Match report

Macclesfield 1 Swansea 0

Report Dave Williams - Match Pictures by Andrew Thomas

Our results at Moss Rose over the last few seasons have been variable to say the least. Richie Appleby's 2 winning goals after coming on as a second half sub a few seasons back and the 3-1 win in our almost-relegation-season with Smudger's thumping header for the second goal were probably the highlights. But then on the other hand, there was the awful and embarassing 4 goal FA Cup drubbing of the Petty era and the very shoddy 2-1 defeat at the tail end of last season.

So I went to the game not really knowing what to expect. Macc had won both of their first two games while we had only won one so it was not likely to be easy. But it was a nice, sunny day, I'd had a nice pub lunch and good company on the way up and was looking forward to some entertainment. What I hadn't bargained for was the ref. Now I've been watching the Swans for over 40 years off and on, consider myself a fairly reasonable bloke and have become philosophical about refs and rarely criticise them when they're doing a difficult job. Some decisions go for you and some don't but over a season it probably evens itself out. I also believe that human nature dictates that most refs unintentionally very slightly favour the home side under pressure from baying fans. But this guy was an absolute corker and only those there would believe what he was like. I reckon in my 40+ years of watching football, this was, without doubt, the worst and most home-biased refereeing performance I have ever witnessed. I am not saying that the ref was the only reason we lost but he did have a very big part in swinging the pendulum away from anything we might have gained out of this game and in creating the frustration that clearly ran through the entire Swans team. Statistics may never tell the whole story but he booked seven Swans players and no Macc players in what was sometimes an ill-tempered but never dirty affair.

Anyway, to the game. Swans took the field with the side unchanged from the Rochdale starting lineup. No Martinez on the bench again and Stuart Jones as sub instead of Oli, a mistake in my opinion as Oli can offer something different if need be and if a defender gets injured, Kris O'Leary can always drop back.

Almost immediately, Swans attacked down the other end, winning a free kick just outside the left hand corner of the area. Robinson curled it towards goal and Fettis did well to tip it over. Shortly after, Nugent hit a low shot across the keeper who scrambled the ball past his left hand post. Swans seemed to have woken up at last but it was clear that all was not well in the defence when angry words were exchanged between Tate and Gueret although I couldn't see what had caused the tiff. For the next 15 minutes or so, Tate saw the red mist, got himself booked and could easily have ended up being sent off if he hadn't eventually calmed down. The referee was starting to give most marginal decisions in favour of Macclesfield and Tate was not happy about the way Parkin, who I described last season as playing like a school bully, was getting away with a fair bit of rough stuff. Around this time, everytime a Macc player went in for a 50-50 he went down like a ton of bricks and this continued throughout the game. It became such a regular feature that it just made you wonder if they were actually under instructions to do this to break up the rhythm of their opponents game. If so, it worked a treat.

As half time approached, Connor was clearly played through by a miscue from a Macc defender and went on to put the ball in the net only to find he'd been given offside. One of a number of very dubious decsions by the officials. So 0-1 at half time and the talk was of how things could be changed for the second half because change they must.

The second half started with the same lineup and very soon Nugent chased a ball towards the Macc dead ball line with two defenders between him and the ball. The one nearer the ball played it out for a throw but Nuge very stupidly scythed down the other one from behind and was very lucky to get away with just a booking which was all the more surprising seeing how card-happy this ref was when it came to the Swans.

After 15 minutes, Maylett replaced Forbes who had worked hard but with no end product. I just wonder if Maylett has fallen out with his teammates as they seemed very reluctant to let him join in and for the remaining half hour, he got very few touches. But Swans were at least beginning to put some pressure on and for the first time the Macc defence were starting to look more than a little edgy. A fluffed clearance gave Connor a close range chance from a very tight angle just to the left of the goal but he skewed his shot across the goal and the faintest of touches from any defending or attacking player could have resulted in an equaliser.

As we continued to press, it was O'Leary (our defensive midfielder!) who seemed the only player not shot-shy and he had 3 reasonable efforts on goal, 2 from the edge of the box and one from much closer which the keeper saved well. By this time, Macc were being awarded a free kick for every 50-50 encounter and the Swans frustration was finally summed up when Connor was booked for kicking the ball away having been penalised by the ref for the ungentlemanly act of shielding the ball from a defender instead of standing aside and letting him have it like you're supposed to.

Most of the game was being played in the Macc half as the Swans huffed and puffed without any subtlety by pumping long balls up the middle to the tiring strikers. Robinson was seemingly doing everything including taking all the free kicks and all the corners from one of which Austin nearly scored arriving late with a far post header. As the clock moved towards full time, Tipton was allowed enough space about 20 yards out on the right of the box to blast a shot from a standing position against Gueret's right hand post with Ricketts knocking the rebound for a corner. It wouldn't have changed the result but a second Macc goal might have been a bit harsh on the Swans who had at least shown some effort in the second half even if was neither constructive or pretty.

Most of the talk after the game was about the referee who had an absolute shocker but how did the players perform?

As individuals, I don't think anyone played particularly badly. As a team though, we were absolutley awful, bereft of any guile, style, tactics or finesse. Leadership, the telling through ball and change of direction were all missing from our midfield and if Martinez really has played his last game, it is diffcult to see where these qualities are going to come from. Macc may be top of the division for now but there must be at least a dozen better teams than them in this division and against them, performances like this will end up with a similar result. It may work against the poorer teams like Rochdale but, overall, I can't see it resulting in success. We could argue that we are in the bottom half because we have played Northampton & Macc who are at the top. The reality is that, they are at the top because they have played us.

Gueret - 6, no chance with the goal, did everything else more or less right and constantly kept his defence on their toes by shouting at them - Murphy take note

Ricketts - 5, still looks Ok but needs to concentrate for 90 minutes. May have been the one pulled out of position for their goal and once needlessly let the ball roll out of play when dribbling unchallenged up the touch line.

Austin - 5, also needs to concentrate for 90 minutes and he also let the ball roll out when dribbling unchallenged

Tate - 5, completely lost his head in the first half and was generally not up his usual high standard

Monk - 5, captain in Martinez's absence but although he defended well, didn't seem to control the play like a captain should

Britton - 6, only player to show genuine skill but didn't seem to know where to play at times and the front players were not on the same wavelength

O'Leary - 7, won tackles but these were wasted with no playmaker alongside him to take advantage . Had more decent shots at goal than anyone else which really says more about our strikers than it does about him

Forbes - 5, plenty of effort as we've come to expect but little end product

Robinson - 8, did everything and was everywhere but seemed to be aware that he was going to have to go it alone as very few of his teammates could be relied upon

Nugent - 5, typical Nuge game, huffed and puffed and won his share in the air but Connor isn't the type of player to benefit from flick-ons and very little came of it

Connor - 6, still drifts out of games but worked very hard and had a couple of good efforts but is that sufficient return against a team like Macc?

Maylett - ?, on for half an hour but saw so little of the ball, it's hard to rate him

Thomas - ?, on for Connor for the last 10 minutes but made little difference.


So where do we go from here? I honestly cannot see us winning many games with the tactics employed agains Macc who were just a workmanlike side. They need to be unlocked and even if he isn't yet 100% the player we know he can be, Martinez is the only midfield player we have capable of playing the sort of pass that can catch defenders out. I'm beginning to think maybe Martinez and Britton together in midfield is too much of a luxury and a workhorse like O'Leary or Fisken is a necessity. I also think Maylett is a better winger than Forbes and that Nugent and Connor don't work too well together. Maybe the defence picks itself at the moment until Izzy is fit but I would like to see a midfield of Maylett - Martinez - O'Leary - Robinson with Oli & Trundle up front. Britton & Connor/Nugent as subs to offer something different if plan A struggles.

This game had very little entertainment value and wasn't at all enjoyable. In fact, even if we had scored two lucky goals in injury time, it would still have been an unenjoyable game even if we had picked up 3 points. Is that really what we want?

Macclesfield 1 Swansea 0

Report Gareth Williams - Match Pictures by Andrew Thomas

Maybe this second successive goalless Saturday defeat will prompt Kenny Jackett to abandon the controversial no-Roberto experiment.

Jackett's reasoning for the shocking demotion of the club captain appears to be that DIVISION 3 is a 'pace and power league'. It has also been suggested that he will adapt his personnel and tactics to best combat the opposition's strengths.

But if this is true, surely a strong case must be made for the regular inclusion of the skilful Spaniard whose ability to control the flow of a game and find space - for himself and, more importantly, his colleagues - should be required to break down sides at this level. This is owing to the fact that the majority of sides, including yesterday's adversaries, Macclesfield Town, are comprised mainly of workmanlike, solid professionals.

Of course, the absence of one man, regardless of how pivotal he may be, can not excuse such a lacklustre display by Swansea City. They scarcely established a foothold in the game, only ever seriously threatening in the closing stages.

The fact that, against such limited opposition, they could exert this pressure only towards the end - partly, perhaps, due to their hosts tiring - and the best part of an hour aftter falling behind, was damning.

Absolutely nothing of note had occurred in the first quarter of an hour until Jon Parkin, completely unmarked, headed striaght at Willy Gueret. Possibly this lapse unsettled the Swans' backline for they were immediately under attack again, as Mark Bailey beat his man to the byeline to cut the ball back into the area where it was inexplicably allowed to reach the giant Parkin - again, scandalously isolated - who controlled with his chest before volleying in from 10 yards.

This did at least provoke a brief flurry of attacking activity from the visitors: first Andy Robinson forced Alan Fettis into a diving tip-over of one of his typically accurate, whipped free-kicks; then Leon Britton and Kevin Nugent combined to enable the player-caoch to test Fettis with a low 20-yarder that was also parried away for a corner.

With their lack of creativity (the talented Britton seemed to have few outlets when in possession, as Adrian Forbes, for one, was strangely reluctant to leave the touchline), such set-pieces were most likely to pay dividends. Indeed, with a kinder bounce, one of Paul Connor's many knockdowns from Robinson's deep corners might have created decent opportunities for his teammates.

As it was, Macclesfield's players defended stoutly and alertly, rarely permitting their counterparts the slightest glimpse of goal. Unfortunately the same could not be written of Swansea's dead-ball defending. Yet more negligent marking afforded an uncontested header to another of Macc's big men - Michael Welsh, but Gueret was down smartly to save at his near post.

Immediately upon the resumption, Swansea made a concerted effort to increase the tempo but, despite the best efforts of the ever-willing Robinson and Kristian O'Leary, they were unable to penetrate the massed ranks of blue in defence.

One possible explanation could be the maddeningly fernickety referee, D. Drysdale, who apparently wanted to save the players' energy on what had become a hot afternoon by blowing his whistle as often as possible. Most of these stoppages were to needlessly caution Swansea players in an attempt to achieve a full set. He just ran out of time, ending up with a still-impressive tally of seven yellow cards (apologies if I lost count), all for Swans.

The evident frustration towards him was exacerbated by their faliure to breach Macclesdfield's rearguard, despite the mounting pressure in the game's final quarter.

The closest Swansea came was after 83 minutes when O'Leary's left footed effort, following a goalmouth scramble, was hacked away off the line by a combination of Fettis and Bailey.

After that brief bit of excitement, the match rather petered out until, in injury time, the lively Matthew Tipton unleashed a ferocious 25-yarder that thudded back off the post. Such a spectacular conclusion, though, would have been an unfitting end to a drab contest that, in truth, neither side deserved to win.

I just hope that Jackett decides that a more skilful, adventurous approach and line-up will be the way to go from now on, in order to spare us from such tedium again.

Macclesfield 1 Swansea 0

Dai Smith - Match Pictures by Andrew Thomas

A long drive following numerous agricultural vehicles saw us arrive a few minutes late for kick off. On reflection I would have been better off staying at home. The performance that was served up for the large travelling support was lack lustre to say the least. I have spent much of this week stating that the brand of football we have been playing is not long ball, but it was very much route one stuff from the Swans today.

We lined up .....

The first two chances fell to Macclesfield - the first from a cross was headed straight at Gueret by Parkin. The second was again from Parkin when a cross somehow missed everyone only to fall again to Parkin who controlled the ball on his chest before burying it from 10 yards.

This seemed to perk up the Swans who stepped up the pace. Before half time Robinson had a free kick tipped over and Connor had a goal disallowed for offside before the half time interval. Arguments between our own team members was evident when the side were leaving the pitch for the break.

Strong words must have been given at the break as the Swans dominated the next 45 minutes with the best chances falling to Connor and O'Leary. However, for all the domination of possession (and probably a dozen corners) we never looked likely to score an equaliser. The best chance of the second half though fell in injury time to Tipton who hit a drive from 25 yards onto the post.

Comments

Gueret 6 - No chance with goal and flapped at a cross
Ricketts 6 - Not as solid as normal
Tate 6 - Reasonably solid
Monk 7 - Our best defender on the day
Austin 6 - Nothing special
Robinson 8 - busy, committed our biggest threat
O'Leary 7 - 1 or 2 wasteful balls, but was very committed
Britton 7 - A few tricky runs and 1 or 2 shots
Forbes 5 - Invisible today, what happened to his earlier form
Connor 6 - Missed 1 good chance busy but never really a threat

Stats supplied by Soccernet.com

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