- Mar 7, 2005
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Dont agree, off the ball and defensively they looked poor IMO. Their primary form of defence is to keep the ball. When they lose it you can get at them. I acknowledge that Rodgers doesnt have the resources and has done well so far but again, I think they get a slightly easy ride due to style of play and I would like to see them second season in if teams work them out a bit.
I haven't said he was the finished article, In fact I said I dont think he was ready for us yet and would like to see how he does over 2-3 seasons. He is certainly one to watch though.
They are pretty good defensively, they've conceded 39 goals this season, which is three more than us or Chelsea and two less than Arsenal. The play in a very similar way to Barcelona, which means yes they try and have a lot of possession, and in doing so in the 40% of the time they don't have the ball they can afford to press, which they do.
Where they are weak is in defending set-plays. I haven't seen enough of them to know why, but Rodgers suggested yesterday that height was an issue. I suspect having four of their main five defenders signed when they were in Leagues One and Two is also a contributory factor.
They are also vulnerable to turn-over ball, this is because they play their possession game quite deep, and take risks, if caught out then the opposition is often winning the ball back in a dangerous area.
But anyway, when all's said and done defensively they're pretty good. As good as most sides.
The real point however, is that they're playing this style with journeyman pros. I cannot stress enough the significance of this. When Harry was in charge of journey-man pros he got relegated, and then in the Championship with Southampton he stayed relegated. Look at Wolves this year, or Wigan, Blackburn, Villa, QPR, Bolton. That is the level they should be playing at, that is what journey-man teams look like. In fact they're more journey-man than those teams because Swansea are 50% players from the Championship and below (36% from Leagues One and Two). So yes they have weaknesses, but honestly, in any but the most recent of times we as Spurs fans would be crowing if a team of ours had played like theirs is this season.
On the 'finished article' thing, sorry about that, wasn't really directed at you, but at the general tenor of some of the posts on here.