BLUEBIRDS AND SWANS LATEST NEWS
SWANSEA City’s sensational start to the Steve Cooper era continued with Wednesday’s 3-1 win at QPR.
It was a third win in four Championship games for the unbeaten Swans and only Leeds United, on goal difference, head them in the table going into this weekend’s games.
Here’s what we learned from a memorable night at the Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium.
There are now some real attacking options in this side
At the start of the summer, Swansea looked destined to once again pin their attacking hopes on striker Oli McBurnie.
Now, incredibly, his departure has coincided with a big increase in the depth of attacking options available to Steve Cooper.
Much has been made of Borja Baston’s re-emergence, while a strong performance in his first Swans start for 15 months suggests Andre Ayew could still have an important role to play in this team.
Add to that a first goal from on-loan striker Sam Surridge, and it’s clear that there could potentially be real competition for places at the business end of the park in the next few weeks.
“We’ve got great options at the moment,” Cooper said afterwards. “Even great options from the bench so we’re – I don’t want to use the word blessed – but we’ve got a variety of players that can play all types of games.”
Surridge himself is arguably behind the others in the current pecking order, but he’s clearly up for the fight.
“I’m relishing it,” he said. “It’s good competition. If there wasn’t then maybe we wouldn’t all be looking over our shoulders and the performances wouldn’t be as good.
“Everyone’s helping each other and we’re all trying to work the right way and hopefully it can continue.”
Cooper’s brave Garrick move pays off
Another man that could potentially be pushing for a place in Cooper’s long-term plans is exciting youngster Jordon Garrick, who came off the bench to make his full league debut at Loftus Road.
It was a call that paid off, with the youngster winning the penalty that helped put the Swans back in control of the game.
However, it was also a move that demonstrated Cooper’s faith in the forward.
Garrick’s introduction came shortly before Jordan Hugill’s equaliser, with QPR pushing Swans firmly onto the back foot.
Introducing an inexperienced winger at a time when his side were so under the cosh, would have likely been viewed as a risk by many, but it was a move that paid off brilliantly.
Explaining the thought process behind Garrick’s introduction, Cooper said: “We felt we needed real pace on the pitch because QPR were quite high anyway with their defensive line and we really felt that if we were going to create good chances they were going to be through passes and runs in behind, which is where the goals came from really.
“So, Jordon’s very quick and was hungry to play so we felt that he was the right profile of player to put on and obviously it’s a good experience for him away from home.”
Rodon stakes his claim for Wales
The absence of Ashley Williams in the latest Wales squad was probably of little surprise to many, but it does nonetheless bring the options available to Ryan Giggs into even sharper focus.
You’d suspect that Bournemouth’s Chris Mepham will likely start that game next month, but with Williams’ absence there is clearly a place up for grabs at the heart of the defence.
Judging by his performance here, Joe Rodon must surely feel he has a good chance of being considered for a first senior cap.
Rodon was simply superb in West London.
Dominant in the air, assured in the tackle, and his reading of the game alongside Mike van der Hoorn was spot on.
For such a performance to come on the back of such stinging social media criticism only goes to show the maturity of the man, and also once again demonstrates how some platforms can so farcically descend into an intellectual cesspit.
Cooper once again defended his star man after the win, but he really didn’t need to.
The youngster did more than enough talking on the pitch.
Many in SA1 have been crying out for Rodon to be given a chance on the international stage and, if this performance is anything to go by, they could soon get their wish.
The biggest test is yet to come A tally of 10 points from a possible 12 and an unbeaten start has left Swansea joint-top of the Championship, and you can understand why some are starting to dream.
It’s difficult to remember the last time the mood around the club was so sky high and, given they weren’t a million miles away from the play-offs last season, some are already starting to talk about the ‘p’ word.
Of course, four games doesn’t make even a fraction of the season and, deep down, even the most arrogant of fans will know that. But given the difficulties Swansea fans have had to put up with in recent years, you can forgive them for getting a little carried away.
Cooper himself won’t be doing any such thing. This may be his first job in senior football, but he will know how quickly things can change.
I’m going to stick my neck out and say Swansea won’t remain unbeaten come the end of the season, and are more than likely to experience a bad patch of form at some point.
How they respond to it will be the biggest indicator of where this side really is at the moment.