Two Goals for Swansea
By a half-hour into the Swansea game on February 24 we were 2-0 down. Let's take a closer look.
First Goal: Ronald at 18 minutes.
1. Initial Cross. We have three players on the crosser at different distances (bottom left of image - O’Nien, Seelt and Trai - so two of our ostensible CBs). Swansea have three receivers crashing into the box with two defenders on them. Dan Neil is technically involved (edge of the penalty arc) but barely moves a muscle until the goal. For all practical purposes it’s 3 on 2 if we can’t stop the cross, which we can’t.
2. Header. Cross bounces to middle of the three receivers who heads at Patto. All of O’Nien, Seelt, Trai and Neil can see the 3 on 2 situation but no one gets above a slow jog toward the action. You could argue they believe themselves too far away to impact the game; Hjelde, certainly not too far away, is a statue from here on.
3. Save. Patto palms away the header. The two closest attackers plus Styles are alive to the danger. Hjelde sees it but doesn’t move an inch; everyone else (who's closer than Ekwah) is walking.
4. Follow Up. Styles giving his all to stop it. Hjelde still in concrete. Patto had fallen almost upside down stopping the header and can only ineffectually flick out a foot from a prone position. 1-0 to Swansea.
Second Goal: Ronald at 28 minutes.
1. Our Intercept. Seelt cuts out a Swansea lob and lays it off to O’Nien. Their attackers, initially following the lob and then pressing, are all moving up at speed. We seem switched off - watching events while stationary or walking. The eventual scorer, Ronald, is at the top of the screen with Styles a couple yards away. Note that for later.
2. Under Pressure. O’Nien has attackers bearing down and feels he has to offload. Styles, Hjelde and Seelt are partially or fully blocked by pressers (and not making themselves more available) and he probably feels he doesn’t have time to turn toward Patto. Remaining options are to hoof it, keep the ball, or pass to Neil.
3. Fateful Pass. Swansea’s Paterson, who O’Nien can definitely see, is excellently positioned to intercept a pass to Neil. Allen, running forward from behind Neil, barges past and indeed intercepts. I can forgive the latter if I assume O’Nien couldn’t see Allen through Neil; the former seems poor decision making (in a rush and under pressure).
4. Start of Attack. At the moment of interception there’s danger but not unthinkably so - we have three defenders closer to the goal than Ronald and Neil is almost level. Unhelpfully, Styles has barely moved since phase one and so lost any hope of sticking with Ronald.
5. Dribble. Allen powers forward, surveying the situation as he goes. O’Nien is backpedalling between Allen and the goal, sensibly enough. Ronald is calling for it with both barrels. Hjelde is moving to a reasonable zone for a second defender but lacks the presence of mind to notice the massive danger behind him. Styles nowhere useful.
6. Cross. Allen crosses to Ronald. As it leaves Allen’s boot, the nearest red & white shirt to Ronald is about ten yards distant. Styles still hopelessly behind and Hjelde hasn’t realized what’s lurking.
7. Shot. Ronald initially hits it into the turf and I think Patto expects more of a bounce. His initial body movement infers a higher shot then he can’t get his right leg fully out in time. 2-0 to Swansea.
