11v11 blog

Swansea City are awarded our performance of the week for their 3-2 win against Arsenal

• Nine years ago to the day, Arsenal sat top of the Premier League as they chased a third Premier League title under Arsene Wenger. By stark contrast, Swansea City were six points adrift at the foot of the Football League, staring into a non-league abyss.
• The perceived wisdom has been that the only way for a Premier League newcomer to beat Arsenal would be through strong-arm tactics. Far from getting into their collective face, Brendon Rodgers’ Swans played and beat the Gunners at their own game to become the new pass masters.
• In a game that was identified by one newspaper as ‘Strictly come passing’, figures showed that Swansea made 526 passes during the thrilling 90 minutes compared to 428 by the illustrious visitors.
• The win took Swansea City into the top of half of the Premier League table.
• With the encouraging message that multi-millions don’t have to be wasted to produce an attractive and hugely effective team, notably, eight of their starting XI were with the Swans in the Championship last season. Fellow new boys Norwich City have enjoyed similar progression while retaining selection stability. Yet Queens Park Rangers made big money changes to their previously successful side in the summer, have found the new-look team in the bottom three and are set for even bigger changes under new boss Mark Hughes.