Since Francesco Guidolin’s arrival in South Wales, I have maintained the opinion that the Italian has the prowess to guide Swansea City to Premier League survival. I still do.
That being said, in his first few games in charge, the former Udinese manager has been faced with a strange predicament wherein his players are wholly unsuited to the style of football Guidolin wants to play.
A cyclist by nature, Guidolin’s footballing philosophy is far more smash and grab than a hard day of consistently thrashing a bicycle over a mountain. However, he still requires a degree of level-headedness that his players have been unable to produce in his short spell in charge so far.
Defending leads, Swansea have looked well and truly out of their depth. This has not just been a problem for the Italian though, but a problem that the Swans have consistently battled with for their entire existence in England’s top flight.
Ashley Williams has been central to any attempts to rectify this, but even he is not faultless, as many set-piece goals have been conceded this season under his watch. At the same time though, the midfield in front of him has been composed of bystanders far too often this season, nor have his full-backs added a great deal of protection.
Crystal Palace eventually got reward for effort as they struck back to claim a 1-1 draw at home to Swansea on Saturday, while Everton were mightily unlucky not to do the same thing a week earlier, as Seamus Coleman skied a golden opportunity to level the scores with the last kick of the match.
Guidolin, in a similar manner to Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri, asks solely for discipline. But unlike Ranieri’s squad, Swansea do not possess the same personalities within the team; ready to sacrifice themselves, and run themselves into the ground for the collective good.
Ki Seung-Yeung, arguably Swansea’s best player during the 2014/15 campaign, has been entirely off the pace so far this season. Likewise, Federico Fernandez is not enduring a stellar campaign, nor is Jack Cork, or even Kyle Naughton.
Players like Cork and Ki are not the type of midfielders that Guidolin will want commandeering the midfield though. At Udinese, the Italian’s team was powered by gritty, hard-working midfielders such as Gokhan Inler and Kwadwo Asamoah; powerhouses that, first and foremost, ran hard and tackled even harder. While still very much technically able, they were an intimidating shield to Udinese’s back four, leading them to successive fourth place finishes in Serie A. These players are pivotal to everything Guidolin will try to achieve in South Wales.
Jonjo Shelvey was an enigma, but an argument could easily be made that he could suit that role far better than the more stylistic Ki and Cork. Although, Shelvey’s disciplinary record would render his position a tight-rope every match, where one small mistake could land both Shelvey and his side in serious hot water.
The Englishman is gone though, and only Leon Britton, Ki, and Cork remain.
Alberto Paloschi, Gylfi Sigurdsson, and Andre Ayew have all proved themselves capable of getting the team into a winning position during the Italian’s tenure, but the engine-room is the area that needs to fire. So far though, it has been highlighted that the engine-room is lacking an engine capable of fulfilling Guidolin’s needs.
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