Swansea's first home fixture as a Premier League club is against none other than Wigan Athletic; storybook stuff from the fixtures computer which will see former Swans stalwart Roberto Martinez return to the Liberty Stadium for the first time since he followed the gold-paved road north with half the backroom staff and the team's top scorer in tow. Some Swans fans have threatened, playfully or otherwise, to throw pig's heads and the like at the former boss. But does Martinez deserve a warmer welcome?
I would offer a resounding yes. Of course he does. It was Martinez who drew up the blueprint for Swansea's highly praised style of play. Martinez who brought in key players like Rangel and Dobbie. Martinez who basically got the ball rolling. No doubt there are still Swans fans who live to see their former captain falter, have scrawled "el judas" next to newspaper photographs augmented with drawn-on devil horns and missing teeth. It's like losing a lover, the headlines hitting the breakfast table with all the weight of divorce papers, egg on your face for ever believing.
But after the initial pain and name calling has subsided, after the bitterness has receded to a dull ache in the part of your mind previously reserved for those rare, rare losses to Cardiff, even after the awkward rebound relationship with a Portuguese waiter, it becomes apparent that maybe the Swans are better off.
That awkward rebound relationship with the unfairly unpopular Paulo Sousa (says the man who just a moment ago referred to the Portuguese great as a "waiter") taught the Swans how to defend, after Martinez had first taught them how to attack. Brendan Rodgers has shown the Swans how to do both at the same time. Would Swansea have been promoted without the under-rated contribution of Martinez' successor? Or the ongoing man-management master class of Rodgers' stewardship? I'm not so sure.
When Martinez does come back to the Liberty, it'll be just like seeing that ex again, with the new partner, only it doesn't hurt any more because you've moved on; Swansea have progressed, things are better now, and whilst there's no denying Martinez' influence in the scheme of things, there's also no point in berating him any longer for making a decision which ultimately led Swansea to Brendan Rodgers and the Promised Land.
This has the potential to be the game of the season, and you won't hear that said about fixtures involving Wigan very often.
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Posted by Andy on 08/20/2011
Who are you to say Wigan won't be involved in game of the season very often. We'll play better football than Swansea and we were involved in THE game of the season last season against West Ham.
Oh, that was just a bit of fun, and the same could as easily be said for Swansea. The point is that it's typically the "bigger teams" fixtures which get the lion's share of the media coverage (all the talk is about Liverpool vs Arsenal this week, for example) but we both know the smaller teams are equally as capable of putting on a show and are just as likely to throw up good story lines - the one behind the Wigan vs Swansea game is a peach. I'd agree with you that the West Ham game last season was incredible - one of the most exhilarating games I imagine you've seen your team play. M
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Posted by ProjectVRD on 08/21/2011
Swansea City frustrate me. Now perhaps I am getting a bit premature here, but I love the football they play because they are extremely pleasing on the eye. But for all the did against Wigan they didn't score and anybody and everybody I have spoken to felt somewhat gutted about that, despite supporting different teams. Unlike what Andy claimed, Wigan certainly didn't play better football.
Do you think Swansea need to bring in another player for the attack or is it a case of nerves and after the first goal will come a torrent?
I think the Swans attacking options are fine for now - they might not have scored against Wigan, but boy did they come close. Wigan hit the woodwork twice, but Swansea still had the better chances, and more of them.
I think most of it is a question of team chemistry and getting the players to settle into a groove. Graham in particular looks just a shade off the beat here and there, but he's close. When he clicks, and I think that will happen soon, the scoring will come.
I'll be elaborating on this point in my match report, which I'll post in the next day or so. I think the whole team will breathe easier once someone - anyone - scores the Swans first Premier League goal. M
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Posted by Rafe on 08/22/2011
I love your comparison that Martinez encouraged the attack, Sousa the defence and Rogers combined the two.
That in a nutshell probably goes a long way to expalin why Rogers was the one that got you in the Premier League.
But my word - i've been so impressed by your goalkeeper! Is Vorm Dutch for agile?!? :)
Thank you for the appreciation. And yes - I'm starting to think Vorm might be Dutch for a lot of things, not least "best keeper to ever put on a Swans jersey" M.
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Max Hicks is a writer, musician and former Sunday League left winger. Despite never playing professionally, Hicks has walked onto the hallowed turf of the old Vetch field in full Swansea whites... as a mascot. These days, when not writing, he plays in defence in a weekly jumpers-for-goalposts kickaround.
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