Swansea (H) Pre-Match Thread

[Marvin]

For one reason only - balance. Against Palace we didn't use him and the side was well balanced. We created a fair few chances, we also didn't concede too many opportunities and certainly not too many clear cut opportunities like we did time and time against Everton for instance. With Yaya, Silva and De Bruyne we're not well balance for certain games. Like I said, long ball teams we can press their defence to stop them getting a decent ball forward and mop possession up. You don't need that extra man in there really.

Swansea will play a more "purist" style than this. They'll look to get the ball on the ground and find space. They're good enough to pass out from the back, it's been their way for many years. If we push up and they do manage to find space, as Sigurdsson in particular will look to, behind our midfield then we might have problems.

Spurs managed to score by sucking our defence out of position because we didn't have midfield cover. You can point the finger at our defenders (Otamendi in particular) but the fact is they felt drawn out because Yaya's trying to get back but isn't defensively covering well enough. We need to get in a habit of stopping conceding such "easy" opportunities for the opposition to get into goal scoring positions.

Having Fernandinho in there to cover the ground defensively will help us eliminate the potential to be torn open so easily. Yaya, Silva, Sterling, Sane and Jesus will create opportunities. De Bruyne is excellent and in certain games they can all work in the same team, but I'd leave him out of this one to start with. In other games I'd have him in ahead of Silva but I like Silva's ability to manage the game in terms of its pace. He dictates whether we want to make the opposition chase the ball for a ten minute spell, suck them out of position and get at them, or play direct and attack quickly. I feel like De Bruyne still needs to develop that control, he's always 100% geared on going forwards and trying to create a scoring opportunity. In doing so we can lose the ball and be exposed so Pep will want us to always be in control of the pace of the game. It's less tiring chasing the ball and when you have Silva and Yaya on the pitch they can do with playing at their own pace!

Defensively the weakest link is Toure who does not in my view track midfield runners and that has led to goals conceded eg Everton. I think it was a mistake to recall him although he has made a massive effort this season in regards to his weight. He looks like a footballer now and is still a very influential player for us. I think he leaves our defence very exposed when he plays though.

 

[prestonibbo_mcfc]

Defensively the weakest link is Toure who does not in my view track midfield runners and that has led to goals conceded eg Everton. I think it was a mistake to recall him although he has made a massive effort this season in regards to his weight. He looks like a footballer now and is still a very influential player for us. I think he leaves our defence very exposed when he plays though.

I think Toure has made great strides recently, in the defensive side of his game.
I think it's a bit off, blaming him for the Everton debacle. The whole team went to
pot after the 2nd goal.

 

[kaz7]

PEP: I am really impressed with Swansea. I am trying to find ways we can attack them and I can’t find it! It’s so complicated.

PEP: They are in a good moment. They won at Anfield and against Southampton - good teams. It will be really, really tough

PEP: We played good in the 2-2 against one of the best teams. We make a good performance in London against West Ham. But it isn’t enough.

PEP: (Who starts in goal?) Still I didn’t decide. In the big clubs, you have good goalkeepers and I have it so i will decide on what i see.

PEP: One of the biggest qualities (Bravo) has is his strong personality. If not, he could not win Copa Americas and play for Barcelona.

 

[kaz7]

Posts individual to players are in their threads,sergio,yaya and Jesus

 

[Bewar3them00n]

Willy
Sagna/Vinny/Otter/Clichy
Dinho/Silva
Sterling/KDB/Sane
Jesus

I don't know if Aguero has been suffering with an injury, but he doesn't look quite up to speed yet.
Let Jesus cause havoc with Sane and Sterling, then let Aguero come on and fill his boots.
With a bit of luck this will be over by half time, but we all know this isn't the way the script goes at home!

 

[supercity88]

Defensively the weakest link is Toure who does not in my view track midfield runners and that has led to goals conceded eg Everton. I think it was a mistake to recall him although he has made a massive effort this season in regards to his weight. He looks like a footballer now and is still a very influential player for us. I think he leaves our defence very exposed when he plays though.

Defensively yes, but on the ball he's so good. He keeps the play ticking over. I think Pep uses Yaya and Silva as his Xavi, Iniesta combo. Someone occasionally has to then just sit and allow them to play. In certain games this is more important than others. De Bruyne won't give Yaya that cover in midfield, but Fernandinho and Delph would. Pep seems to have worked out what games that cover is/isn't necessary and it all depends on the style of play of the opposition.

If our defenders step up, and do so well then Yaya isn't so exposed anyway. In past games this is where errors have been made, Otamendi has stepped up but not won the ball and gaps have been left where he should have been. I thought against West Ham we were better at making the decisions on when to push up. Stones was excellent in that regard.

 

[kaz7]

Swansea could name an unchanged starting line-up for a third successive game.

Captain Leon Britton has returned to training following a calf problem and will be part of the travelling squad.

 

[Gabriel]

Defensively yes, but on the ball he's so good. He keeps the play ticking over. I think Pep uses Yaya and Silva as his Xavi, Iniesta combo. Someone occasionally has to then just sit and allow them to play. In certain games this is more important than others. De Bruyne won't give Yaya that cover in midfield, but Fernandinho and Delph would. Pep seems to have worked out what games that cover is/isn't necessary and it all depends on the style of play of the opposition.

If our defenders step up, and do so well then Yaya isn't so exposed anyway. In past games this is where errors have been made, Otamendi has stepped up but not won the ball and gaps have been left where he should have been. I thought against West Ham we were better at making the decisions on when to push up. Stones was excellent in that regard.

At West Ham it was Sagna and Kolarov who tucked in and screened the area behind and beside Toure. However, because that leaves the flanks exposed, it meant Sane, Sterling, SIlva, and de Bruyne had to be sharp and run like mad to ensure the opposition could not overload those areas. Swansea will likely be unchanged again, so if we play that way again, we can expect Carroll and Routledge to float into those areas.

 

[Tbilisi]

Defensively yes, but on the ball he's so good. He keeps the play ticking over. I think Pep uses Yaya and Silva as his Xavi, Iniesta combo. Someone occasionally has to then just sit and allow them to play. In certain games this is more important than others. De Bruyne won't give Yaya that cover in midfield, but Fernandinho and Delph would. Pep seems to have worked out what games that cover is/isn't necessary and it all depends on the style of play of the opposition.

If our defenders step up, and do so well then Yaya isn't so exposed anyway. In past games this is where errors have been made, Otamendi has stepped up but not won the ball and gaps have been left where he should have been. I thought against West Ham we were better at making the decisions on when to push up. Stones was excellent in that regard.

Been saying that to anyone that can be arsed to listen.
We need a De Jong type (Delp or one of the Fern twins) to sit in front of the back 4 to allow the forwards to play,its so simple.
For a couple of years now our defenders have come out to win the ball and left us open at the back,regardless of who they are.

 

[MarsLlama]

Defensively the weakest link is Toure who does not in my view track midfield runners and that has led to goals conceded eg Everton. I think it was a mistake to recall him although he has made a massive effort this season in regards to his weight. He looks like a footballer now and is still a very influential player for us. I think he leaves our defence very exposed when he plays though.

Is our Goals Conceded per game more when Touré plays than when Fernandinho plays?