David Rees looks back and gives us thoughts on the Swans Carling Cup exit
Watford left the Liberty Stadium with a quarter final spot in the Carling Cup in a dire game against a sloppy Swansea.
Roberto Martinez’s hapless version of the Tinkerman in this Carling cup game left a bitter taste in the mouths of the home support but provided some relief for the bedraggled visitors following recent poor league form.
Many fans left the Liberty Stadium tonight disappointed at the result but many more of the home faithful will have been disappointed at the way Martinez brought about his side’s downfall.
The rookie boss made a startling eight changes to the starting line up in the space of three days. Out went Angel Rangel, Ashley Williams, Fede Bessone, Darren Pratley, Jordi Gomez, Leon Britton, Mark Gower and Jason Scotland and in came a horde of fringe players including Alan Tate, Alberto Serran, Fabian Brandy and Shaun McDonald.
Welsh international Welsh international Owain Tudur Jones started the game but his lack of match fitness showed and it was somewhat of a surprise to see him emerge for the second half. Fabian Brandy has also been complaining as of late about the lack of time on the pitch but this performance will not have done his chances of a first team start any good. The Manchester United player, on loan for the season at Swansea, cannot be faulted for his effort in attempting to make an impact on the game but his inexperience frequently came to the fore in his runs and playing style. He used his pace to create the only real opportunity for the Swans in open play early on but the fact that his performance conjured up memories of ex maverick winger Adrian Forbes said it all.
Shaun McDonald produced another ineffectual performance in a Swans shirt and the Welsh Under 21 international was barely noticeable for the 90 minutes. In the back four, Alberto Serran and Alan Tate showed why they are considered primarily reserve team players by Martinez with the latter’s distribution particularly disappointing, especially in the final third.
The widespread tinkering to the starting eleven had a disastrous, but perhaps unsurprising, effect on the rhythm of the Swans typical passing play. The home side struggled to create a noteworthy chance throughout the game bar a couple of threatening free kicks from Gomez and the ineffectual Dutch maestro, Ferrie Bodde. Admist the confusion going forward, nobody seemed to be assigned to be a constant outlet on the wing and the ball was then surrounded and plundered by the busy Watford midfield.
Looking forward, the most worrying aspect of the defeat came in Watford’s ability to learn and adapt and our inability to the do the same. The Hornets learned several lessons from the 2-1 defeat on Sunday in the league and pushed up tight on our goalkeeper, making it nigh on impossible to distribute the ball from the goalkeeper to the back four. This forced Dimi Konstantinopulous to kick upfield and our lack of height up the pitch made possession extremely easy to win for Watford. They also targeted Ferrie Bodde as our main free kick taker and shifted their defensive wall to the right for his solitary chance in the first half. They also closed the Swans down a lot faster and quicker and these minute changes led to a much improved defensive effort from the visitors.
The second negative to come from tonight is a realisation that the squad has not got the strength in depth that supporters had previously thought. A reserve midfield of OTJ, Butler, Orlandi, Shaun McDonald and Joe Allen sounds good on paper but the reality is that many of these reserve team players are either out of form or lack match sharpness. The Swans craved a player in this game that could make an impact in his quest for a first team spot but the reality is that none of the players tonight performed anywhere near good enough for that to happen.
Martinez constantly looks for the positives in each Swansea City performance but they were hard to come by in this dour 1-0 defeat. One positive is that loan signing Stephen O’Halloran had a solid debut on the left and must now be in contention for the first team berth. Another is that this ensures that the squad won’t get distracted by the possibility of an upcoming cup fixture.
But Martinez must learn from this bitterly disappointing defeat. The manager, coaches and players need to show more respect to the opposition and the home fans than they did tonight. Many home fans wouldn’t have minded paying £15 to see a competitive cup fixture in which we lost but the reality is that we never got out of the starting blocks and many will put the blame for that at the feet of the manager. Year on year, the Swans seem to throw away valuable cup revenue due to over-rotation of the squad but more respect needs to be shown to the opponents in the future to ensure this doesn’t happen again. Watford were always going to field a strong line up tonight and the reality is that we didn’t, and we paid the inevitable price for our lackadaisical attitude towards the game. Martinez will now be under more pressure than ever to get a result against Norwich on Saturday to halt the boos ringing round the stadium at the final whistle.