Team Focus: Pretty Passing but Little Creativity at Swansea

Pep's Barcelona approached the game in an ideological way. The old adage oft uttered at Sunday league level that 'they can't hurt you if they don't have the ball' seemed to have a surprisingly apt relevance to the greatest football team of the modern era. The aim was to grind down opponents by retaining possession, tiring them out, before creating openings and winning it back as quickly as possible once it was lost.

The Catalans were unbelievably effective at playing like this. With Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets in central midfield, though, they could afford to adopt such a policy; in their successful 2010/11 Liga campaign they averaged 72.6% possession, while they enjoyed 73.4% of the ball as they won the Champions League in the same season. Plenty of others had already taken note of their success.

Swansea, to a lesser extent, have tried to play like this. They have bags of technical ability in their ranks, and impressed hugely in climbing up the football league from near extinction in the fourth tier in 2001. It was fitting that it was a Spaniard in Roberto Martínez who introduced the keep-ball philosophy they still adhere to, and possibly yet more so that the manager who was apparently Barcelona's first choice ahead of Guardiola back in 2008, Michael Laudrup, took the reigns when Brendan Rodgers left for Liverpool before the start of last season.

The work of Martínez and Rodgers has been continued. It is extremely rare for a newly promoted side to dominate possession like Swansea did in 2011/12. They averaged a 58% share of the ball as they managed an eleventh-placed finish in their debut season in the Premier League, then 55.3% as they further established their place and also won the Capital One Cup. This season, that figure has increased to a league-high 59.6% but the results haven't accordingly improved.

It seems odd to say there might be such a thing as too much possession, but could it be that Swansea have had just that this season? Plenty of the ball in unthreatening areas is not a worry to opponents if chances don't ensue. For all their possession, the Swans have had the 8th most shots (13.8 per game) in the Premier League and have actually attempted a large proportion from distance too, with nearly half coming from outside the area (49%). They have played just under a quarter of their passes (24.6%) in the attacking third of the pitch, a lower proportion than any other team in the Premier League. It is fair to conclude that too much of their play, while adding to their possession, is rather unnecessary.

Too much of their play is horizontal and too little goes forwards - a higher proportion of their passes are played sideways than any other team in the Premier League this season (54.0%) - and while they are brilliant at keeping the ball a lack of incision may cost them.

Laudrup's men are currently 6 matches without a win in the Premier League and have slipped into a rather perilous position just 4 points above the drop zone. They won't be getting relegated this season as there are at least 3 teams that are worse than them, but this run will need to be ended sooner rather than later, and maybe a signing or two could be worthwhile this January.

For all their fantastic technical ability in central areas with the likes of José Cañas, Jonathan De Guzmán and Jonjo Shelvey usually making up a midfield three, there is still an argument that Swansea lack creativity in those areas. Of those players, Shelvey is making the most key passes per game from open play, but even he is only making 1.1, followed by De Guzmán (1.0), while Cañas has made just 2 in 16 Premier League appearances thus far. Of course, that is not what the Spaniard is tasked with, but alongside such a player there needs to be far more in the way of creativity.

De Guzmán is a brilliantly gifted player; an energetic set-piece specialist who keeps the ball fantastically well whilst also providing something of a goal threat from deep, and it would be a big ask to demand that Swansea make an improvement on him. It would, too, be a huge task to buy someone that is an improvement on Shelvey, but a team with the talent they have arguably need a more conventional, imaginative trequartista than they currently possess. Wilfried Bony and Michu are two of the best finishers in the Premier League and need better service up front.

The Swans have had only 23 clear-cut goalscoring opportunities this season; a tally that only struggling Norwich (22) and Crystal Palace (20) fare worse in of all top flight teams. However, Swansea rank 4th for their conversion rate from clear-cut chances (43.5%) and 2nd when only strikers are considered (60%). Plain and simply, though it sounds painfully obvious, the fact of the matter is that Swansea's deadly strikeforce are good enough to score ample goals, and if they were provided with more good quality service, Swansea would not be in the predicament, by their standards, that they currently find themselves in.

It could be time that Michael Laudrup and Swansea sacrifice a little principle for some well-needed pragmatism if they are to turn their season around.

What do Swansea need to do to end their winless streak? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below