Nine years ago today Swansea City was a small Welsh team that sat 24th in the English Conference table and played in front of a 12,000 capacity stadium; who, if anyone, would have predicted that they would not only be picking up three points against three times Premier League champions Arsenal but respectively out-playing them.
Their win on Sunday in front of the 20,000 faithful fans saw The Swans climb into the top half of the Premiership after an all English score sheet from the home side produced the goods. It will be interesting to see if Fabio Capello, who was present at the Liberty Stadium this weekend, will include such Swansea stars as Scott Sinclair and Danny Graham in his next England squad.
One Swan starlet that will require a lot of attention and analyses from Capello is 29-Year-old Leon Britton. Britton returned to the Welsh outfit at the beginning of this season after a short period at Sheffield United and has made a huge impact on the way Swansea have constructed their style of game play this year.
It is astonishing to see some statistics that surround the midfielder’s performance this season:
In comparison to all other European clubs Leon Britton has the highest pass success rate with 93.3%, higher than Barcelona’s midfield maestro Xavi. Britton has made a total of 1127 passes so far this season.
Joining Britton in the table of top 5 European passing expects is fellow Swans midfielder Joe Allen, who has been as impressive with a pass completion percentage of 90.3%.
Passing has been an integral part of Brendon Rogers’s tactical play and Swansea’s success this campaign; 11,065 passes have been totalled in the Premier League by the Welsh outfit with 85.2% of them reaching their proposed target, the third best behind Manchester City and Arsenal.
When it came to the match against Arsene Wenger’s men on Sunday I wasn’t exactly expecting a walk-over from the Gunners but I was certainly taken back by how easy Swansea found space and played a simple pass-and-move game. They carefully carved Arsenal open in passages of the match and had the determination for a quick response to cancel out Theo Walcott’s equaliser within 45 seconds.
However, manager Rogers played down his side’s impressive victory and stated that his side are just attempting to keep on track with their points target and avoid a relegation battle. I think it is fair enough to say that Swansea will be running out onto the pitch in the 2011/2012 campaign as a top flight team.
With John McEachran expected to sign on loan from Chelsea soon it seems like The Swans have captured another midfield passing prospect to add to their team sheet. It is safe to say that they’ve certainly come a long way in the Premier League since their 4-0 defeat to Manchester City in the opening game of the season.
Ryan Condon
Ryancondon@hotmail.co.uk
@ryanjc91
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