Swansea City (A) - F*ck it, let's make it five!

[JacknOry]

1 hour ago, philipl said:

I would pick the same team for this one and consider changes for Bristol City.

Seven day break, didn't see anyone injured so why tinker?

More likely to get points from Swansea than the Bristol visit so field the strongest available for this one.

Exactly. Swansea is the fixture of the two where we can carry our momentum on. City, who knows, if we do come away with a good result against Swansea.

[Sparks Rover]

7 hours ago, Leonard Venkhater said:

But we all know Boris is the "outstanding candidate"!

Boris Coyle??

[jim mk2]

42 minutes ago, Silas said:

I'm fairly certain any predictions made on this messageboard will have no impact on a game of football played in Wales on Wednesday.  

Not correct, actually.

Mercer has a habit of getting it spectacularly wrong in predicting Rovers wins.

I've made quite a bit this season this season betting against his silly forecasts. 

 

 

[Roverinbelfast]

4 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

Not correct, actually.

Mercer has a habit of getting it spectacularly wrong in predicting Rovers wins.

I've made quite a bit this season this season betting against his silly forecasts. 

 

 

So you betting against Blackburn. ?

[jim mk2]

Just now, Roverinbelfast said:

So you betting against Blackburn. ?

Nope, against Mercer, as stated.

And it's Rovers, not Blackburn

[Amo]

1 hour ago, jim mk2 said:

Not correct, actually.

Mercer has a habit of getting it spectacularly wrong in predicting Rovers wins.

I've made quite a bit this season this season betting against his silly forecasts. 

Wasn't he AWOL during our promotion season?

Makes you wonder.

[Mercer]

1 hour ago, jim mk2 said:

Not correct, actually.

Mercer has a habit of getting it spectacularly wrong in predicting Rovers wins.

I've made quite a bit this season this season betting against his silly forecasts. 

 

 

Hope you are not down as much as I am handsomely up after the last four matches! 

[chaddyrovers]

1 hour ago, Mercer said:

Hope you are not down as much as I am handsomely up after the last four matches! 

Very good to hear. 

Im up about 120 pounds in the last 5 weeks

Edited December 9, 2019 by chaddyrovers

[Husky]

14 hours ago, Gavlar Somerset Rover! said:

We have a day’s extra rest on Swansea - so none of this rotation rollocks please Tony. Get the same team out there and take the game to them.

If we don't win it's because the opposition had a day's extra rest then other times when we've had the day's extra rest it's because we had too much rest and lacked sharpness.

[Neal]

Impressed with the boys after these 4 wins, very willing to let Mowbray make me eat my words. Who'd have thought playing a right back at right back, putting our best forward (Graham) and our best winger (Rothwell) would have brought us results? (Sarcasm) This finally looks like a team that knows what they are, I just hope that Tony doesn't discard it all after one defeat. Swansea away is always going to be a tricky game, I know they're not in best form and our confidence is high but I would definitely be happy with a point to keep this unbeaten run going.

[joey_big_nose]

Watching the Derby game back we did look very very good. Got me thinking why that is exactly. In priority order I would say

1) Tosin - decent defender, but absolutely exceptional with the ball. Looks the best player (let alone defender) we've had in terms of picking a pass since Cairney. Probably better than him. I don't think I've ever seen a defender play like that for Rovers. Best comparison I can think of is John Stones. What it means is quite profound because the whole midfield can push up knowing he will find them. Also formed a good axis with Evans dropping off. Lenihan can pass pretty well too so it gives a really fluid feel to us playing out from the back.

2) Downing at LB - Again it's the ability to not lose the ball. Always picks the right pass. Can beat a player in a tight spot. We gave a way a lot of goals through weak left back play and he cuts out the mistakes and drives us forward  True test will come when the oppo stick a big striker on him and start pumping the balls in. But to be honest Bell is terrible in the air so no loss compared to him. Arguably Williams is more solid in the air but then you lose the retention of the ball and attacking threat, plus add in a few unforced errors.

=3) Travis and Evans partnership - No one really was calling for it but you can see why it works - it allows Travis to push forward. Although characterised as a defensive mid he's actually a lot better playing box to box. Very similar to Savage, all about energy. That said why Evans range of passing has improved 400% I am not sure. Maybe the security of always having Tosin on for a pass taking the pressure off? If Evans was unavailable I think Johnson could come in with only a moderate impact.

=3) Nyambe at right back - Offers more physicality than Bennett but I would not personally say has been a huge difference as he still can get caught out of position quite easily. Harsh maybea he has played well. I would not avocate Bennett coming back in, but that would be less of an issue than losing Downing, Lenihan or Tosin imo.

=3) Graham as the focal point - has no legs but brings the attacking mid into play and can win aerial duals consistently. I do think Gallagher could do about 70% of what Graham does, and offer a lot more movement. If we lost Graham we could handle it. But you don't change a winning team.

In summary - weve got a good pattern of play, but I still think on this run we've yet to find a team who will really put us under pressure with direct football like Preston and WBA did earlier in the season. Once that happens we will get a better measure of where we are.

Absolutely crucial is Downing, Tosin and Lenihan stay fit and available. Lose any of those and the way we play becomes hard to maintain. Elsewhere in the squad is more flexible.

[philipl]

 

Just noticed the game is on Wednesday- I would still keep an unchanged XI

[Leonard Venkhater]

12 hours ago, Sparks Rover said:

Boris Coyle??

Yep. Double Clownpants!

[Bigdoggsteel]

I think its great they got spanked at the weekend. An early goal for us, which we are well capable of and their crowd will turn. Even if they score first, they will be nervous.

1-2 Rovers win 

[Admiral Nelsen]

18 minutes ago, joey_big_nose said:

2) Downing at LB - Again it's the ability to not lose the ball. Always picks the right pass.

Agree with basically your entire post, but this bit sticks out. You're talking about Downing, but I think the same point can be made about the whole set up; we're playing a side who from back to front are able to keep possession much better and it's s had a massive knock on effect on our overall performances. 

I've said this on another thread, but I don't think it's a coincidence that this has coincided with not playing Armstrong and Gally at the same time. Both have shown in the last week that they are dangerous and can contribute to a successful team. At the same time, both are absolutely murder for not looking after the ball. The great thing about this XI is that we have players elsewhere who are very good at recycling the ball and building a platform for us to attack and control the game.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

10 hours ago, chaddyrovers said:

Very good to hear. 

Im up about 120 pounds in the last 5 weeks

Bloody hell, what have you been eating ? Sounds like you've been on the " Mexican Heavyweight "  diet !

Edited December 9, 2019 by Tyrone Shoelaces

[BankEnd Rover]

Will take a draw here. Mowbray is gaining more fans back - He needs to keep it up!

[PeteJD13]

Gallagher in for Graham would be my sole change, try to keep graham fresh for Bristol City feels like a big week 3 points or more with two very winnable home games coming up perfect time to get into the top and then strengthen unlike last season!

[Exiled in Toronto]

3 hours ago, joey_big_nose said:

Watching the Derby game back we did look very very good. Got me thinking why that is exactly. In priority order I would say

1) Tosin - decent defender, but absolutely exceptional with the ball. 

2) Downing at LB - Again it's the ability to not lose the ball. Always picks the right pass.

=3) Travis and Evans partnership - No one really was calling for it but you can see why it works - it allows Travis to push forward. 

=3) Nyambe at right back - Offers more physicality than Bennett but I would not personally say has been a huge difference as he still can get caught out of position quite easily.

=3) Graham as the focal point - has no legs but brings the attacking mid into play and can win aerial duals consistently

Absolutely crucial is Downing, Tosin and Lenihan stay fit and available. Lose any of those and the way we play becomes hard to maintain. Elsewhere in the squad is more flexible.

Very good analysis. There’s obviously far more to it than “Round pegs, round holes”. The combination of Lenihan, Tosin, Downing, Nyambe, Evans and Travis has transformed how we play up the pitch.

Tosin is interesting as he doesn’t pass to the centre mids, he passes through them to one of the attacking players coming short (short in this case still being 30 yards away). This is clearly coming from the training ground. My worry is that opponents will soon figure it out and know he’s going to do it whereas currently it’s a complete surprise a centre back would even try it. That gives licence to the centre mids to be heading up the pitch for when the ball doesn’t stick to the forward and hence why they are snapping at the opponent with the ball in their half rather than ours, again, completely unexpected (at the moment).

Downing always gives it to a blue and white shirt, plus can put corners on a sixpence, although I found myself getting annoyed with Rothwell on Saturday for never offering an under pressure Downing an out ball down the line by being out of position, making Downing turn inside on his right foot too often.

Nyambe’s surges down the wing, and high position in general, must put doubt in the winger’s mind not to commit too far forward. Plus Bennett makes the ideal sub as he can fill in pretty much anywhere. Although being honest, Nyambe’s surges very rarely lead to anything concrete.

Its great to watch those six at the back at the moment, but they will soon be rumbled plus an injury to any of them may well derail the whole thing.

 

[old darwen blue]

7 hours ago, jim mk2 said:

Keep it coming Mercer lad. I've made money too by betting against your tips.

I'll be watching the nag at Musselburgh. Almost certain bet to come up lame. 

Any comment to make Jim?

 

Thought not. 
 

Gets a lot of stuck on here does Mercer, needlessly in my opinion. Block him if you don’t like what he posts, just because people have alternative views to one selves doesn’t mean they should have scorn and derision piled on them. 

[Alejandro Tapia]

Come On You Rovers!!! I'm very wxited abut this game if we have the fifth victory at raw would mean that possibly we are the best team in this momemt of league, besides against a team like Swansea that had shown what they are really capable to do i know right now they are showing a poor level but is also true that some wweka ago they showed one of the best levels in this tier (with leeds, fullham, west brom and nott forest). So underatimate them would be a huge mistake...
Our team is full of confidence amd we are showing probably our best level since we get back to this divition...but let's keep calm i think our best level is enough to be on the first 10 list and I'm talking about a little higher than 10 spot why not? and then still growing next seasson....But i don't think we could go further than that for this current campaign...ofcurse i wish that and would love that. 
So thinking in order to that even to go out of Welsh with a point would be good enough but i love this team and i will take the risk will be a 1-0 for Rovers and Dack will score again.

#COYBBR 
#ImRoversTillIDie 
#Top10season 
#TheMexicanRover

[Guest]

Play the same team from the last four games, and no matter what the result is, I really don't think any of us can complain. I'm yet to find anyone who thinks we should tinker, so if he doesn't, and we don't get the win, I REALLY hope that we don't go into meltdown and revert to type.

[joey_big_nose]

5 hours ago, Exiled in Toronto said:

Very good analysis. There’s obviously far more to it than “Round pegs, round holes”. The combination of Lenihan, Tosin, Downing, Nyambe, Evans and Travis has transformed how we play up the pitch.

Tosin is interesting as he doesn’t pass to the centre mids, he passes through them to one of the attacking players coming short (short in this case still being 30 yards away). This is clearly coming from the training ground. My worry is that opponents will soon figure it out and know he’s going to do it whereas currently it’s a complete surprise a centre back would even try it. That gives licence to the centre mids to be heading up the pitch for when the ball doesn’t stick to the forward and hence why they are snapping at the opponent with the ball in their half rather than ours, again, completely unexpected (at the moment).

Downing always gives it to a blue and white shirt, plus can put corners on a sixpence, although I found myself getting annoyed with Rothwell on Saturday for never offering an under pressure Downing an out ball down the line by being out of position, making Downing turn inside on his right foot too often.

Nyambe’s surges down the wing, and high position in general, must put doubt in the winger’s mind not to commit too far forward. Plus Bennett makes the ideal sub as he can fill in pretty much anywhere. Although being honest, Nyambe’s surges very rarely lead to anything concrete.

Its great to watch those six at the back at the moment, but they will soon be rumbled plus an injury to any of them may well derail the whole thing.

 

I agree that the oppo will figure us out to an extent. I would say the two most likely things they'll do is put a big man on Downing and a high press. On Downing we need to see how it goes as there's not much we can do about it, but I don't think a high press will work as Lenihan, Tosin, Downing and Evans will be able to pass around the press. I also can't really see how they cut out the pass through to the forwards from Tosin. 

Basically Tosin is a huge asset as he opens up the whole team and as he's a CB you can't really mark him out.

That said probably the main problem is if the other side is a good attacking threat who play their own game and control the ball and put us consistently on the back foot. Thinking Leeds, WBA, Fulham. That's a different sort of game where it's about defending well in numbers with the attacking mids covering in which I don't think we can do well to be honest.

[Admiral Nelsen]

Something which jumped out from watching Swansea's abject defeat against (admittedly a very impressive) West Brom was how their midfield seemed very lightweight and were forever being out fought & let the Baggies run riot. 

If they play the same side on Wednesday, Travis Evans & Dack should be licking their lips. 

[Hasta]

On 08/12/2019 at 21:28, Roverinbelfast said:

So you betting against Blackburn. ?

Always bet what you think will happen, not what you want to happen.