Lets take some Libertys! Swans away Match Thread (3.3.18)

IronHerb

That was our 3rd defeat in the last 4 games and third in a row away.

MunichHammer

Ok, fair enough. Hadn't checked the results.

ASLEFshrugged

We beat Stoke 3-0, Huddersfield 4-1 and Watford 2-0, obviously we have problems but I'm not going to accept that this team has no fight in them

We were off to a bad start with Collins and Oggy out so losing Reid was precisely the last thing we needed. Had we had either of those they'd have been picking up Van der Hoorn not Rice who is still a few years off from being the finished article.

Noble was shackled once he got the yellow card, with the way the ref was behaving if Noble had given someone a hard stare he'd have been off. Kouyate is Jekyll and Hyde (a bit like the team as a whole) but we miss Obiang.

Evra clearly isn't working, thankfully Arthur is only banned for one more game. Antonio needs to start next week against Burnley, maybe Zabaletta could do with a rest against Saints with Antonio and Arthur as WBs.

I don't know what's going on with Hernandez, Antonio and Lanzini but they didn't seem to be communicating.

It's not all doom and gloom, as Scarlett O'Hara said "After all, tomorrow is another day".

Lukerz

ASLEF ;ok

Once Masuaku is back I hope Moyes goes with:

Antonio - Collins - Ogbonna - Cresswell - Masuaku

Evra and Zab just don’t cut it, not in this side at the moment, at the same time.

ASLEFshrugged

Lukerz - Oggy is the key player, if Collins isn't available then I'd still play Rice who seems a lot more confident when he's playing alongside a more experienced CB.

Zab has been better as a WB than a FB, I think he just needs a rest. I'd prefer Antonio further forward but for the next couple of games he has to start at WB

Cuz1

Easy to blame zab when we lose and praise when we win, id drop evra first waste of time and money in my opinion

IronHerb

Noble was shocking yesterday. Although the yellow he got was soft he could have been booked on two occasions previously. He also confronted Ayew and Olsson.
One of those 'look at me I'm being passionate' displays.
Apart from that the game passed him by once again.
He wasn't alone though. Adrian, Evra, Zab and Kouyate were also very poor.
Only ray of light was when Antonio came on.

ASLEFshrugged

I don't think we were blaming Zab, Lukerz said we shouldn't play him and Evra in the same starting XI and I said he could probably do with a breather, he's played 90 minutes in every Premier League game apart from one which he missed for suspension.

He might be "Billy Bonds" fit (running around in shorts in the snow) but perhaps he'd be better for a rest

jay_in_cpt

Yesterday was as poor as I've seen for a while, & like already said the manner of the loss was worrying..
Moyes also needs to look at himself as well as the players, although Reid's injury did not help..
A poor day for our traveling fans thru those freezing conditions, they deserve better than that display...

OldCastleSwift

IronHerb said:

Noble was shocking yesterday. Although the yellow he got was soft he could have been booked on two occasions previously. He also confronted Ayew and Olsson.
One of those 'look at me I'm being passionate' displays.
Apart from that the game passed him by once again.
He wasn't alone though. Adrian, Evra, Zab and Kouyate were also very poor.
Only ray of light was when Antonio came on.

The midfield is one of my biggest gripes. Slav identified the need for a CM but the board failed to get Carvalho. Moyes identified the need for a CM but again, the board failed to get anyone in, when we were even more desperate with Obiang ruled out for the season.

This has left us with two senior CMs - Noble and Kouyate - in the squad, both of who have had average seasons at best, but neither of which can be dropped or rested because their only back up is Cullen or, at a push, Zabaleta.

Failure to prepare is preparing to fail, and we didn't prepare for our relegation fight in January at all.

claretandbluesky

A poor poor performance but lets be fair who could have imagined from 3 fit centre backs we would lose all of them at once, and if even two of them had remained fit we may not have won but our performance would have been a lot more competitive. Swansea also were fantastic, the energy, the fight and determination to press the ball at all times over whelmed us.

What is good is we get to see Moyes at work now as this is the situation a manager shows their calibre. He needs pick up a team who have been battered in time for the next match and find a way to plug gaps through injury. I think he will be up to it and to be fair we need him to as we cant get to our last few matches needing these points in my view.

baracks_a_hammer

OCS

Referring to your final paragraph.

When you look at the signings made - hugill and two short term stop gaps to make up the numbers, in my opinion this was not a window with the aim of pulling clear quickly and aspiring for an 8-10 finish. It was more like a window designed to prepare for potential life in the championship

IronHerb

So Moyes has deliberately set up for relegation? ;hmm

Pearces_Left_Foot

A poor performance Swansea have good home form recently beating Liverpool and arsenal we need to perform against burley Southampton Stoke and Everton at home to stay up

baracks_a_hammer

No not Moyes, like his predecessor his hands seemed to be somewhat tied when it came to squad improvements.

baracks_a_hammer

Pearces_Left_Foot said:

A poor performance Swansea have good home form recently beating Liverpool and arsenal we need to perform against burley Southampton Stoke and Everton at home to stay up

The first three of those really. Because if we go into the final game of the season needing points to stay up it becomes a complete lottery

SuzanneClaret

It doesn’t become a lottery, a lottery requires the numbers you have chosen to be pulled from a ‘hat’ at random with no way to affect the outcome,

Requiring points to stay up on the last game of the season requires us to score goals and keep a clean sheet or score more than the opposition. This is not a lottery, not when the outcome is in our hands.

ASLEFshrugged

It was a transfer window for a manager who might be here next season if he want to stay and if the board want to keep him.

Macca85

I have no words after that performance, imo you cannot play a 36 and 34 year old wings backs in this league.
And what has happened to kouyate.

On another note the people that surrounded DG should be ashamed of themselves

Yeoldhammer

i dont think it matters if we survive or not, there are too many replacements the club need to make with the squad and it just will not happen.

IronHerb

Of course it matters if we survive or not.

Yeoldhammer

can you imagine Big Sam relegating us at home on the last day of the season ;lol

Cuz1

Think he would have a wry smile

Fortuneseeker

ASLEFshrugged said:

It was a transfer window for a manager who might be here next season if he want to stay and if the board want to keep him.

But surely he would want to have the calibre of player within the squad to ensure we stayed up so he could continue managing in the Premier League as this is supposed to be the job he gets redemption in?

Agree with baracks the last window was underwhelming and we all know who could have made it more successful. ;sofa

SuzanneClaret

He won’t though and he’s got more than enough to worry about at Everton to be looking our way.

baracks_a_hammer

He’s kept Everton up though tbf (or as near as damn it)

SuzanneClaret

Ask the Everton fans how they feel about it. If their fan forums are anything to go by, exactly the same as the majority in here felt.

baracks_a_hammer

I agree, their natives are far from happy - for different reason to us. They will be in the Prem next season though

SuzanneClaret

As will we....


I believe.

IronHerb

I must say the White Flag shop I opened earlier in the season is doing a roaring trade. Who'd of thought it?