The morning after the night before.

Fair enough and yeah I remember the run in the 2nd half it was abit worrying but apart from that a very good game from Toby who I had wrote off and couldn't see him making it after his failed loan moves but he looks to be proving me wrong which is good.

 

Based on last night I would start with Morris, Woodrow and Chaplin and save DK for the second half. We need something different up front. If Kane was fit I would play him instead of Palmer.

 

I think we saw the best of DK when he came off the bench - big impact player when the defence is already tired and nervous from the high-press. Then just when they are on the limit you bring on DK's physical presence and clear goal threat. I'm not sure he's at his best against fresh defenders.

 

Agreed. Youth seemed to get the better of him last night. Surprised that he wasn’t booked. Compare him and Ayew and the latter has way more experience. Feels like that’s what we lacked - a bit more big game experience.

 

The commentators were certainly bigging Swansea up last night and I expect more of the same on Saturday. However, we had some promising spells in the game and they weren't all seen off by their young defenders. Vals talking about another half but I think it's another game entirely, and whichever manager prepares the best for it will come out on top imo.

 

We’ve played much worse this season and won and we’ve scored plenty of away goals this season so not overly worried i think our wingbacks can make the difference Saturday if they really push up the pitch and go for it.

 

Morris is the best all round striker in the team. He has a bit of everything, especially positional sense, that Dike lacks. Dike has an incredible future ahead of him if he keeps up his work rate. No team would fancy playing against him. That said, I'd save him for the second half & potentially extra time. Not sure about him taking a penalty though... I'd rather Helik take one over him TBH, or even Collins, who is a hell of a footballer out of the box. I really didn't get why Walton was dropped at the time, but Collins is a key part of our game, to kill counter attacks over the top of our high line.

 

People say we play shitty hoofball, but Jesus wept Swansea were another level, every goal kick was straight to Lowe out wide, straight from the John Beck book of coaching.

Yes they have worked us out this season but what they are offering up would get them absolute nowhere in the Premier League, and if they are among the best the Championship has to offer, particularly with their budget, they should be ******* ashamed.

 

We don't play sh!tty football, but we play very direct. Usually the first half is a bit dull & we open up in the second.

I think we'll see a slightly different approach in the second leg, but not much. Keep it tight.

 

As I said in another thread, the key word is patience. Swansea will carry on from last night & try to slow tha game down & make it ugly. Morris, Chaplin & Woodrow should be the front 3. I feel they link up better on the deck, but only if the midfield can get their foot on the ball. Clearly lumping to a target man isn’t going to work.

 

I am brimming with confidence , a win of any sorts means at the very least penalties ,but two things, firstly do Swansea stick or twist ? its a long time 90 minutes to defend a slender lead & secondly in recent times when ever we have had to dig out a big result away from home we have done , winning at Brentford to stay up against all odds , repeating it again this season & when we needed to win at Bournemouth to push into the top 6 we did it & we did it coming from behind in style , we have spirit & bottle in abundance but most of all we have Val who is tactfully better than anyone we have ever had before . We have been superb away from home since Xmas & I do not see this changing , Wembley here we come !

 

As some have mentioned there needs to be change up top both in terms of strategy and in personnel. Swansea looked more vulnerable to 'football', movement and runs than they did against the big hoof. Surely Ismael has noted that. Also, the pace of Chaplin and the different physique he has relative to Dike may work better. Morris should start because he has an intelligence that the other strikers don't have. I'd drop Dike to the bench and possibly bring him on second half. The big hoof on its own will not work against Swansea's defence. It definitely needs tweaking