Luke Williams believes his side are merely making up the numbers in games against a better class of opposition. He also believes the ability of his players is woefully short in key areas. All that as he goes in search of his first home league win in six weeks since becoming Swans head coach.
Already there are similarities in Swansea fans belief that Luke is the man for the Swans job long term when compared to Russell Martin. Discontent doesn’t seem to be more than ninety minutes away each week, especially after the miserable performance against Leeds United.
Luke believes there simply has to be a change in attitude and effort if the Swans are to compete at any level in the Championship. "I don't want us to just be on the pitch making up the numbers. I want us to compete. When we played Hull, I don't think they are at the level of Leeds, but they're a very good side. We gave them almost nothing at all. We deserved to win, but it took a huge toll on the players because it's not something they're accustomed to. Then we have to go again and try an even better performance against a top side. That's just what we have to do."
Words are becoming a tad cheap with the poor quality of the Swans performances. "Of course, I was upset after the game in midweek, but there is no issue with the application of the players and how they are working. But I am telling them and everyone that we have to start playing football and thinking about the game at a higher level so we can try and compete, not just be in this division but make a fist of it. We absolutely have to get back to work, we do not have time to sit and sulk or dwell on the game in midweek. We have to go and work and put in a much better performance.”
Right, well point one, application is aggression, the wrong choice of wording there. Without application you can’t be more aggressive. However, we knew this run of games was going to be tough, very tough, but that’s no excuse for the abject nonsense we saw against Leeds United. It was pitiful. We have in Nathan Wood a real athlete at the back seemed devoid of pace. Wood was once ranked in the British top ten for his age group in the high jump. Carl Rushworth has to have more protection and aggression to do so from his defence when the Swansea goal is under threat.
On Ipswich, their head coach, Kieran McKenna is quite chilled on tomorrows game. Speaking yesterday before leaving for Swansea he said, "We're still less than 48 hours on from the Millwall game, so everyone is still recovering, but we seem to have come through that with no problems, We'll have a light session today and get ready to go again come three o'clock on Saturday. This game is going to demand great energy, no doubt about that. They have a really possession-based style and it's going to take a lot of work off the ball to stop them and to try and create opportunities ourselves. We are going to need some fresh legs. Luke hasn't been there for too long, but you can see exactly what he's trying to do. They are trying to be a really positive and aggressive team on and off the ball. It's a nice pitch, a nice stadium. We'll go there looking to impose ourselves on the game and I'm sure they'll look to do the same. It should make for a good contest."
This after hammering Millwall on Tuesday night 4-0 away.
George Edmundson, Lewis Travis, Conor Chaplin, Marcus Harness, Jeremy Sarmiento and Ali Al-Hamadi are all options to freshen up the side for a second away game in four days. Al Hamadi you can bet will have a point to prove. He was once on the Swans books. He scored the Tractor Boys fourth goal from the penalty spot at Millwall. His rise to Championship football has been remarkable. Now back after playing for Iraq in the AFCON he will most certainly feature tomorrow at some point.
It’s another tough game for the Swans and their performance levels have to match that of their visitors, if they don’t then we will staring at another home defeat for sure. The game kicks off tomorrow afternoon at 3pm at the Swansea.Com Stadium. There will be lots more info and pre match build up later and tomorrow morning.
Luke Williams pre match below -
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