Bob's team has 2 changes: Montero in at left wing for Routledge and van den Hoorn in at CB for Fernandez. CCV on the bench for Spurs.
I'm a diehard Spurs fan, but cheering against a team with Gylfi and Bob Bradley is heartbreaking. I heard a rumor that Swansea got stuck in traffic on the way to the stadium, so there may be a slightly delayed start.
Not sure why they've been parking the bus since opening kick........that was bound to happen sooner or later
You have to count on the ref not making horrible calls too though. Spurs haven't created anything. I'm sure the plan was to be 0-0 around 70" then go for it. One of the worst calls ive seen in a while.
It was a terrible call, but putting all 11 in your half from the opening whistle is not a good recipe for success.
That is absolutely the worst penalty I've ever seen called. Ref will be ashamed of himself when he gets to see a replay.
Spurs are a high press team. Sitting back absorbing not giving the easy one is a perfectly fine strategy. The goal wasn't a result of pressure. It was a horrendous call. If they were giving up chances I'd agree.
lol game over. son with an absolute stunner. hate to say it, but that's what you get BOB. the penalty call was lame but god, they just went out there to defend. was that the idea? defend til the 80th and try to steal one?
He set them up for failure. They were in and around the box plenty in the half, but were relying on the backline to block every shot. You have to at least pose some sort of threat going forward. You can't just blame the penalty......it could easily be argued that Swansea should be a man down right now anyway.
It's the same setup that has gotten them 4 points in the last two. I'm not sure what changes could be made. Spurs have the pace at fullback to negate barrow and Montero. Pretty much nobody else can do that.
It is not the same setup. Swansea have at least been a threat while attacking in their games under Bob, they were just leaking goals at the back so it kinda negated it. They decided to pack it all in and defend for their lives from the jump and they still ended up letting a few goals in. You don't score 5 goals in a match by doing what they're doing right now.
It's the exact same setup with one different cb and Montero an upgrade for routledge. The difference is that spurs are superior in every position on the field and cp was not. Plus they're on the road. I'd love to hear what changes could be made The only thing I see is probably llorente coming in for the cm on a yellow and putting sigi behind. But that's because they're now chasing. One garbage.call changes the entire complexion.
Swansea's lack of defensive talent is obvious. I think the likes of Sigurdsson, Barrow, Ki Sung Yueng, Llorente and Fer are all good Premier League players, but I don't think a single defender on that roster is anything better than below average, which is especially problematic when you try to defend only from the get-go.
Swansea didn't ship goals like this (or like last week) under Guidolin. Bellow average defenders can still keep scorelines respectable especially when the team has been sent out with a defensive mindset.
I'm not absolving Bob from blame, by any means, in fact, I don't think he was a good hire for Swansea, but the team isn't good.
I am really hoping for Bob to succeed in the EPL with Swansea. His success would greatly help pave the way for other American coaches, but also Bob could come back leading the USMNT again with tremendous experiences against top level competition. I know Swansea doesn't necessarily have one of the better mid table team rosters; but damn, if I was a Swansea supporter I would call for his head as well. Giving up 9 goals in 2 successive games? That's just unacceptable. They were fortunate to win the last week's shoot out. Does anyone else think that Bob is really way over his head in the EPL? He just does not have the experiences nor the skills/talents required to succeed in this league?
Theoretically I think he can succeed in the league, but he has a very hard job to come in mid season and figure the team out. Every lesson about what doesn't work = lost points. In this case, it might have been better to go with a more experienced PL manager, like some sort of retread relegation-avoider.