Swansea City boss Russell Martin spoke to the press ahead of Monday night’s game against West Bromwich Albion and he spoke about his team “need to mix it more”.
He was asked about whether or not he thought his side were too predictable and that opposition sides had “worked us out”, Russell Martin responded by firstly saying that if his side are too predictable, then his team need to improve to be good enough so that it doesn’t become an issue.
He said:
“It’s up to us to find solutions to different problems we face. If it’s predictable then we have to get that good then if it’s predictable it can still really hurt teams which we’ve shown we can do.”
“I think the players will have to mix it up more for sure. We’ve got trapped in a couple of ways recently which we’re trying to avoid so that’s on the work on the training pitch and hopefully you’ll see a difference in that on Monday night.”
I’m guessing what he’s referring to when he said “trapped” is constantly being caught in the channels by playing our wide centre-backs in high and wide positions. That leaves the central defender very isolated and vulnerable when one of your deep midfielders isn’t dropping back in to cover.
You can read more about that in our analysis piece below:
Sheffield United boss highlights Swansea’s weakness: “We used it to our advantage”
At least that’s what I’m hoping Russell Martin is referring to there because it’s been a big issue for us for months and months. We’ve seen it since the opening few weeks of the season and it’s still hurting us now.
Hopefully, Martin will be proved right on Monday night and we will, like he says, see a difference when we face West Brom after the weekend.
However, don’t expect big changes though, as Martin also added that changing too much can have a negative effect when you’re trying to implement a particular style of play:
“But when you have a really clear vision for something and you’ve been asked to bring something to this club which is why we are here, the minute you compromise on one thing that’s going to be really important to the team, it’s a slippery slope in my opinion.
“I’ve been there as a player lots of times when one thing gets compromised a little bit, and before you know it you’re just like everyone else.”