Another Premier League defeat, another four goals conceded as Swansea City manager Bob Bradley produced a confusing woeful tactical performance that left many fans baffled by his team selection and decisions during the 4-1 defeat on Boxing Day.
In fairness to the American at Middlesbrough, the vast majority of the blame for the 3-0 defeat at the Riverside went in the players` direction, as Bradley named a team line-up and formation that we all seemed pretty happy with – a good balance to the team, with two wingers and a striker in front of Sigurdsson.
But this week, the blame has to be put on Bradley. The team lacked any cohesion whatsoever, they lacked any understanding of what their jobs were, and there was a constant lack of link-up play with players not reading their team-mate`s movement and positioning.
Basic passes were going astray and out of touch, we were putting each other under pressure in basic situations and it was difficult to work out what our formation was exactly.
When the line-ups were announced at 2pm, we saw Borja replacing Llorente, who was benched. Barrow was not included in the squad, with Montero on the bench, so there was only one winger starting, which meant a move away from the 4-2-3-1 that Bradley had been using recently.
With Britton, Cork and Fulton all starting, we assumed it would be a 4-3-3, a line of 3 defensive midfielders, behind Borja – and Sigurdsson and Routledge either side of the Spanish striker.
However, early on in the game we saw that Sigurdsson was playing through the middle, with Borja wide right and Routledge wide left. Leon Britton was playing the deepest of any midfielder, so we assumed it was a diamond. A diamond, but Routledge and Borja were playing far too wide for it to be a diamond!? However, looking at the average positions later, it suggests the pair were more central.
Borja playing wide right was baffling. Looking at the average positions below, he was operating in a similar position to that of Jack Cork in midfield. Fulton was given a more advanced role, rather than playing deep as he has been since being called to the senior squad.
With Routledge and Borja wide, Sigurdsson was massively isolated through the middle, despite Routledge`s average position showing him as playing centrally behind him. However, a lot of the time he was wide left.
A diamond suggests that the full backs provide the width, but while Rangel got forward down the right, Kingsley rarely pushed forward down the left, and he needed to with Routledge`s habit of moving inside.
You can also see the pass map below:
Jay Fulton`s role was a strange one, he didn`t seem to fit the system, and was almost like a spare part, which isn`t a criticism of his, more a criticism of Bradley`s baffling tactics as he tried to shuffle the team with Barrow unavailable for whatever reason. But he had Dyer available on the bench as opposed to starting Baston out of position. He was in midfield, averaging a position on the half way line and it was no surprise to see him and Fulton substituted at the restart.
The distance between the front two – Sigurdsson and Routledge and the rest of the team is also very poor, and the passing map above suggests that there were passes being played amongst Britton, the centre back and full back, and very little else – which isn`t far from the truth at all.
Looking at the average formation then, you`d assume then that the thinking was a diamond, with Fulton and Cork as the wide central midfielders, with Leon Britton at the base and Sigurdsson at the top. But Routledge and Baston definitely didn`t play as a front two.
It was one of the most baffling tactical displays I`ve seen in a long time. Too many changes yet again, but mostly tactical this time, and the players certainly showed that they didn`t have a clue as to what their jobs were.
He made changes at the start of the second half, and not for the first time did he have to make changes to correct his obvious errors from his initial tactical decisions at the start of the game. We looked a bit better in a more recognised shape as Montero and Llorente replaced Fulton and Borja. There was a better balance and we were back in a 4-2-3-1, but in the end we conceded 3 more goals and it`s simply not good enough.
People are saying that it`s not Bob Bradley`s fault, the board are to blame for the poor quality of the squad, but Bradley is to blame for making completely inept tactical decisions like today. No team shape whatsoever, we`re leaking goals, 29 in 11 games, this wasn`t happening before Bradley came in. The squad might not be good enough, but for god`s sake, lets get a capable manager in who can set a team up that might look like keeping a clean sheet.
