While we can take a breather let’s take a final look at the Birmingham City game on Saturday. Olle Söderholm reviews what went before with a succinct and very thorough post match analysis.

⚽️ Some bad, some good as Matos' men fall at the first hurdle
We've lost the first game of the season, but how did we play? What was the gameplan, what can we learn from this and what can a viewer look for to understand how we play? Birmingham are a team similar in style to Swansea under Matos. They prioritise their high press and averaged the 7th highest possession percentage in the Championship last season. Under manager Chris Davies they also usually play in the same shape; in possession they look like a 4-3-3, and out of possession they usually deploy some type of 4-4-2, pressing very aggressively in the first defensive line and trying to be very direct when attacking. These teams are very comparable, but in the first half, Swansea did all of this better.

⚽️ The first half and its positive signs
From the first minute the game was very frenetic, with possession changing hands often and attacks breaking down quickly. The intensity was high, but Swansea seemed to benefit more from it. We set up in a very aggressive way, especially in possession. We pushed our full backs, Filip Lissah and Josh Tymon, so high that our back four almost formed a box rather than a line. This gets us into advanced positions with fewer passes, but it also means we sometimes struggle for alternatives when pressed.

Watch how we set up at a goal kick; often you'll see Ben Cabango and Cameron Burgess at either end of the penalty area, with Lissah and Tymon pushed so far forward they aren't available when the press comes. But sometimes the Birmingham press faltered, and when given time, a centre back or Vigouroux could find the fullback who had moved into a very advanced position. We did this in the 27th minute when Vigouroux played a pass that made five Birmingham players redundant and found Tymon, who had loads of space to run into. This also exposes a risk in the Birmingham press; they push up with their four attackers and the midfield man-marks ours, but if that channel gets exposed or one of the pressers loses sync with the others, it opens a highway down the flanks. The attack ended with Elijah Just going very close to opening the scoring. This setup tends to be hit or miss, but it becomes less risky when the centre backs also have viable options from the midfield; and here we struggled. Marko Stamenic started the game as our six and sat fairly deep when we played out the back.

What we often saw was Elijah and Melker Widell making runs towards our own goal to offer themselves as recipients. But they often attracted heavy pressure from behind, meaning they rarely helped us progress play. Widell, although impressive off the ball in the first half, struggled to offer much in this regard. Not all teams will press as hard as Birmingham, but those that do will expose this weakness, and when they do we need a more consistent way of playing through. One possible improvement is more complex midfield movement. As it was in this game, it was very easy for Birmingham players to man-mark a white shirt without being forced into a tough decision about whether to follow their man or not. Our striker, in this case Adam Idah, could also make a run towards our goal, either drawing a defender with him and creating space for a midfielder to receive and progress, or pulling a defender away from the channel behind him and allowing a winger to make a timed arched run into that space. I'd like us to be more creative when under pressure, but there were plenty of things in this half that looked really promising.

Our attack was very direct, and you could tell all of our new forwards were eager to go forward. When we won the ball, we came right at Birmingham's goal without hesitation. Had we been a little sharper in front of goal we could have been two or three up at half-time; Idah's miss especially was wasteful. Joseph Opoku looked very lively and direct, and both he and Moussa Yeo are electric. Elijah, however, seems a notch above the rest. He was very proactive, finding multiple dangerous positions throughout the half. His positioning in the build-up also showed promising signs, despite some of our structural problems. He often drifted right and combined with Opoku and Lissah, his movement adding dynamism to the attack and helping Lissah advance into good areas.

Speaking of Lissah, he had an outstanding half and was our best player on the pitch. He is so comfortable on the ball and has a great understanding of when to go forward, when to press and when to slow down. He fits our style perfectly; one can only hope we get to keep him for long enough. Despite Lissah's fine performance, and the fact that Swansea were the better side in the first half, we still went into the break a goal down. A set piece came in from deep, towards the far post, where both Burgess and Tymon missed their headers poorly. Meanwhile, Birmingham striker August Priske began his run inside the penalty box towards the near post. Ben Cabango failed to pick him up, eyes fixed on the ball. When Carlos Vicente collected the ball after our failed clearances, Priske was unmarked at the near post and finished comfortably.

This was dreadfully sloppy and so unnecessary. Without it, we would be looking back on a very good half. Ben Cabango's failure to track the opposing striker was the most worrying aspect for me — that was not good enough. Unfortunately, the overall play would only get worse in the second half.

⚽️ The second half and its woes
The second half was even more scrappy than the first, but now we lost control. Our build-up struggles worsened as we resorted to going long time after time. We won fewer duels, and the press continued to look disjointed. We never tried to control the ball in the opposition half. Whenever we got out of their first press we would try to play in behind, seeking the quickest route to goal. But too often we rushed it and lost possession. We failed to establish any sustained attacks, which meant we never got to put Birmingham under real pressure. I think this was partly a mentality issue, as we wanted to attack fast and directly, but also a positional one; our players became very spread apart, not offering each other enough passing options. It felt as though we didn't want to carry the ball in the offensive third; we just wanted to go for goal.

Matos' substitutions were also hit or miss. Over the course of the half, he brought on Jay Fulton for Widell, Zān Vipotnik for Adam Idah, Leo Walta for Yeo, Josh Key for Lissah and, late on, Eom for Stamenic. Fulton and Stamenic together in midfield have never functioned well together; we become too slow, uncreative and lack the ability to drive the ball forward. Why Matos keeps trying this combination is beyond me. When Yeo came off, we moved Just to the right and played Walta as the number ten, but I would rather see Walta or Elijah as the eight with Fulton or Stamenic as the six, which would give us more dynamism in the build-up. It would also have allowed Eom to come on earlier, which I also find puzzling to have left so late. Eom is undeniably one of our most creative attackers and had just played in the World Cup; I still think he belongs in our best starting team. And when he did come on, Just moved into midfield, and I thought that worked considerably better; something to bear in mind going forward.

Cameron Burgess came off injured late in the game, and that might be the end of his season. It is a shame to lose him, but I remain convinced that Burgess isn't the correct profile for what we need, and I would rather see Welsh start ahead of him. An injury is always unfortunate, though, and I wish Burgess a speedy recovery.

Overall, the second half wasn't as bad as some have made it out to be. We were still very direct in attack and did create chances. What we lacked was control. It became a very chaotic game, and we should be capable of creating chances more systematically rather than committing to an all-out direct approach every attack.

⚽️ The press
Whilst showing great willingness to press, our press looked disjointed for much of the game. Some players were running when others were resting, and we didn't cut off passing channels but rather just pressed without structure. Adam Idah especially looked lost in the press, not running into the right areas. Players like Widell, Opoku and Yeo all looked very energetic off the ball, though, and with more time on the training ground can become very difficult to play against. Given how little time the squad has had to gel, it was actually impressive how often we forced Birmingham into mistakes. There are clear positive signs here; I'm optimistic.

⚽️ Verdict
Looking at the full 90 minutes, we were the better side, but there are still plenty of areas to improve in. The press can become more coordinated; out of possession we can develop clearer ideas of how to build up and progress the ball. We also need to establish more sustained attacks and control the tempo, something that will prove easier against sides that don't press as high as Birmingham. For me, the most worrying element is Matos' substitutions, which I think represent a recurring pattern. Second-half management and poor substitutions were his weaknesses last year as well, and one can only hope he addresses this sooner rather than later.

There is plenty here to be excited about, but also things to refine and improve. Stoke will be another kind of test: a game where we will see if we can control the tempo and break down a deeper defence.

On and upwards, Uppa Swans!

Photograph : Swansea Independent