Experience won the day yesterday as Wigan hung on for a point at the swansea.com stadium. There was an extreme amount of dissatisfaction in the stands as well as after the game. However, surely the experience that Wigan clearly possess would have been the first hurdle for this young swans side to manage ?
All round Wigan had big and strong players who dominated the home side whenever danger was sensed, and it took an exquisite goal from Ryan Manning to breach their defence. Russell Martin on the effort to try and win the game was somewhat expected. "It takes big courage and we should win the game, if there’s anyone who ‘watches’ the game can disagree with that. It was such a dominant performance, and people have to appreciate how difficult it is when you go two nil down. We need to score more there’s some brilliant chances in there we don’t convert. But we needed to keep moving the ball with speed, the subs helped us quite a bit. But we are all frustrated”
That indicates the players are not moving the ball with speed, evident of course from the last three games, so that needs to be the first thing we see on Tuesday night away at Birmingham City. The question is why can’t they do that ?
On the goals conceded the obvious errors were mentioned. "Two people don’t do their detail on the set pieces and it hurts us, so we concede too many poor goals at the moment. So, I’m pretty sure Wigan will be happy. That’s the oldest team in the championship I’m sure, against the youngest. We should still win, I’m so frustrated. I know there’s moments where the ball goes backwards and there’s a few groans, but you have to appreciate the boys need to bring people out of possession to hurt them”
Anyone can appreciate that, but it’s the slow and ponderous play that unsettles the supporters. There were so many obvious choices to attack Wigan but players like Joel Latibeaudiere just didn’t have the courage to take the game by the scruff of the neck. He missed two glaring opportunities to set his attackers free in to space. He chose to rebuild.
Russell Martin has the squad he wanted to an extent, of course money is always the key issue. On the clubs finances which again Martin referenced. "We are not a Burnley who can spend what they did in the summer and bring four players on at the top end of the pitch. Our squad hasn’t got that make up, there was a few people playing in various positions today that people wouldn’t have seen that much here, but in training we have worked on it”
It seemed a slight contradiction from to make from the swans boss with only Matt Grimes missing for so many changes to other positions to be made, if that was the case. The starting line up was attacking but lacked direction and passing the ball backwards when an attack is obvious has nothing to do with poor players, that’s a mindset that’s been drilled in to them. Yes it retains the ball, but to what end when the opportunity to move forwards is missed seconds before ?
Swansea came up against the likes of James McClean yesterday the poppy enthusiast with over five hundred games to his name, and at thirty three regardless of the majority of peoples opinions on him Swansea don’t have a player with that steely edge. We did talk about Will Keane pre match and warned of his qualities, at twenty nine he will always take an opportunity to score against a dysfunctional defence. Especially one that disregards instructions pre match on detail. If we can see that then the detail which Martin speaks about clearly wasn’t taken on board. Is that football naivety or just a lack of ability or football intelligence to comprehend the instructions from set piece coach Andy Parslow ?
Jay Fulton an older head much needed
Martin summed up his and the clubs position to date when he said. "We are so close to being the team everyone wants us to be. The fans us the players. We have lost two games in ten, we are very competitive at this level we want to really affect the league in a positive way”
It was an interesting point that Martin made on Michael Obafemi who just hasn’t fired on all cylinders of late. "If Michael listens to what we want from him, and what made him really deadly last season, if he starts to stick to that detail he will score goals” That indicates he hasn’t been following instructions in recent games. That needs ironing out before Tuesdays game at Birmingham City. Three games in a frustrating eight days with explanations from Russell Martin as to why that has been has to be evidenced positively next week. That’s what everyone wants to see starting at St Andrew’s this Tuesday.
Matt Grimes of course will return, we won’t see Joe Allen, but it’s obvious the capacity captain Grimes has on the pitch to influence is more about trust than shouting. Swansea did miss him in this game, to an extent. But if one player is to be missing and such dramatic changes have to be made there is surely something lacking in the detail Martin speaks about to engage a game and go and win it ?