Swansea City are back in Premier League action on Saturday as they travel to fellow relegation rivals Brighton & HA – who should line-up for the Swans?
Carlos Carvalhal’s side gave us a reminder of the dreary, boring football that we were playing under Paul Clement on Saturday at Hillsborough, as we played out a rather boring goalless draw in the FA Cup fifth round against our boss’ former club Sheffield Wednesday.
After a woeful first half that the Championship side dominated and dictated, we finally got on the ball after the break, but despite dominating the possession, the play was all comfortable football in the middle third, as we had no idea how to penetrate through and get into good positions in and around the penalty area.
The front three of Wayne Routledge, Tammy Abraham and Luciano Narsingh was ineffective to say the least. Jordan Ayew came on to briefly give us a bit of energy up front, but it didn’t last very long.
It was another disappointing outing for Chelsea loan striker Tammy Abraham too. He’s found it difficult this season, he started off promisingly, but the performances soon dropped before picking up an unfortunate injury. Jordan Ayew’s form improved and he’s been unable to push for a Premier League first-team place. Wilfried Bony’s recent injury has put him back in the frame, but he may soon be back on the bench with Andre Ayew possibly a better option to start alongside his brother Jordan.
For the first time since his arrival, I’d say that Carvalhal got his tactics a bit wrong at his former club on the weekend. We were overrun in midfield. Tom Carroll and Ki Sung Yueng – the midfield were outnumbered and it was surprising to see that Carvalhal didn’t make a switch to solve the problem. In fairness though, the problem naturally sorted itself, we were better with the ball and were able to dominate, but it was the front three that remained the real concern.
It was didn’t function, and there was also no link from midfield to the forwards, as both Ki and Carroll were often too deep and crowded out by Wednesday’s midfield trio.
Looking ahead to Saturday’s trip to Brighton, Carvalhal has some decisions to make up top in particular. The back five picks itself, and the only change may be forced if Mawson’s knee-lock injury keeps him sidelined. If it does, Bartley will keep his place.
I’d expect Sam Clucas to return in place of Wayne Routledge, who would offer a much better box-to-box option, doing both the defending job and then quickly racing forward in attacking support.
Up front, we’ll probably switch back to 3-5-2, rather than a more attacking 3-4-3 which we’ve adopted in the FA Cup.
With Abraham being substituted after another poor outing, Andre Ayew may be given a starting chance alongside his brother Jordan.
Here’s our team to face Brighton:
Do you agree? What would your line-up be vs Brighton & HA? Do you fancy us to win? Let us know in the comments below…
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