Analysis of the likely Swansea team…

With the Swans coming to visit Goodison Park this weekend, we take a look at each individual player that is likely to line up at the start of the game.

Firstly, we took to our twitter account @TheEFCForum to ask Evertonians who they thought was Swansea’s key man. Here’s the replies:

@LuanRegio : “De Guzman”

@JonnyStark1878 : “Bony”

@Cunnginham : “De Guzman”

 ‏@DatVtec: “Has to be Bony”

@GillyAP: “Bony”

@kmh_88 : “Wilfried Bony definitely”

@Joe3Carroll : “Bony is a good player but is a bit hit and miss. De Guzman probs their best player. Quality on the ball, drives them forward”

So, are they right? Let’s find out…

This weeks Swansea is hard to pick, they have near full fitness in their squad and with a poor result last week, there could be changes. I’ll just go with what I think is most likely.

GK – Michel Vorm

The Dutchman is highly rated amongst general football fans as he is a solid shot stopper and mostly reliable between the sticks. With him featuring, Swansea have kept kept 6 clean sheets after he has faced 205 shots, letting 22 go past him. One of their better players, the Blues will be hoping not to see another wonderful goalkeeping display after becoming frustrated with last weeks number 1 David Marshall.

RB – Angel Rangel

The man that was brought in by our current manager Roberto Martinez, Rangel has moved up from League 1 to the Premiership with this Swansea side and has continued to be picked ahead of his challenger Tiendalli. Rangel is one of their players not yet to be replaced but this could change soon if the Swans are to stay in the league a little longer. Rangel makes the most tackles in the Swansea backline however this results in the most fouls given away. He is also dribbled past fairly often.

CB – Chico Flores

The irrational dramatic plays a big part in their side. He makes the most interceptions for them and is not far behind aforementioned Rangel in tackling numbers per game. He can do daft things such as lose the ball in bad areas, or serious play-acting, but he is a good player that will return from last weeks suspension looking to make it tough for Lukaku.

CB – Ashley Williams

This man was touted to be off to someone like Arsenal or United for near £10-15 million. To be honest, I can’t see it. Although he’s captain and makes the most clearances for the Swans, he is on the peripheral in terms of tackling and intercepting and he just can’t pass the ball as well as Flores, which undermines their passing strategy a little.

LB – Ben Davies 

This weeks opponents are similar to us in the way they are blessed with two decent left-backs in the squad. Neil Taylor was their man before a lengthy injury which he just hasn’t recovered from since, however even younger man Ben Davies stepped in and has done rather well in his time. However, Davies is dribbled past most often in their squad by some margin, with they player after being Rangel. This should suit Everton’s wing play down to the ground.

CDM/CM – Jonathan De Guzman

Quite an important player to Swansea is another Dutchman. He is fairly high in all of their attacking statistics and would be a bold move for Gary Monk to include him. Cañas is more defensively protective but doesn’t really offer anything going forward, it all depends on whether the Swans manager is brave enough to go for a win, which I think he will as they need results and not draws at the current time.

CDM/CM – Leon Britton

A regular under Gary Monk so far, this midfielder is all about retaining possession in their strategic plans of a game. He does this well, averaging a 91% pass completion rate after having the most passes in their team per game on average. He is usually high in their passing combinations, but usually this is between the Welshman and the defence behind him, meaning he is not the most adventurous when he does indeed get hold of the ball.

RW – Nathan Dyer

Missed last week’s loss to West Brom due to a heel injury however the tiny but pacey winger is expected to return to the side. He is the classic English type winger. He is quick and is Swansea’s best dribbler, however that doesn’t often lead to too many chances as he is way down the list of players that actually go on to create chances or provide assists for his team.

CAM – Michu

I think the Spaniard will return to start this one. He has had a few weeks returning from injury, and finally played 30 minutes for them last week. He is a top player when he gets going, although this season’s stats do not do him any justice after a 3 month lay out due to injury. When he has played this season, he has the second most shots per game and provides the second most amount of key passes, so he is quite a figurehead in the attack.

LW – Wayne Routledge

Routledge took a long time to become adjusted to the Premier League demands, but is now a solid winger. He’s not the biggest threat in the world, he doesn’t have too great an attacking statistic, but he does well for them on the whole over the course of the season.

ST – Wilfried Bony

The Ivorian has had a decent first season for the men from the Liberty Stadium. 9 league goals so far and 15 in total shows a good return for the £12 million they threw out there for him. He is slowly getting better and when he and Michu can determine a long term partnership, they could be deadly. I think Monk will try and get this going as early as possible with only 9 games left, and this is another reason why I think Michu will start ahead of Hernandez.

Other players that could well feature:

Pablo Hernandez – He has become an integral part of the side under Monk and in the absence of either Shelvey or Michu behind the striker. I think he’ll be left out for the aforementioned reasons of the Bony-Michu partnership but also because he doesn’t offer too much of a protection when they don’t have the ball. Let’s just say he doesn’t track back too often!

Jonjo Shelvey – It was former manager Michael Laudrup that shelled out £6 million for Voldemort. He seemed to rate him and continued to play him but it is yet to be seen whether the current manager will keep the faith, as Shelvey picked up an injury not long after he took charge. He could be one to watch, if he does start, the Liverpool boyhood fan will be hoping to put a dint in our result and Europa qualification hopes.

Roland Lamah – The Belgian has only made 4 appearances for the Swans this season, however one of these appearances came last week where he scored a lovely goal and generally looked quite a threat. Monk could be the type of manager to reward and keep players with good performances in the side, however I doubt it and I doubt Lamah will feature from the offset.