It was a tough but expected happening at St Andrews yesterday afternoon. This happens far too often, the Swans give away a lead when ahead, not once but twice. Man of the match Dembele was the big difference. We’ve had a look at that second goal and it’s a tad embarrassing all round.
Especially for Charlie Patino and Jerry Yates.
First off the move in the 95th minute should never have come to fruition. As head coach Luke Williams stated, we were too defensive and looking to defence a lead when we should have been pressing forwards to win the game. The fact we did so after the second equaliser proves my point.
We won’t look at Joe Allen and his miss on 96 minutes, but it was a sitter he should have easily scored. Maybe enough has been said about Jerry Yates but he too showed a lack of commitment and intelligence when a ball across the box from Jamie Paterson was there to be pounced on.
We have three stills from the game.
First off Dembele had already skipped through the Swans midfield to get to this position. You can see clearly that the Swans defensive players ( one forward and two midfield ) are already sucked in. Charlie Patino has left James free. Had he not done so he would have been able to block the shot.
A bit of magic from Dembele and he is free to see an unmarked James. The pass is spot on.
Then James is free to collect himself, look up and fire in the equaliser. Look at the space he has, in football terms it’s criminal.
This is the lack of concentration and leadership so deep into the game which see’s the Swans well over twenty points given up from winning positions this season. The value of the two substitutes ( Yates & Patino ) has to be questioned. Yes, Luke Williams needs to see the frailties of these players, but it’s happening time and time again. There’s more to having players who contribute ( Patino ) going forwards, the simple basics of defending saw Swansea City drop two points - again.