Swansea gained their first ever win at Villa Park yesterday and in doing so a team that is still being tipped as a potential candidate for relegation leapfrogged us in the league table and left us sitting far from pretty in twelfth place with them now above us on goal difference, so what does that say for us?
What a way to start a new year having finished off the old one in such style. Having bettered Chelsea at the bridge surely we could beat a Swansea team that had yet to win away from home this season and which had made 7 changes from the one that had taken a point from Spurs on the same day as we had humbled Chelsea. Was it complacency that did for us or playing 2 games with much the same team in 48 hours? Or was it that we started with most of the team that had deserved a vote of confidence after their win at Chelsea but one that is set up to defend and hit teams on the break which has worked well enough away from home but that is not well suited to face a team at Villa Park that is set up with the same intention and that invites us to break them down?
Swansea in giving us our fourth consecutive home defeat gave a passable impression of the likes of Wigan who in the past who have taken points at Villa Park by putting men behind the ball and inviting us to come onto them and then hitting us with their pace on the break. Having gone a goal up and then two clear with soft goals at the start of each half they sat back and waited for the pressure that never came other than in the form of corner after corner that they dealt with without any real cause for concern.
So any break from criticism that Big Eck might have hoped to earn on the back of an unexpected win 48 hours earlier was lost in 90 minutes yesterday with his side giving him a stark contrast between the highs of Chelsea and the lows they hit yesterday. Where does the blame lie? Big Eck is the obvious target as Randy knew he would be when making the appointment but he has taken over a team that he has told us is in the process of being rebuilt but he is not being given the cash to do it. So for me although I would have started with Albrighton and would have liked to see us adopt a more positive approach to the visit of Swansea, he is not the only one that bears the responsibility. A lack of investment and a wretched performance from players who had proved they are better than this only 48 hours earlier also played a major part yesterday.
My player ratings from a game that has seen us plunge once again into the bottom half of the table and led to the points we took at Chelsea being carelessly lost just 2 days later are:
Brad Guzan – 5 – Beaten twice and had some difficulty in dealing with back passes when pressed by their forwards particularly with the one from Collins that he back peddled on and then found one of their players with a hurried clearance whose first touch found Routledge for their second. But he did well to stop another Dyer effort on 28 minutes after he had gone past Warnock and he stopped them adding a third on 87 minutes by bravely diving at the feet of Allen.
Carlos Cuellar - 4 – A decent enough first half during which he got forward reasonably well but his day was ruined as was our own when on 47 minutes. Carlos was beaten all to easily by Routledge who then cut inside and found Graham whose shot hit the post and it was Routledge who reacted before any of the watching defenders to drill the rebound into the net through Cuellar’s legs. Carlos was replaced by Hutton 8 minutes later.
James Collins – 4 – Found the pace of Swansea’s forward movement difficult to manage as did his colleagues at the back and this was another less than convincing display that may see his starting place again under pressure. Got up to an N’Zogbia corner on 22 minutes but his header was directed straight at the keeper.
Richard Dunne – 5 –The best of our defenders for me and although he might well have walked when he pushed Dyer down with both hands after he had lost it after being penalised for a strong second half challenge on the same player it did at least show he was as upset by the way the game was going as we were. Headed over from a corner on 65 minutes and then headed wide on 84 minutes.
Stephen Warnock – 3 – Set the tone for the game with his casual under hit pass back into the direction of where he had guessed rather than made sure Dunne was and Dyer raced onto the loose ball for their vital fourth minute opener which beat Guzan’s outstretched hand having taken a slight deflection as it passed through Dunne’s legs. He was given a torrid afternoon by Dyer who was too fast and too hot for him to handle and although he improved slightly in the second half it would have been difficult to have got any worse.
Stiliyan Petrov – 5 – I was surprised to see him start after hobbling off against Chelsea. He started well enough but did not get forward as he has been doing of late and I think as the game wore on he increasingly felt the affects of playing 2 games in 48 hours and the related knocks taken.
Ciaran Clark - 5 – For me he might have made way for a more attack minded midfield player yesterday when the onus was to be on us to break them down and that change became increasingly pressing when they opened up a two goal lead and we really needed to try to get some pressure on their defence to try to avoid this embarrassing defeat. Did the holding job he was selected for well enough but we were looking for a bit more yesterday. Had a half chance in the second half when a cross from Albrighton found him inside the box via Collins but the ball was taken off him before he had unleashed a shot.
Stephen Ireland – 6 – Started well and was one of our very few players that worried the Swansea defence in the slightest before he was replaced by Marc on 68 minutes. He needs to be encouraged and taking him off when we needed his invention did nothing to do that or to help our search for a goal yesterday.
Charles N’Zogbia – 6 – MOTM – Our main if not only real threat to Swansea’s far from overworked defence yesterday. Might have provided us with a late, late consolation goal in the last moments of injury time when Collins nodded down Albrighton’s cross and Gabby fed the ball to him only for his well hit shot to thunder off the post to safety.
Gabriel Agbonlahor – 6 – Started wide again to accommodate Bent’s return to the starting line up and we badly missed the pressure he puts on defenders in a more central role by making space for himself, pressuring defenders and chasing after every ball.
Darren Bent – 4 – Lacked any sort of service and without that he can appear to be a bit of a passenger.
Substitutes:
Alan Hutton – 5 – Replaced Cuellar on 55 minutes and was steady enough in what was by then a shell shocked back four.
Marc Albrighton – 6 – Should have started as we missed the width and crosses he has been providing of late. Replaced Ireland to the tune of boos on 68 minutes and was equally as effective although it would have been better to have had them working in tandem to try to break down the Swans.
Barry Bannan – Replaced Clark on 85 minutes. Not on long enough to earn a rating.
A Happier New Year than this to all of my readers!
John Lewis
Recommended Comments