Swansea (a) Post Match Thread

[come-on-barney]

A beautiful post. Brought a tear to my eye. What a sensitive man you are. God bless you sir, God bless.

Thank you sir, I thank you

 

[Proy]

I would argue him diving in has cost us a lot more than it's saved us though. Looks great the 1 in 10 times it comes off. How can you coach something out of someone at this late stage of his career though?

If they are our primary centre backs next season then we are well and truly fucked.

Diving in is something which can be stopped pretty quickly.

I have faith in both Otamendi and Mangala. I think there are players in both of them. They haven't had a solid run together in the team and have been stitched, for me, by the woeful protection offered in front of them. In Pelligrini we have abandoned any form of defensive discipline.

I would wager that both of these would have looked very different under Mancini and even more so under Pep.

 

[Colin Bell's Boots]

Navas has been half decent in recent games, so it's easy to associate him with helping us to stay in the top 4, but at the same time, the season is 38 games long and a match on day 1 has as much bearing as the final day. A great number of our players have gone missing at times this season, Navas included - some more than others, but overall it's reflected in our final league position.

By our historic standards, many of the players we have today are head and shoulders above the majority we've ever head, but when we compare ourselves to Real, Bayern or Barca at least half of our players are a good way behind both in ability and application.

We've bought ourselves into a very good position as a club - regular CL, attractive to top players and managers, great stadium and a rapidly growing fan base, but the real work's only just begun. If we're to ever be considered a consistent domestic and CL contender, there has to be a merciless work ethos as well as top talent.

We're fragile, and we need to become a machine. The statesman like behaviour of Pellegrini was reflected in our team performances - far too pedestrian.

Totally agree- well expressed.

 

[Dave Ewing's Back 'eader]

Diving in is something which can be stopped pretty quickly.

I have faith in both Otamendi and Mangala. I think there are players in both of them. They haven't had a solid run together in the team and have been stitched, for me, by the woeful protection offered in front of them. In Pelligrini we have abandoned any form of defensive discipline.

I would wager that both of these would have looked very different under Mancini and even more so under Pep.

I was looking at the EFC report this morning, and it appears that GazBaz has been voted fans' and players' player of the season. I am pretty certain that we would not have been scratting about on the last day for fourth place had he been sitting in front of Otters and The Mangler for most of the season. One of the most scandalous decisions taken to ship him out!

 

[Boney]

I was looking at the EFC report this morning, and it appears that GazBaz has been voted fans' and players' player of the season. I am pretty certain that we would not have been scratting about on the last day for fourth place had he been sitting in front of Otters and The Mangler for most of the season. One of the most scandalous decisions taken to ship him out!

Agreed

 

[Jazzman]

Just watched the game again, and I have to say we played pretty shite. No concentration, no urgency, looked like a training game in preparation of the new season. A pretty bad attitude given what was at stake for the club.

 

[blue ranger]

every single post match thread seems to end in squabbling :)

That's because nobody is allowed their own opinion unless it's in line with the views of the bluemoon cabal.

 

[Danamy]

1. I've already explained that we could ALL see what the weaknesses were with Pellegrini from the word go, but whilst we were busy winning the league and scoring a zillion goals in the process, it was perfectly reasonable to back him as the prowess going forward was more than compensating for any defensive shortcomings (QED), and the question of his adaptability wasn't an issue as it wasn't being tested at that stage. If you can claim that you foresaw in advance that he wouldn't adapt when those questions were eventually asked, then clearly you are a visionary beyond compare and I wish you were employed by the board. If however you were just wetting your finger, sticking it in the air and saying "hey, x or y might be an issue further down the line", safe in the knowledge that it either would (in which case you could spend the next 18 months, making post after post after post, all of which included some reference - oblique or otherwise - to your having been right all along) or wouldn't, then you are no more a visionary than a straw chewing yokel informing me he can tell from the big black clouds that it might rain. The continued selection of Ya Ya Toure in a midfield two a problem? No shit Sherlock! The notion that other managers spotted Pellegrini's weaknesses from the start, but were "too weary to act on it" has to be a wind up on your part, surely?! What they did was learn from their beatings and come back with a plan to combat us the following season.

2. I don't know why you're inviting me to go back and look at videos of Pellegrini's early days at the club. I was fully aware of his shortcomings at the time. I've already referenced Cardiff for you, and the world and his wife knew that Ya Ya in a midfield 2 was an issue. The perfectly reasonable argument, given that we were busy winning the league at the time with a record number of goals, was that the additional emphasis on attack would compensate for the loss of defensive solidity. Not my preferred option as I am of a nervous disposition (if the ball so much as goes near Mangala I shit my pants), but hard to argue against when you're campiones. Once he started failing the tests others were setting him though on a repeat basis and it was clear that he wasn't going to change tack, he should have been sacked IMO. For me that was around 16 months ago after the Liverpool/Burnley/Barca triple embarrassment.

3. I see elsewhere you've posted the 2013 squad for comparison with the 2016 one to support your argument that the latter is the stronger. I presume you have done this as it allows you to factor Rodwell, Sinclair, Maicon and all the other duffers we bought that summer into the equation. However, the squad everyone else has clearly been referring to is the 2011/2012 version that won the title.
Gaz Baz vs Fernando
Lescott vs Mangala
Tevez vs Iheanacho
Dzeko vs Bony
2012 Zab vs 2016 Zab
2012 Ya Ya vs 2016 Ya Ya
2012 Silva vs 2016 Silva
I think we'll let the public decide, eh? Oh, and I did chuckle at the self defeating argument that we should cut the greatest manager in the world plenty of slack next season. Doesn't need it does he, if he's got the greatest squad?!!!

4. Who are these people that left the board? You wear your victimhood like a Scouser. For the avoidance of doubt, lest the "friends of the mods" card be wheeled out, the only one I have ever met is Bill (ex-De Niro), and that was the grand total of twice, in Barcelona and Seville. I am of the opinion generally speaking that they all do a pretty good job and are responsible with it (probably why Ric picks them over more argumentative cusses like, erm, me and you). Either way, if threads are getting closed down and you are being cited by the mods as the source, then you might want to reflect on the tone you have adopted therein rather than feeling hard done to. Anyway, that notwithstanding, I don't know if the posters who levelled abuse at you at the time were banned or were responsible for having threads pulled, as I am a) not one of those posters (ie no-one has ever admonished me for anything on here), and b) not a mod. Did you report them? What was the mods response?

5. Re. your final 7 words. Awfully kind of you to be so, erm, benevolent, but please feel free to let me have it!

For the benefit of the tape there was no reply

 

[Danamy]

That's because nobody is allowed their own opinion unless it's in line with the views of the bluemoon cabal.

Everyone's allowed an opinion on here but when it's repeated time after time it does get a bit tedious to say the least

 

[k13lock]

Thankfully the team was able to scrape by with a point. I thought the team was quite poor down the final stretch of the season. Doubt Manuel purposely didn't try as hard but I'm sure he wasn't happy Pep was appointed during the season opposed to the last BPL matchday.

He should really whip this team into shape. Excited to see whom he brings in/out