A week after conceding only their third home defeat all season, the Swans were beaten away by Spurs. The defeat marked just the second time the Swans have lost two consecutive games this season, but such streaks were something Brendan's men managed to avoid until the end of February. Does this mean the wheels are starting to come off?

On the evidence of the league table, the answer would have to be no. Swansea sit comfortably in eleventh place, confounding the bookies who made the Swans pre-season favourites to go down, although not surprising too many Swans fans, if I am allowed a moments pride, since anyone familiar with the Swans should have figured out their style would transfer to the Premier League perhaps more easily than typical Championship sides.

On the subject of familiarity, I give no credence to the idea that teams who enjoy unexpected success in the top flight get 'found out' by their contemporaries and tend to struggle once the other teams have had a chance to look them over. No top flight manager takes his side into a game without a solid prior understanding of the opponents strengths and weaknesses; it is insulting to imply otherwise. Hence, there is nothing to 'find out' because the scouting department has probably already got a book on it.

The Swans are in no danger of being 'found out', because this is not a one-trick side with an obvious gimmick to counteract. However, that is not to say a canny opposing manager won't be able to find a way to beat the Swans. David Moyes certainly found a way, as I discussed previously, and soon to be King-of-England Harry Redknapp took notice. Like Everton, Spurs pressed the Swans heavily, though more in midfield than anywhere else. Also like Everton, Spurs benefited from a decent left winger; in this case, Gareth Bale, once again exploiting the space behind attacking Rangel.

I was surprised to see Nathan Dyer not given a start. Brendan Rodgers' assertion that Wayne Routledge had deserved to keep his first team place was correct; however, it's been a while since Scott Sinclair had a rest, and it's also been a while since he scored freely in open play. I have a theory that Rodgers, an astute man-manager, has determined that to drop Scotty would hurt rather than help his confidence, and so continues to play the winger in the hope the next game will be the one for him to break his duck. And he's come close, on many, many occasions.

However, given the known threat of Bale down the Swans right flank, I would have liked to see Routledge switched to the left with Dyer on the right, to double-team Bale along with Rangel. It is easy to appreciate Dyer's attacking talents and dribbling skill, but his defensive game makes Dyer what some would call a tornante, or would if this were 1940's Argentina. The ideal player to help contain an opposing winger, Dyer is a vastly under-rated tackler, and one of the Swans most tireless workers. Plus, he wouldn't just match Bale's pace, he'd beat it.

However, it wasn't solely Bale who beat the Swans. Emmanuel Adebayor's extra inches had quite a bit to do with it as well. Whenever Swansea concede from a corner kick, critics point the finger at Brendan Rodgers' unpopular zonal marking scheme. However, when dealing with players like Adebayor, no amount of marking, zonal or man, will matter for much unless the man given the marking assignment is at least equal in the air; Swansea's best aerial defender this season has been Spurs' own Stephen Caulker, ineligible to play against his parent club as per the terms of his loan agreement.

As such, second on Swansea's summer shopping list ought to be a six foot five centre back (although I can see five foot eight Matthew Bates in a Swans shirt next season). I say second because first has to be signing Gylfi Sigurdsson permanently. The Icelandic international netted Swans lone goal in the Spurs game, was voted the league's player of the month, and is fast catching leading scorer Danny Graham. If I were Huw Jenkins, I'd sell my house and sleep in the office to sign him.

Next up is Newcastle, which ought to prove interesting because for the third game in a row Swansea will be facing a team with a decent left winger; Jonas Gutierrez. The last time the teams met, it wasn't just Jonas making trouble for the Swans defence, but Gabriel Obertan down the other flank, who made life hell for Neil Taylor during a game in which the Swans didn't even register a shot on target and were fortunate to come away with a point.

I should expect things to be different this time, not least because Newcastle have started with three different formations and four different line-ups in their last four games (three of them wins), so it's anyone's guess as to which players and which shape the Toon will take. More specifically, it is Alan Pardew's guess, and it will be interesting to see if he can leverage the vulnerabilities shown by David Moyes and Harry Redknapp into a third straight loss for Swansea, which would be a season first.

At the same time, it will be a chance for Brendan Rodgers to show how he has learned from those losses; if it is one thing Swansea have done very well this season, it is making those adjustments one game to the next to plug any possible leaks before they have a chance to sink the ship. Rodgers will no doubt have already addressed many of the problems from the last two games.

With the golden 40 point threshold beckoning and only a draw away, I am starting to wonder if some of the Swans players are just a little bit aware of that supposed milestone, and perhaps there will be a palpable sense of relief around the club when the Swans hit or surpass the mark. It is surely academic at this point, however; I'm not sure any team in the history of football has endured the kind of slump it would take for Swansea to be relegated at this stage of the season. Rodgers has eschewed the idea the Swans are aiming for any particular number of points, explaining that the task is just to play as well as possible, pick up as many points as possible, and see what happens. Football's a pretty simple game when it's put in those terms. Here's hoping the Swans can pick up some points on Friday.