Swansea as entertaining as watching Roar play

Every once in a while, you see something special in football that not only goes against the grain and makes you sit up and take notice, but, better still, has you smiling in appreciation. Brisbane Roar’s swashbuckling pass-and-move football last season was a perfect example of that.

Fans of the club and neutrals alike simply couldn’t get enough, captivated by the quality and control they brought to a football match.

Over the past week, I’ve been taking in the English Championship play-offs for the final spot in the EPL and, rather surprisingly, they’ve provided another of those “wow” experiences.

I refer to the performances of Swansea City AFC.

By reaching the play-off final at Wembley with yesterday morning’s thrilling 3-1 second-leg defeat of Nottingham Forest, the team managed by Brendan Rodgers did it in such a style it must surely be favourite to join Queens Park Rangers and Norwich City in the big time next season.

By the time you read this the other finalist will have been decided, and Socceroos fans will be hoping Adam Federici’s Reading did the job this morning and can go all the way.

But from a purist’s perspective, it would be hard to begrudge The Swans an opportunity to showcase their swagger on a broader stage.

In simple terms, the style is very reminiscent to what we saw from Ange Postecoglou’s men last season, not at all in keeping with what we’ve come to see and expect from the often robust English Championship.

Swansea stands out for its subtlety. Precision over power.

While the majority of sides in the division feature a traditional 4-4-2, Rogers bucks the trend, playing a 4-3-3, with a genuine three up front, featuring lively and productive wingers in Scott Sinclair and Nathan Dyer and young Italian striker Fabio Borini, on loan from Chelsea.

There appears a perfect chemistry in their combination play, Sinclair and Dyer always dangerous on the ball and quick off it, while Borini is always willing to drop off and link, or make a penetrating run in behind, either to receive or make space.

Constantly they present and pose a threat. Borini promises much.

Behind them are a trio of midfielders, including an anchor, in Joe Allen, who dictates the play, one slightly advanced of him in Leon Britton, and an attacking midfielder in Stephen Dobbie. It’s a nice balance between defence and offence.

The philosophy is simple; to get the ball down and play. Right from the keeper, Dutchman Doris de Vries, they often look to go short and play out.

When he has the ball, the fullbacks push on, the central defenders split and Allen drops off to pick up the ball and start things.

Sound familiar? Swap Allen for Eric Paartalu, Michael Theoklitos for de Vries, and you have the A-League champions.

Like at Brisbane, Swansea’s beauty is not so much about the personnel but the philosophy and system.

It was best highlighted yesterday by a couple of brilliantly constructed first half goals.

The first, scored by Britton, involved a delightful piece of one on one play on the edge of the Forest box, capped off with a sweet strike, but it was more than that.

A few seconds earlier Swansea had a corner. Rather than lump it in, as most teams would, they went short with a quickly taken corner.

A couple of passes later and it was at Britton’s feet. He seeks, then finds, a solution, going one way, then the other, always probing.

The second, a few minutes later, was also instructive. From a throw-in in the Forest half, there was no Rory Delap style long throw. Instead it was short, to the feet of Dobbie, who immediately turned and linked with Dyer.

Shaking off Guy Moussi with a sharp give-and-go, he was soon honing in on Luke Chambers, who he skinned with a nut-meg, before lashing it home.

It was the work of a man given the confidence to play.

Indeed, even when they were reduced to 10 men away from home, in the first minute of the first leg, Swansea were able to dominate much of the proceedings, a credit to the “tactical discipline” Rodgers spoke of after that match.

Listening to him speak to Sky Sports was enlightening, an interview full of technical wisdom.

If Rodgers’ team can take the final step at Wembley, his modus operandi will be on display to a far wider audience, and it will be fascinating to see if he can take his template and make it successful at a higher level.