to go down - but were fantastic.
Even under Monks first half a season he picked what needed to be changed after ML and he did it, it worked and we were back to ourselves. Beginning of this season, exactly the same.
Its just the last couple of months. Its all on the slide and it comes from the top. Share sales, buying the stadium, hell, were spending far too much on average players. Its as tho we've peaked and the standards have started slipping. |
That last bit about it's as though we've peaked and standards have started slipping.
Very good point. Isn't it a bit ironic that there appears to have been an erosion of the principles the club is built on? |  |
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| The so called "Swansea Way" on 22:38 - Jan 25 with 2291 views | PozuelosSideys |
| The so called "Swansea Way" on 22:25 - Jan 25 by Joe_bradshaw |
That last bit about it's as though we've peaked and standards have started slipping.
Very good point. Isn't it a bit ironic that there appears to have been an erosion of the principles the club is built on? |
Exactly. Theres a lot to be said about businesses being driven from the top in terms of ethos, culture and what makes them different. The Swans are a big business now whether we like it or not.
All of a sudden we arent as stable and theres a change in strategy. Corners get cut, people say "thatll do" and we go at 99% as people are a bit unsure as to what lies ahead.
Monk is still new in role and he needs support. Hes got plenty of potential but hes in the unfortunate place of being in role in a period of change (somebody mentioned that on another thread and was bang on imo). The players havent helped and nor have the refereeing decisions. Now sold our best player at below market value and its a perfect storm.
Think this is our rocky period. We'll get through it no doubt, but those in charge of the financials and strategy need to get what they need done asap and stop arsing around as the uncertainty is a problem. | |
| "Michu, Britton and Williams could have won 3-0 on their own. They wouldn't have required a keeper." | | Poll: | Hattricks |
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| The so called "Swansea Way" on 22:54 - Jan 25 with 2244 views | Joe_bradshaw |
What I find worrying is that it looks as though some of the people at the top realise that we've peaked and have decided that now is the time to get out and get top dollar for their shares before the rest of the world catches on.
In a couple more games Monk will have managed us for the equivalent of a full season and has accumulated 48 points in his 36 games. That is a great effort from a rookie manager in the Premier League and better than any of us had a right to expect.
However, the situation we now find ourselves in requires an experienced hand more than at any time in the last three years and that, along with our poor form, is why many are getting twitchy.
If Monk can guide us through the rest of the season without further alarm he will be better for the experience and will deserve to carry on. If we sink down the table and end up with, say, 44 points or less serious questions need to be asked and big decisions taken in the summer. | |
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| The so called on 06:18 - Jan 26 with 2141 views | Zut_Alors |
| The so called on 21:49 - Jan 25 by C_jack |
'The Swansea Way', since 2007 anyway, has been about the working blend
of our philosophies, on and off the pitch.
On the pitch it was various incarnations of possession based football, the players to suit that are often cheap on the continent, and the next generation of managers in the game are typically adopting that style of play. It was a perfect recipe for what we needed to do off the pitch.
Off the pitch it was to be frugal, but sharp and in line with what was right for the club. Avoiding overpaid mercenaries, but young, 'lost' footballers that would bring value both on, and off the pitch.
The (modern) Swansea Way died an inevitable death the day we became a PL team, sadly. Our old model is nowhere near sustainable, for where the club is now. [Post edited 25 Jan 2015 21:50]
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Good post.
I would also add that during the time since we've come onto the scene in the PL, the dynamics of the markets have shifted, and more teams are now looking at players who wouldn't seem out of sorts in a Brendan-era Swans team.
I think long-term supporters have also (quite understandably) got a little caught up in our rise and now that it's levelling off — as it was always going to do without a huge financial input — they're are themselves a little lost. Perhaps even the novelty of top-level football is catching up and that's why the cup exit has seemingly hurt more this year.
At the same time, the club's rise attracted a large amount of new fans, who may well have been following the PL and its top sides and would have been used to the idea of clubs winning leagues and collecting trophies. In our 1st season, they saw little ol' Swansea playing the other top teams and being on Match of The Day (just thinking back, that was fantastic at first, no?). In our second, they saw us win the League Cup. In our third, we qualified for Europe and had a new manager (like it or not, another common entertainment factor for PL teams). Now, this season, although we're doing better than in any previous campaign, they want more.
For me, I'm still loving the fact that I see the Swans on TV while I'm on the other side of the world. I do find the Gomis situation to be particularly frustrating, as it seems we've attracted exactly the of player we'd previously look to avoid. Too much of those signings and I do wonder whether I might start to feel disillusioned with the PL. As it happens, though, I think the club are doing the perfect thing in investing in youth. If anything was going to keep the club moving in what I would call the right direction it would be young local talent coming through the ranks.
The grass isn't always greener. If football was simple, Bradford wouldn't have beaten the best team in the country away from home. What is a fact, is that, for over a decade, the people in charge of the club have consistently made what has turned out to be the right choice for the club. In Huw and Garry we trust. [Post edited 26 Jan 2015 6:19]
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| The so called on 07:14 - Jan 26 with 2107 views | Dr_Winston |
| The so called "Swansea Way" on 22:09 - Jan 25 by Kilkennyjack |
For me, the Roberto style of play has represented the successful on field identity of the club - until this season. Possesion, possession, possession - win, lose or draw. And then win it back quickly when opponents have it. With a good pitch and a good referee then the good performances produced good results. This year has been very different. |
The obsession with possession stats began with Rodgers, not Martinez. Nobody gave a shit about them before then. It was more about the pass count.
This is the problem. "The Swansea Way" doesn't belong to any one manager. As someone above said, it was a philosophy driven downwards from the top and seems to have gotten a little lost lately. [Post edited 26 Jan 2015 7:18]
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| Pain or damage don't end the world. Or despair, or f*cking beatings. The world ends when you're dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man... and give some back. |
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| The so called on 07:46 - Jan 26 with 2077 views | Kilkennyjack |
| The so called on 07:14 - Jan 26 by Dr_Winston |
The obsession with possession stats began with Rodgers, not Martinez. Nobody gave a shit about them before then. It was more about the pass count.
This is the problem. "The Swansea Way" doesn't belong to any one manager. As someone above said, it was a philosophy driven downwards from the top and seems to have gotten a little lost lately. [Post edited 26 Jan 2015 7:18]
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Well i am pretty sure that the biggest change in style was Kenny to Roberto. 'jack to king' has leon saying much the same. Apologies if little leon and myself have got it wrong. | |
| Beware of the Risen People
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| The so called on 07:51 - Jan 26 with 2070 views | Dr_Winston |
| The so called on 07:46 - Jan 26 by Kilkennyjack |
Well i am pretty sure that the biggest change in style was Kenny to Roberto. 'jack to king' has leon saying much the same. Apologies if little leon and myself have got it wrong. |
There has been a change in style under every manager. That's precisely the point.
And gathering "facts" from JtaK is only a step or two above getting them from Wikipedia. [Post edited 26 Jan 2015 7:59]
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| Pain or damage don't end the world. Or despair, or f*cking beatings. The world ends when you're dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man... and give some back. |
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| The so called "Swansea Way" on 07:58 - Jan 26 with 2058 views | swans11 |
The Martinez and Rodger's way not exactly working too well at their clubs this season is it and both those teams have spent money big money Liverpool case |  | | |
| The so called on 09:26 - Jan 26 with 1995 views | Private_Partz |
| The so called on 21:49 - Jan 25 by C_jack |
'The Swansea Way', since 2007 anyway, has been about the working blend
of our philosophies, on and off the pitch.
On the pitch it was various incarnations of possession based football, the players to suit that are often cheap on the continent, and the next generation of managers in the game are typically adopting that style of play. It was a perfect recipe for what we needed to do off the pitch.
Off the pitch it was to be frugal, but sharp and in line with what was right for the club. Avoiding overpaid mercenaries, but young, 'lost' footballers that would bring value both on, and off the pitch.
The (modern) Swansea Way died an inevitable death the day we became a PL team, sadly. Our old model is nowhere near sustainable, for where the club is now. [Post edited 25 Jan 2015 21:50]
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I was with you up until the last sentence. The Swansea Way was heightened and highlighted when we entered the Premiership. Our passing game served us well as the opposition could not hurt us when they did not have the ball. Life was much easier for the defence as they were not under such pressure as a result. Buying low value hungry young players from the continent as also served us well. They may not be world class (sometimes they are) but the possession game is ingrained into them. I see no reason why this cannot continue but the transfer fees will inevitably be higher. The same for every promoted team.
If we are losing our possession game then that will be a concern for me as we become a run of the mill Prem side and I am not convinced we have the resources to play that at their own game. We need to be different to succeed and I hope this continues. [Post edited 26 Jan 2015 16:08]
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| You have mission in life to hold out your hand,
To help the other guy out,
Help your fellow man.
Stan Ridgway
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| The so called "Swansea Way" on 09:54 - Jan 26 with 1952 views | perchrockjack |
If the Swansea Way is one not to be amended or adjusted to meet the game then we will plummet.
In other words, see the game as it unfolds and change tactics if necessary.
We still have an obsession in fookn a round at the back, including the goalkeeper which allows other teams to pressurise us into mistakes.
Its great to be wanting to play like REAL whatever but if the players aren't good enough -and many of ours aren't-then the Swansea Way is crap.
One can almost see how some teams will play against us ,ie, fast moving, physical and relentless for 90 mins- Soton will be like this.
We need more physicality,committent, speed of thought and simple nous and we need it right now..
fook the Swansea Way if needs be | |
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| The so called "Swansea Way" on 10:01 - Jan 26 with 1942 views | ApeShit |
We've only stopped playing the "Swansea Way" this season in my eyes.
By all means adjust and update our tactics, but we've totally abandoned it, and its not really working.
We can't string a few passes together, don't close down our opposition and our discipline is shocking.
Isn't this one of the reasons we sacked our last manager? So we could get back to the "Swansea Way," at the moment we couldn't be further from it. |  | | |
| The so called "Swansea Way" on 10:09 - Jan 26 with 1930 views | perchrockjack |
G morning Ape.
For me, we had a tendency to over elaborate at the back and trying to side foot the ball into the net at the other end.
Nothing wrong with simply hoofing the ball away out of trouble zone. Fernandez ,worryingly, seems averse to this.
We ve had two goals scored as a direct result of goalkeepers dwelling on the ball when no need to. This, to me, is simple madness as all teams now know that we hate being pressed high and its the first issue that should be addressed by the manager .
Im a nobody but surely an astute manager would solve this right away and the result would then be the players then passing the ball quicker, ie tempo.
We ARE ,in some ways, playing a la Bren, with endless needless passing sideways/backwards when a simple forward pass would be better option.
I do feel we have problems and Im pretty much fearful for the rest of the season so my new found positivity has vanished right into the air so Im prepared for the | |
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| The so called "Swansea Way" on 11:55 - Jan 26 with 1877 views | ApeShit |
| The so called "Swansea Way" on 10:09 - Jan 26 by perchrockjack |
G morning Ape.
For me, we had a tendency to over elaborate at the back and trying to side foot the ball into the net at the other end.
Nothing wrong with simply hoofing the ball away out of trouble zone. Fernandez ,worryingly, seems averse to this.
We ve had two goals scored as a direct result of goalkeepers dwelling on the ball when no need to. This, to me, is simple madness as all teams now know that we hate being pressed high and its the first issue that should be addressed by the manager .
Im a nobody but surely an astute manager would solve this right away and the result would then be the players then passing the ball quicker, ie tempo.
We ARE ,in some ways, playing a la Bren, with endless needless passing sideways/backwards when a simple forward pass would be better option.
I do feel we have problems and Im pretty much fearful for the rest of the season so my new found positivity has vanished right into the air so Im prepared for the |
I have no problem with the defenders hoofing it up when they are under pressure. (Which seems to be more and more these days.)
Maybe we started hitting more long balls as we had Bony up there as a target man? | | | |
| The so called "Swansea Way" on 11:59 - Jan 26 with 1867 views | Joe_bradshaw |
| The so called "Swansea Way" on 11:55 - Jan 26 by ApeShit |
I have no problem with the defenders hoofing it up when they are under pressure. (Which seems to be more and more these days.)
Maybe we started hitting more long balls as we had Bony up there as a target man? |
Very true.
When you have an outlet like Bony it's an option that's hard to resist. That's why Brendan got rid of Andy Carroll. He didn't want his team lumping it towards the big guy. | |
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| The so called "Swansea Way" on 12:06 - Jan 26 with 1852 views | monmouth |
For me the Swansea Way is just adapting earlier than others to a competitive advantage based on our characteristics at the time. That and the homogenous togetherness of board, team, fans and staff.
The second of these seems to have started coming adrift and will probably inevitably continue to. The first is also starting to look wobbly but I still have strong hopes for both.
To equate it to one static style or structure is insane. Everyone is conveniently forgetting how they claimed Rodgers and Laudrup had been 'worked out', but that was the general view. The prevailing view now of course seems to be reminiscing to some magical time where we played everyone off the park with champagne football. It's all a load of hyped up bollux. If this season pans out as I expect, it will be our maost successful premier league season ever. Not that it will make people happy. |  |
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| The so called "Swansea Way" on 12:08 - Jan 26 with 1852 views | ApeShit |
| The so called "Swansea Way" on 11:59 - Jan 26 by Joe_bradshaw |
Very true.
When you have an outlet like Bony it's an option that's hard to resist. That's why Brendan got rid of Andy Carroll. He didn't want his team lumping it towards the big guy. |
Gomis game doesn't really suit that, so if he does stay (which I think he will) hopefully we will keep it on the floor and get our passing game back a bit. | | | |
| The so called on 12:31 - Jan 26 with 1794 views | LeonisGod |
| The so called on 21:49 - Jan 25 by C_jack |
'The Swansea Way', since 2007 anyway, has been about the working blend
of our philosophies, on and off the pitch.
On the pitch it was various incarnations of possession based football, the players to suit that are often cheap on the continent, and the next generation of managers in the game are typically adopting that style of play. It was a perfect recipe for what we needed to do off the pitch.
Off the pitch it was to be frugal, but sharp and in line with what was right for the club. Avoiding overpaid mercenaries, but young, 'lost' footballers that would bring value both on, and off the pitch.
The (modern) Swansea Way died an inevitable death the day we became a PL team, sadly. Our old model is nowhere near sustainable, for where the club is now. [Post edited 25 Jan 2015 21:50]
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Why is inevitable that things had to change (on or off the pitch)? Surely that's adopting a similar view to the lazy commentary that we so often heard against us (it won't work in the prem, they'll get found out, they're only a small club, no quality, etc.). Yet we have proven that the original ethos worked in the PL - first with Brenda and then Laudrup who only tweaked Brenda's team in his first year, whilst sticking to the recruitment philosophy (Michu, Chico, JdG, etc. all 'cheap' acquisitions in terms of fees). He won a major trophy without spending more than £5m on any single player (Pablo) - playing a high tempo, possession-based short passing game.
I think the off-field part of The Swansea Way is as strong as ever (stronger than when Laudrup was here). On the field Garry has implemented a different way of playing based around retaining shape without the ball and being harder to break down. This is making for less adventurous and exciting football, but has been getting results - that's the only thing that has changed about 'The Swansea Way' imo. And there's no reason why a return to possession-based football could not be successful for us. |  | | |
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