Swansea City

While most spend their time debating whether Man City or Man United are the best team in the English Premier League, the real answer could a little more...Welsh.

Yes, I truly believe that Swansea City could be the best team in the EPL today. And no, I'm not a Swansea fan, I'm a Man United fan. Stay with me...

Let's kick off with an outrageous claim; Swansea are the Barcelona of the EPL. While Arsene Wenger has spent years trying and failing to get his side playing the tika-taka style football that Barca have made famous, Brendan Rodgers has managed to stroll in with his band of merry men and do just that within months. There is no doubt that the possession football which the Swans play must be admired. On average this season they have had 56 percent possession and 85 percent completion—joint top in the EPL with Chelsea and City.

Possession can count for everything in today's game, last year's champions Manchester United also averaged out at 56 percent possession over the season.

Admittedly, the Swans are still a far cry from Barca's 70 percent average for the 2011-12 season so far, but there's still time right?

Like Blaugrana, Swansea boast some of Europe's top passers. While Barcelona's Xavi has successfully completed 93 percent of his passes, Swansea midfielder Leon Britton "far" eclipses him with 93.3 percent pass succession—in fact Britton is the only midfielder in the history of the EPL to register 100 percent passing accuracy over the course of a single match. Amazingly enough, Britton isn't the only passmaster in the Swans' midfield—Welsh international Joe Allen is also among the top 10 passers in Europe with a 90.1 percent success rate.

However, this possession football has not bred a mentality of dribbling the ball into the net. Statistically, around half of Swansea's shots have come from outside of the box.

So passing and possession obsession aside for a moment, what else makes Swansea so great?

Eighty-seven percent of Swansea's goals have come from English players. Admittedly a strange fact to bring up, but this is surely only a good thing for English football. Six out of Swansea's starting 11 are English and there are a further six who have featured this season, and it has began to attract the attention of England boss Fabio Capello as he begins to formulate his team for Euro 2012.

But will players from the "unfashionable" teams of the EPL make the England team? If Brendan Rodgers can keep doing what he is doing then it is certainly a possibility. Players like Scott Sinclair, Danny Graham, Leon Britton and Nathan Dyer could definitely be vying for a place on the plane if their competition has the form of Andy Carroll, the inconsistency of Bobby Zamora or even the criminal record of Stewart Downing...

Even beyond the England national side, the Great Britain Olympic team has also expressed interest in a few of Brendan Rodgers' players. Alongside English starlet Scott Sinclair, Welshmen Joe Allen, Neil Taylor and Ashley Richards could be in contention for places.

Maybe something that underpins Swansea's brilliance, is that their innovative approach to EPL football has also yielded little foul play. So far this season, the Swans have only committed 8.6 fouls per game, which is the lowest throughout the whole of Europe. In an age where referees' decisions are questioned on a weekly basis, it is somewhat reassuring that a side can play the beautiful game without having to bend the rules.

Of course if they can keep up this record then there could be high reward in the form of a Europa League place next season, where Swansea's tika-taka-esque play can be flaunted on the *ahem* big stage.

The Swans' home record has also been great this season. They've only lost on one occasion at the Liberty Stadium, and even that was a close-fought 1-0 loss to Man United. Michael Vorm has been a real breakout star this year and his impressive performances have been of great benefit to Rodgers' side, so much so that the big clubs have started to come-a-knocking. Thanks to Vorm, the Swans have the second most clean sheets in the EPL this season, second only to Manchester United.

But there's something that makes Swansea a truly magical side. That's right, magical. Rip me as you please in the comments section, this is the Disney part of this article. Swansea haven't spent tens of millions organising a rag tag bunch of superstars from around the world, neither have they really splashed out in general on new players. In fact eight of the starting 11 who beat Arsenal, 3-2, were a part of the Swansea team who came third in the Championship in the previous season. The Swans have proved that attractive football is not necessarily the product of copious investment.

While City, United, Chelsea and whoever else in the top six of the EPL have spent inflated sums of money organising fantastic groups of overpaid players, Swansea have assembled a team who have immense pride for their club and who play football which really encapsulates the beautiful game.

Arsenal has been awful to this point in the season.  This Saturday, however, they have an opportunity to notch themselves into the win column. The Gunners return to Emirates Stadium following an 8-2 thrashing at the hands of Manchester United in Old Trafford Stadium.

The Premier League schedule hasn't been very kind to Swansea City either. They enter with a  0-1-2 record through three games. They lost to Manchester City and played to two scoreless draws against Wigan Athletic and Sunderland. The club has yet to register a goal this season.

Where: Emirates Stadium

When: September 10th, 10:00 AM EST

Watch: Fox Soccer Channel

Biggest Storyline: Will Either Team Win Their First Game?

Both of these teams are winless so far in the 2011-2012 English Premier League season. Neither team has looked sharp, and both teams have looked awful at times.

Not many people could have expected Manchester United to beat the Gunners 8-2, but it happened, and Arsenal needs to bounce back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbpOKmxIupw

Swansea is not the elite team that Arsenal is, but they would also like to leave Emirates with a victory, although they would likely be happy with a draw.

Player to Watch for Arsenal: Theo Walcott

22-year-old Walcott is a scoring machine when on his game. If the Gunners are going to come away with a victory, they need Walcott to put the ball in the back of the net.

Also worth noting, the Gunners added five new players just before the transfer deadline, including defender Per Mertesacker.

Mertesacker will help the Gunners shore up the back line, but he won't be the player to watch in this match.

Player to Watch for Swansea: Scott Sinclair 

The 22-year old forward for Swansea was the leading scorer for the squad last year in the English League Championship, recording 22 goals in 42 games.

He is second on the team in shots this year, eight through three games, but has yet to record a goal.

Swansea needs him to get in the scoring column if they have any chance at winning this match.

Key Matchup: Robin Van Persie vs. Swansea's Defense

Van Persie is an extremely explosive striker that can score at will. He has ten shots on target this year, but just one goal.

Arsenal is hoping he breaks through in this match, as the Swansea defense struggled against the elite strikers of Manchester City earlier this season.

What They're Saying:

In the Arsenal camp, all eyes are on the new signings and the Jack Wilshere injury. Wilshere will be sidelined approximately two months with an ankle injury. However, Theo Walcott seems excited about the opportunity to play with the newest Gunners. Here is what Walcott had to say about the new acquisitions according to ESPN,

"New faces tend to get everyone bubbling. We all have to lift our spirits and hopefully those new signings will do the job... They've had so much experience. [Mikel] Arteta in particular is a fantastic player. He can definitely spot a pass and I am looking forward to playing with him."

For Swansea City, Max Hicks of ESPN discussed the overall job done by Swansea during the transfer window,

"Not bad, room for improvement. [Federico] Bessone feels like a lazy and/or desperate choice, but factors behind the scenes could have dictated events. You never know, he might pick up where he left off and surprise a few people. [Gerhard] Tremmel was technically signed before D-day whilst [Rafik] Halliche provides solid depth, albeit on a short term basis. The real diamond in the rough here is [Darnel] Situ. If he develops as projected, what looks at first glance like an underwhelming deadline day bag of bits and pieces will produce a key cog down the road."

Final Score:

Arsenal 3
Swansea 1 

Queens Park Rangers, Norwich City and Swansea City all played their first games of the season this weekend as the newest members of  the Barclays Premier League.

Queens Park Rangers completed an excellent previous season in the npower Championship, clinching the title with 24 victories and 88 points. They were four points clear of Norwich City, who also earned automatic promotion for their second-place finish behind the Hoops.

Swansea City would finish third and earn promotion three weeks later in a 4-2 Wembley victory over Reading in the playoff final.

One of the original founders of the Premier League, QPR is back after 15 years out of the premiership.

Norwich was last in the top table in 2006 for a one-year stay.

Swansea became the first Welsh side to compete in the 19-year history of the Barclays Premier League and got their first taste of top-flight action since 1983.

All three clubs would enjoy the financial windfall that comes with promotion to the Premier League and would enter the summer looking to improve their teams for the upcoming season.

QPR would sign forwards Jay Bothroyd and D.J. Campbell, both of whom were facing play in the Championship with Cardiff City and Blackpool respectively.

Manager Neil Warnock also signed injury-riddled Kieran Dyer from West Ham, bringing in another player with Premier League quality.

While QPR did bring a few fresh faces in, the only player that cost them cash in terms of a transfer fee was the aforementioned Campbell.

£1.25 million was the price for Campbell, who enjoyed a productive Premier League campaign last season, bagging 13 goals for the Seasiders.

Norwich city made a small splash in the summer window, with their two most prevalent signings being forwards James Vaughan from Everton and Steve Morison from Millwall.

Morison is untested at the top level, and Vaughan had played a few season but just a handful of games for the Toffees.  

Swansea arguably did the least of the three newcomers, as they brought in goalkeepers Michel Vorm and Jose Moreira as well as midfielder Routledge from Newcastle United.

None of the clubs made any shocking signings with their new-found bankroll, but all of them saved money while bringing in useful players to aid their causes.

While most of the pundits had at least two of the incoming squads listed as their relegation favorite—Wigan being mentioned for the drop among most—there was no clear-cut option over who is superior among last season’s second-tier competitors.

Given their appearance last season, QPR would seem most able to handle Premier League-quality teams.

With the incoming strikers, experienced goalkeeper Paddy Kenny and last season’s npower Championship Player of the Year Adel Taarabt in the mix, the only fear for Neil Warnock could be his back line, which was thought to be a bit weak by most.

The R’s opened their season against Premier League stalwart Bolton Wanderers, and Owen Coyle’s gang did not disappoint at Loftus Road.

A 0-4 score line was delivered at the end of the match, seemingly confirming QPR’s weaknesses.  

Norwich traveled cross-country to the DW Stadium to face Wigan Athletic.

Perhaps this is the game that would give us a hint as to how the new boys would fare against competition for this level, with Wigan being tipped to be at the bottom of the table at the end of the season.

The Latics would jump out to a quick lead on a 21st-minute Ben Watson penalty.

At the halfway mark, however, Wes Hoolahan would convert a mistake by Wigan goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi. The score would stay level at 1-1 as the Canaries bagged their first top-flight point in five years.

The Swans would have to wait until Monday evening to face heavy-spending Manchester City on the road.

The constant flow of cash at Eastlands the past few years had yet to yield results until last year, when City finished third to gain an automatic spot into the group stages of the UEFA Champions League.

A daunting matchup awaited Swansea as they traveled north.

Manchester City would validate their summer spending binge by thrashing the Swans 4-0, with two goals coming from this summer's prized transfer, Sergio Aguero.

While all three managers search for positives in this collective 9- thumping, the evidence is in that number. These teams simply do not look ready to compete against most of the teams in the Premier League.

It was just a season ago that Blackpool came out in the first week against Wigan and hung a four-goal victory on them.

The Tangerines would eventually be relegated on the final day of the season, but their model might be the best to emulate, given some of the victories they enjoyed over the course of season—a double over Liverpool being the most memorable.

Swansea utilizes a free-flowing style, and their 4-2 triumph over Reading in the playoff final a few months ago emphasizes that.

Norwich also likes to attack, but their most intriguing stat from 2010-11 was the sheer number of injury-time equalizers and winners they produced (eight), including one over Portsmouth to secure promotion to the Premier League.

One of the reasons Blackpool was extremely competitive in most games was Charlie Adam. Adam was a finalist for EPL Player of the Year voting and earned a lucrative offseason transfer to Liverpool with his exceptional play last season.

Manager Ian Holloway deserves a lot of credit for the success at Blackpool as well.

Charlie Adam collected 28 goals for his team the previous two seasons—a stat that speaks for itself.

The only player on all three teams that could be compared to Adam is Adel Taarabt.

Taarabt had a great season for the Hoops last year, scoring 19 goals. He showed that he can take over games and single-handedly win them for his squad.

However, we will need to wait and see if that will hold true for the Moroccan in the Premier League. 

Another factor that might doom the promoted three is the possibility that there is no equivalent to West Ham this time around.

West Ham collected an abysmal 33 points last season, as their manager Avram Grant was fired within feet of the stadium pitch immediately after their relegation-clinching contest. 

Wigan seems to be this year’s popular pick for the Championship. However, manager Roberto Martinez did a masterful job to keep the Latics afloat last spring, and this year looks to be no different.

While there are still 37 games to go for everybody mentioned, this week showed that there is still a bit of work to do for a few teams in the Premier League.

For QPR, Norwich and Swansea to retain their top-flight status, it is clear that improvements must be made.

Newly promoted Swansea City are preparing for life in the most difficult league in world football, but Brendan Rodgers has vowed not to abandon the footballing philosophy that has taken the Welsh club this far.

Transfer activity has been rife in South Wales with several new players set to join the squad for preseason this month, but there are still areas in the team that need strengthening if they are to compete in the Premier League.

The Swans boss started the summer off well, in acquiring the services of former Watford striker, Danny Graham in a £3.5 million deal which saw the striker reject overtures from several other clubs.

The 25-year-old was in prolific form last season with an impressive 24 goals in the Championship and is set to be the main man in the Swans attack.

Ever since the departure of Jason Scotland two years ago, Swansea City have struggled to find a striker to spearhead the 4-3-3 formation they utilise.

Franco Borini came in on loan from Chelsea in the second half of last season and filled the void but sadly moved back to his homeland at the start of summer to complete a move to Serie A side, Parma.

Rodgers was left with no other choice but to try and find his replacement.

Danny Graham is that replacement and a fine one at that. The former Carlisle man is a born goal scorer and will feed off the service of Scott Sinclair and Nathan Dyer but is of course, still unproven at Premier League level.

Tottenham youngster, Steven Caulker, who spent last season on loan with Bristol City is also set to join the club. The 19-year-old defender is being touted as an England player of the future and will be hoping to gain some invaluable Premier League experience at the Liberty Stadium.

Reports are also picking up pace that England Under-21, Ryan Bertrand could be set to join the Jacks, with the Chelsea left-back poised to sign on a season-long loan deal.

Another man linked with a move to the first Welsh side in English Premier League history was former Spain captain and Villareal veteran, Marcos Senna.

The 34-year-old held talks with the club, but it sadly seems as though the midfield powerhouse will be staying in La Liga after a breakdown in negotiations over wage demands.

This move by Brendan Rodgers was a clear indication of his desire to build on their reputation as the best footballing side in the Championship and take that style of play into the Premier League.

Senna is like Patrick Vieira in that he is strong in midfield and helps to dictate the game from there, which would work well with the likes of Leon Britton and Joe Allen to play off him.

Rodgers likes his team to build on the philosophy instilled by Roberto Martinez and play a style of football reminiscent of Barcelona and the Spanish national team, and Marcos Senna would have been a key figure in the development of the team and their footballing style.

Rodgers is still determined to bring some of that Spanish flair to the club and has targeted Barcelona B striker, Jonathan Soriano as his next purchase.

The 25-year-old striker has been in negotiations with the club after finishing last season as top scorer in Spain’s second tier. The 26-goal man is keen to make the move to Wales and compete in the top flight of English football but a fee is still yet to be discussed between the two clubs.

This signing would be another clear indication of the club to not sell out on their footballing principles, as they look to show off their beautiful passing game in the world’s most watched league.

The transfer window still has a long way to go and there will be more analysis of their activity in due course, but for now, it looks as though Swansea City are keen to build on their Barcelona style philosophy as they attempt to play their way to Premier League survival.

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