With four games gone in the Championship season already we find ourselves in a two week international break. These breaks, as we have again in October and November aren’t traditionally popular, club fans want to watch their team, international football can come a distant second.
There will be opposite points of view.
The Championship start from the Swans has seen the club gain four points from twelve. We will disregard the two League Cup ties, they really were dreadful and not a reflection on the current league form or combination of players and tactics. Those games were poorly managed off and on the pitch. To get that degree of performance from professional footballers there has to be something seriously missing, be that during the pre match build up or the players ability to actually want to win a game properly.
Then with that said we look at the first four games. Luke Williams stated yesterday post match. "I asked them at half-time to stop playing timidly and within themselves and I think the opposition and the atmosphere caused anxiety, and the anxiety took away the energy. When that happens you don't feel free to express yourself correctly. You don't feel sharp. You don't anticipate things well. You hesitate. I asked them to please stop doing that because it's going to be a tough forty five minutes if we play like that again” That viewpoint is concerning. It shows a lack of preparation pre match, and clearly displays that the message wasn’t getting across in the build up to that game. On the pitch we are told that captain, Matt Grimes leads by example and not by what he says. Personally I’ve yet to see Grimes or any other player indicate what they want on the pitch, or be guided by the captain or a senior player to manage any of the on pitch processes they practice all week.
And I don’t mean shouting or grabbing their peers on the pitch. I’m talking about guidance or subtle interjections pointing out where that player can impact more and improve.
At Middlesbrough it was pretty much the same as it was at West Bromwich Albion. A failure to execute what the game plan was. A lack of creativity, missing openings to maintain a frustrating ball retention strategy - which in most cases leads to nothing. There also seems to be a lack of desire and creativity, the players energy looks second rate when up against those two sides away from home. Two games in which the Swans away support turned up in big numbers, either for the distance travelled or commitment to fill an away end.
It should never be right that Swansea City played as poor as they did in the first half against WBA and then be told at half time they are being intimidated by the opposition. However, we did see a turnaround of sorts with many chances for the home side already missed, and more in the second half. The Swans clearly took on board those half time words, but really ? It shouldn’t be that way, especially when it’s been a trait for many games under Luke Williams. That should have been knocked out of them by now.
Overall it’s not working.
Williams noted post match. "I think we have a number of players with quite limited Championship experience. Young guys that don't have a huge amount of experience full stop. To come here against really good opposition and an elite manager is tough for them. I think it showed as a number of players were really restricted in the way they played. That's not a disrespectful comment to the lads. This is a hard place to play football at this level. We know we have some players that need more experience and more time to understand how to compete at Championship level”
An open admission that your team isn’t good enough in some departments even when the season has started is another concern. Williams stopped short of proportioning blame, but If you are looking for a form of reasoning then look no further than the recruiting team. This after the club Chairman (Andrew Coleman) promised action regards early business, what we saw was late business being done. Everyone knew that would happen. I should add that’s by no way a statement that the Swans hierarchy didn’t work hard enough, the salaries offered by the club places them in a market for less valuable and supposedly well researched transfers. However, it seems Luke is referring to that in his post match thoughts ? He hasn't had enough time to assess or implement his mindset on the team, or is it an excuse for his inability to do so ? Not every head coach would have that problem, even in the Championship.
The game against Cardiff City at home was another example of a lethargic and lacklustre effort to win a game of football. That game was there to be won, and another two points were dropped. Bizarre and negative passing from the Swans allowed Cardiff back into the game and equalise. Even when searching for a second goal the ponderous ‘actions’ were never going to win the game. When we look back at the Preston home win, that created a few wobbles on the pitch as well. Of course you expect that against a side who are quickly looking like the whipping boys of the league this term. That 3-0 scoreline wasn’t as comfortable as it looked. However, nobody can wholly criticise a 3-0 win, it was a very welcome example of what we want to see the Swans doing. Again though, the lack of desire to score a fourth and a fifth with Preston on their knees sums up again the conservative side of Williams strategy.
Or the interpretation of the players to do what he demands ?
That is being evidenced by the leadership on the pitch. Matt Grimes is not alone, Azeem Abdulai plays more passes backwards than he does forwards. Yes, he is out of position, but he is a professional footballer. He should have the vision and foresight by now to manage his own on pitch involvement, it’s obvious he can’t so is that another area Williams needs to review ? What can Abdulai actually offer his squad ?
And that goes for the majority of those Swans players over the past four league games.
Luke now wants ten games to assess his squad, that’s not fighting talk, that’s an example of wanting more time as a result of a poor start to the season. Of course he will get that time, and on this appointment he should be given the whole season regardless of where the Swans are in the league. The constant rebuilding and sackings are expensive and pointless. Let him be to display his ability as a head coach, and give him time to do so. He shouldn’t be asking for it so early in the season. We know what is deficient, the coaching staff can see it, but there seems to be too much allowance given to the players to get away with this type of football.
They don’t seem to be learning.
Luke Williams and his staff have a fair bit of time to work on this with his players, albeit there are a number away on international duty. Liam Cullen yet to be able to make a decision on his Wales squad inclusion. His injury picked up against Wycombe was aggravated last Thursday afternoon in training.
The next six Swans games to bring Like Williams up to ten matches for assessment are -
The Swans coaching staff need to stop the same old lack of effort to become an issue throughout this season. This league on review is as tough as it was last season but with many clubs from last season looking far better equipped than the Swans.
Let’s hear what Luke says after ten games. By which time on current form the side could well be in the bottom three. We think he has it in him to make this work, and he has the players, if they can be convinced they can be creative and far more positive. This is one of the most negative Swansea sides we have seen in years. That bottom three, if this hard work progresses positively could easily see this Swansea squad in the top six. That’s how fine the margins will be this season.
And they don’t need narrowing by the type of football we have seen so far.