Swansea v Wigan Jack Swan Review by Jack Swan

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Sw�n�e� 2 - 1 Wig�� By Matthew Jacob

A huge step in the right direction A huge step in the right direction An all action second half made up for a dour first period as Swansea City managed to see off a spirited Wigan comeback at the Liberty. A first goal for record signing Pablo Hernandez and yet another for midfield goal machine Michu put the Swans ahead before Emerson Boyce pulled one back for the visitors. Once again, Swansea looked a little suspect defensively, but this was an important result as a difficult run of fixtures looms large on the horizon. A date with the champions up next, followed by the visit of Chelsea, with the small matter of a cup tie with Liverpool sandwiched in between! It would be fair to say that this win has come at a timely moment for Laudrup’s men. Much had been made of the striker situation in the build up to this game. Luke Moore put in a great cameo in the comeback against Reading, and many were backing the former West Brom and Villa man to get a start ahead of Danny Graham. I must admit I was surprised to see that it was Michu who was chosen to lead the line with De Guzman chosen to fill the void left in midfield, and you could have been forgiven for thinking Laudrup had embraced the Spanish ‘4-6-0’ given the attacking talent we possess in midfield. Wigan have been in poor form of late, but have reason to be

hopeful having seen the partnership between summer signing Arouna Kone and Franco Di Santo show great promise in previous games. Both sides were scheduled to wear ‘Kick it Out’ t-shirts during the warm up in support of the FA’s anti racism campaign, however with a number of players on both sides allegedly refusing them, the move was scrapped. It was a real show of solidarity from the players, and given the stories printed midweek about unrest in the Swansea camp it was good to see. Last season this fixture needed no introduction as it was the return of Martinez to the Liberty, this time that took a back seat to the need for a win, for both sides. Once again Swansea began brightly in the opening ten minutes, with Wayne Routledge and Pablo Hernandez finding some joy out wide and getting crosses in for Michu to attack. The visitors went close to opening the scoring through Kone before the Swans carved their first real chance. Routledge lifted the ball towards Michu and the Spaniard crashed a superb volley just inches over the bar, had it flown in it would have been a goal of the season contender. There were further openings for Ki and De Guzman fizzed wide from twenty yard, while at the other end Jean Beausejour sent a shot just over having left Ki trailing in his wake on the counter attack. The first half drew to a close leaving both sets of fans wanting more from their teams in the second period. They certainly didn’t disappoint.

One element of Laudrup’s reign that has so far remained a constant is the quality of the second half performance, and once again that was the case against Wigan. Swansea returned to the playing field with purpose and drive in the forward areas and pinned the visitors back into their own eighteen yard box. A rare Leon Britton effort was the first warning shot before the breakthrough and a first goal for our record signing. Pablo Hernandez received the ball from De Guzman before spinning a sending a low effort past Al Habsi and in, a surge of relief in the stands, and it got better moments later as the home side won a corner, De Guzman did the honours and his cross was nodded in at the front post by Michu. Two nil up in front of a jubilant home crowd you would have thought the Swans would see the game out without a hitch, but this is Swansea City, and we don’t do things the easy way. They often say ‘You’re most vulnerable after you’ve just scored’, and that was proven by the lacklustre defending offered by the back four in the build up to Wigan’s goal. A ball into the box should have been cleared easily, it wasn’t, and all credit to Emerson Boyce for his mid-air back heel. A great finish, but the goal really should have been avoided and it gave Wigan belief that they could get something from the game having rarely threatened all game. Swansea had to dig deep to see out the win and they did so and the relief at the final whistle was obvious for all to see,

but with defeats for Southampton, Reading, and Aston Villa this win took on extra importance. It’s nice to write about a win for a change and have a chance to really praise the players for what I felt was a great performance and a great show of unity. Pablo Hernandez is really starting to find his feet in this league for me and took his goal very well, with composed performances from Ki and Britton in the middle giving the attacking force something to build on. Laudrup will be pleased with the attacking aspect but disappointed again certainly for the goal we gave away as by our own high standards it was a sloppy one to concede. And yet during the Wigan onslaught in the final moments we were rarely troubled, and while I realise it’s easy to write that in the wake of a win, the defence held the eighteen yard line and showed great discipline to force Wigan away without having to over commit in the tackle, and that in itself shows the unity within the squad, a real team performance. Eleven points from eight games and sat comfortably in tenth with a plus goal difference, this result was a real strong step in the right direction given the stumble in recent weeks and prior to the international break. Bring on the champions! Until next time Matt

Pl�� Ra��ng� � Wig�� Vorm: 6/10 Looked lost with the ball at his feet throughout the first half and was taking an age with his distribution. It was as though he had the devil and an angel whispering different voices in his ear ‘knock it long’ ‘no pass it short to the centre halfs’, I’ll let you decide which voice is what. Goalkeeping wise he did what he had to, looked more assured, no mistakes, hopefully the start of Mr Reliable returning

Davies: 6/10 Solid throughout without ever getting really involved. Good defensively and had their best player up against him (the weird midget-fat looking guy with a wonder touch and cross). He dosn’t make the same meaningful runs forward as both Taylor and Rangel, he gets so far with a gentle jog but it would be nice to se him attack with a bit more purpose at times.

Rangel: 7/10 Another good performance by our longest serving Amigo. On a number of occasions he overlapped the winger who had cut inside and got into some great positioning. Solid at the back although for 70 minutes there was no job to do there.

Williams: 7/10 He looked good, looked his old self, celebrated Michu’s goal as though it was his own which shows his heart is still with the club. There has been lots of talk and the focus has been on him but I think he’s slowly getting back to form. His well publicised mistake for Wales would have been a reasonable back pass if to Vorm, Lewis Price was still there in time and had a few options other than kicking in straight at the striker and getting Williams in shit.

Chico: 7/10 A solid display but a lapse just before their goal, wanting to get to a ball that wasn’t ever going to be his. I still have heart in mouth at times with him but he’s doing OK, 2 good performances in a row now, huge test next week and we’ll know a lot more about him then.

Ki: 7/10 Considering we dominated possession for 70mminutes he didn’t really impose himself on the game as he did against Reading. Created a couple of half chances and had a good shot straight at the keeper from a tight angle. He’s a great player, both he and Leon need to know exactly what their role is because I don’t think they do.

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Britton: 7/10 Not as hungry for the ball as he was. I seem to be the only one who thinks it but for me there was no point last season, wherever the ball was on the park that either Leon or Allen was ready to take the ball, there was numerous occasions in the game that both Ki and Leon looked almost scared of the ball. He don’t seem himself to me, still quality but not as assured and confident with wanting the ball.

JDG: 7/10 What a delivery he possesses. He played well, he does go in and out of games at times but has the ability to put in a delivery or shot which anyone would be proud of. For me he is still behind Ki in the pecking order but I expect him to start the next two games with Michu up top again.

Hernandez: 8/10 Far better performance from our most exciting talent. He looked a part of everything and linked up well with those around him. He took his goal very well which will hopefully be the first of many. Not everything is coming off for him at the moment but a good performance. MOM for me.

Routledge: 7/10 Genius bit of skill for the for the goal and had the presence of mind to play a simple pass at the end of it when most would want a strike to score a goal of the season contender. He wasn’t as involved as he has been but if a wide man can do one moment of genius a match which makes a goal he’s done a good job.

Michu: 7/10 Threw himself about like he needed to as a lone striker. We seemed to be playing him as a target man which didn’t seem right to me but there you are. He got his goal, had another chance or two and done his job well. I am still miffed as to why he didn’t play in his usual dangerous position with Moore being given a chance

Dyer Didn’t get long but was his usual electric self when he came on. Had a decent shot saved, he’ll be hating the bench Graham Missed another 1-on- 1 chance when I had money riding on 3-1 so not best pleased. I had no idea why he came on and not Moore (especially when I also had money on Moore scoring last). He’s a great player, I don’t want to knock him but at the moment he’s not on form and Moore is clearly the better player 9

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Swansea 2 - 1 Wigan Chalkboard Review For me this game was a fantastic example of the importance of frame of mind in defining how a game progresses and rather than the proverbial 'game of two halves' was a stylish 50-60 minutes from the Swans bookended by a nervous start and finish although to be fair to the team those nerves were more from those watching than those playing. With all the talk of unrest in the camp (regardless of how much of it is or isn't true, I can't imagine there's a side anywhere where the whole squad are happy all the time) and with Man City and Chelsea to come, it was obvious how important this game was. The opening 15 minutes saw an assured Wigan happy to knock the ball around with Swansea playing (relatively) longer balls:

From around the quarter-hour mark however Swansea seemed to settle down, given the number of early goals conceded over the last few weeks, it was probably a relief not to be facing another uphill battle and there was some fortune that this wasn't the case again after a good opportunity fell to Maloney early on

More on Next Page. Twitter: @we_r_pl http://www.twitter.com/we_r_pl Match Stats: Created using Statszone Chalkboards: Created using Statszone http://fourfourtwo.com/statszone

Passing from 16-45 minutes Where Wigan early on controlled possession but rarely got over the half way line, Swansea had a fair bit of activity further forward along both flanks, it might not have been a pummelling but I'm sure Martinez would have been happy to get in for half-time. The second half again started well for Swansea without maybe creating too many chances, a superb bit of skill from Routledge however created space and he passed to De Guzman who played it in to Pablo who spun and finished superbly. I've seen the same stat mentioned several times that prior to this game all of Swansea's goals had come from open play, while it is great to have a free flowing approach, I felt this was more criticism than praise. Goals aren't always easy to come by and making the most of your set pieces can make a big difference. After Swansea's second, there seemed to be a brief feeling of 'Job Done' which obviously didn't last long with Wigan pulling one back quickly and very, very nearly getting a second which was judged offside. What this meant though is that the atmosphere went from a carnival to edge of the seat stuff. For the last 25 minutes or so (including injury time), Wigan dominated the ball but created relatively little consider from the 72nd minute to the end of the game they completed 6 times as many passes as Swansea.

Wigan may have had significantly more of the ball in the final stages but most of this was in front of a well organised Swansea defence. Whenever there was an attempt to push the ball in to a more attacking area this would usually be quickly dealt with. 11 points from 8 games is a tidy return and means that Swansea can go in to the next two games with far less fear than if Wigan had taken something from the game. I'm hoping to look sometime during the week at individual performances from the game, obvious ones to look at will be Routledge, Chico and the selection of Michu as the main striker.

Revenge is Sweet Judas Next week:Judas #2