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Reply | Oxford United v Swansea City : Match day thread
at 14:06 3 Nov 2024
I don't think we can have it both ways with him though? For me he is never an impact sub as he doesn't have enough in his locker to create something out of nothing.
I think he's got fitter and sharper and now getting involved more / scoring because he's getting a run of games and playing plenty of minutes. |
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Reply | Christie signs
at 15:23 1 Nov 2024
Seems a bizarre decision when we have Key, Naughton, Parker at a push to fill in at RB. Why not put whatever money we are paying Christie into contracts for our CBs...? |
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Reply | Cullen signs
at 19:19 29 Oct 2024
Maybe he'll do a Jamie Vardy and be a late blossom! |
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Reply | Cullen signs
at 19:05 29 Oct 2024
I wasn't comparing players, I was merely pointing out that there may be an intangible benefit to retaining players who a) wear their heart on their sleeve and b) have some recall of what it was like being at the club when in the "good times".
Absolutely do I wish I was saying this about a player of Routledge or Ashley Williams level but we are where we are and post Joe, Liam, and Cabango at a push any links to the "glorious past" are gone.
But maybe revolution is what is needed and I'm just a sucker for sentiment! |
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Reply | Cullen signs
at 18:36 29 Oct 2024
I'll say this, as long as the new contract isn't insanely higher than his market worth, and the long term plan is for him to become a squad player and not leading the line, then in the same way I wasn't against keeping Routledge when past his beat, or resigning Joe, I am not against maintaining some Swansea "DNA". |
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Reply | Reach & Christie
at 14:08 24 Oct 2024
I think we need a creative midfielder first, before another striker. God love him, Cooper is a trier but just that - a solid, hard-working pro.
Someone like Sigurdsson, Paterson, Celina, Jordi Gomez - someone who can make something out of nothing in the middle of the park is what we are desperately missing. |
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Reply | U21's
at 10:12 23 Oct 2024
But what is the point unless the system and instructions changes? You can chuck Wilson or Parker in as much as you want, if Grimes, Darling, Cabango and Tymon just continue to knock it around side to side taking 3 or 4 touches each time, then nothing will change.
And Williams clearly is happy with this ponderous play - he is not bollocking them from the sidelines to move the ball quicker. He is saying we deserved a point in his post-match press. He is clearly content with how we play. |
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Reply | Sheffield Wednesday v Swansea City : Match day thread GAME DAY
at 09:57 23 Oct 2024
Having watched the extended highlights back, I would say Peart-Harris looked better in a midfield role - he looks pretty good on the ball and tried to be positive at least.
Abdulai did ok as well, lovely touch (after a good pass from Vip) to put Ronald in on goal for our best chance. |
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Reply | Luke Williams ?
at 09:42 23 Oct 2024
While it's hard to argue with the absolutes here, and I have to agree Darling and Cabango have been very good so far, I still thing we are over-egging our defensive strength and performance.
WBA for example, if they had their shooting boots on, it would have been a cricket score. We seem to have got much worse at preventing crosses into our box. And the stats show a high number of opposition touches in our penalty area. I do worry about when the time comes we turn up against a team that is not so profligate in their finishing.
Vigs has also been a revelation and is a big part of the equation... |
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Reply | Sheffield Wednesday v Swansea City : Match day thread GAME DAY
at 09:30 23 Oct 2024
As I mentioned the other day, he was far from static against Blackburn but the balls never got to him. I genuinely wonder if he is getting fed up already!
Being a lone striker is 50% mentality - a continual battle of putting the last wasted run / half-chance to the back of your mind and resetting for the next one. It might only happen a few times a match. It's highly likely his lack of goals, chances, touches, involvement is playing on his mind and confidence then spirals.
Ayew, Piroe, McBurnie - sadly we are talking a totally different level there.
I also partly agree with OHL - while a lot of the deficiencies are on the player, Williams is obviously instructing Vip to stay up top and not drop in and get involved in build up play. He's not yelling at him to drop deep and was seemingly happy enough with what he was doing to keep him on for 86 minutes running around aimlessly by himself. [Post edited 23 Oct 9:43]
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Reply | More dismay : Same old story for the Swans in Sheffield
at 08:25 23 Oct 2024
Great write-up and fair play for going all the way to watch that! Disappointed Vipotnik didn't make an impact after what I thought was a good cameo against Blackburn.
One point of clarity - the BBC suggested it was Fulton that hit the post, but you say it was Ronald? |
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Reply | Vipupnik
at 16:27 21 Oct 2024
Going back to the title topic, I made the effort to watch the last 20 minutes of the full match replay i.e. the period Zan came on.
It's hard to see his full contribution from the TV perspective, but I made sure every time he was in shot I ignored everything else. I have to say, I come away a bit more positive about his potential and noticed things not evident before.
The main criticism levelled at him is his inability to get away from his marker, but on 73.45 mins, 78.52 mins and 83.29 mins I noted first a good curving run to get goal side of his marker, second after Key won the ball back well Zan waves to Tymon then darts really nicely across his marker only for the cross to float way over his head, then thirdly he attacked a low attempted Ronald cross, again getting in front of his marker (unfortunately the cross was blocked).
He also had a decent shout for a penalty on 93.40 using his strength to get in front of his man and appearing to be hauled over backwards.
He also pressed hard and seemed fitter overall. My main negative was he didn't drop off at all to try and link play but I imagine that was on instruction and Peart-Harris was the man to play the 10 role (ineffectually again I would say).
This all may be clutching at straws, but I feel it is only fair to highlight the positives when I see them, even if they may be considered the very basics for any striker at this level. At least he is displaying these basics now, when he wasn't previously.
The challenge now for LW is to get the rest of the team to take advantage of these moments and try and actually get the ball to Vipotnik more accurately. |
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Reply | Vipupnik
at 10:43 21 Oct 2024
The fitness thing is weird I agree - it's not like he was at home playing XBOX all summer either, he was with the Slovenia squad at EURO24 presumably training etc.
He looked knackered after the warm-up when I watched him at Coventry.
But then I am told by someone who played with him at Blackburn that Alan Shearer was the worst trainer, was rubbish at sprint and bleep test and had the lowest level of natural fitness in the entire squad...you never know!  |
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Reply | Vipupnik
at 08:59 21 Oct 2024
I think people need to temper their expectations of this kid. I can't deny I was reasonably excited at the prospect of getting a Slovenian international striker who's initial stats suggested he had goals in him.
But the facts are:
- He is only 22 so barely into his prime as a striker
- He has played 128 hours of professional football - sod all basically
- So far in his career he has a record of one goal in every 172 minutes played, so roughly a goal every other game - a pretty decent conversion rate...
For comparison, Cullen's record is a goal every 208 minutes (265 minutes in the Championship) and Piroe for us scored a goal every 173 minutes.
So far for us Zan has scored only one goal in 489 minutes of play which is clearly terrible, but in mitigation we know how hard it is to be a striker in this current Swansea team.
Frankly, Zan is a backup/"potential" striker at this level being asked to share the role of flagship striker with Cullen. He is clearly not a player who is going to hit the ground running and make an instant impact. This is fully on the owners and the management team.
I for one will be managing my expectations, hoping he develops well over the next couple of years, and getting behind him every time he plays. |
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