Premier League Week 14 roundtable: The future looks bleak for Bob Bradley’s Swansea

This weekend in the Premier League, Swansea were thrashed away at Tottenham, Arsenal dominated against West Ham and Chelsea took charge in the title race with a win against Manchester City. In our weekly roundtable, FanSided’s soccer staff share their reactions.

Swansea in trouble after Tottenham thrashing

Dan Voicescu, @fiveboroball

Lining up in a 4-3-3 is rarely a sign you’re willing to relinquish possession and territory, yet it became clear as early as the 10th minute that Bob Bradley’s Swansea were content to sit back, absorb pressure and use their three forwards as quick outlets to hit Tottenham on the counterattack. There were regularly nine or 10 Swansea men behind the ball as they looked to shut down the passing lanes and gain possession right at the top of their defensive third through numerical advantages.

The game plan seemed well thought out, and other than a few long-range warning shots, it looked like Tottenham would struggle to find a way through the defensive net laid out by Swansea. As late as the 35th minute, there was almost no indication this was going to be a blowout.

At the same time, it was evident Swansea’s game plan relied on their ability to keep a clean sheet late into the match. Once the deadlock was broken, you wondered how they’d go about chasing the game, trying to create chances and rescue a point.

As the first half was coming to a close, the Swans became visibly fatigued by the defensive work they were having to put in. And so the fact the deadlock was broken in such controversial circumstances — via the spot, after Dele Alli appeared to have manufactured contact with Kyle Naughton’s leg — was unfortunate, to say the least.

Adding insult to injury, the hosts went up by two goals right before the halftime whistle as Heung-Min Son pounced on a loose ball in the box, sending the ball into the net with a perfectly struck volley.

Bob Bradley made a bold halftime adjustment by replacing defensive midfielder Jay Fulton with Spanish striker Fernando Llorente. The Swans were in need of goals, but also in need of more height and depth on the field, attempting to stretch the play vertically with the addition of the Spanish target man.

At the start of the game, it seemed somewhat understandable Bradley looked to shore up the backline by providing midfield support. As the game went on, it became painfully obvious his back four alone are not equipped to deal with the pace and ability of Premier League-caliber forwards. Swansea have given up nine goals in their last two games and lead the Premier League in the unenviable category of goals allowed with 31.

However, the halftime substitution seemed a bit of a knee-jerk reaction in terms of timing. Taking off Fulton left a lot of space in the center of the field for the likes of Alli, Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane to run into. It was only four minutes into the second half when the wheels came entirely off the Welsh team’s bus. Alli ran right through the heart of the Swansea midfield and fed the ball to Son, who laid it off to Kane for a clinical finish and a three goal lead for the hosts.

Tottenham outshot their opponents by an incredible 28-1 to margin, with 16 of those shots on target. This was the kind of confidence-boosting win that could set up Spurs for a strong December as they look to stay within striking distance of league leaders Chelsea. Kane was sorely missed during his injury absence, and it’s good to see this young team firing on all cylinders again.

As for Swansea, the next step is unclear. Any issues related to Bradley’s tactics are of the subtle variety. His tactics certainly weren’t the root cause of this 5-0 spanking, nor do I think a tactical switch will rescue Swansea from their current troubles.

At this point, it’s unclear whether Bradley even has the players at his disposal to deal the harsh rigors of life in the Premier League. His defenders consistently fail to close down opponents, his midfielders regularly miss outlet passes available to them and forwards fail to create anything on their own or win any one-on-one battles. These are the driving forces continuing to keep Swansea at the bottom of the standings.

Whether the solution is to bring in new players in January or simply to coax a little more intensity out the current ones, Bradley faces a massive challenge to save this team from the drop.

Alexis Sanchez punishes meek West Ham

Anthony Gallo, @Gallo_Calcio

Things got pretty bad pretty quickly for West Ham on Saturday. The Hammers entered their meeting with Arsenal without having won since their Oct. 22 match against Sunderland, and in serious need of points to pull away from the relegation zone.

But a 24th-minute Angelo Ogbonna giveaway inside West Ham’s final third was picked up by Arsenal striker Alexis Sanchez, who then squeaked the ball past an onrushing Winston Reid and made a simple pass to Mesut Ozil, who opened the scoring.

This was Ogbonna’s 11th appearance this season for the Hammers, and probably his worst so far. The Italian wasn’t the only player at fault for this loss, but the manner of his giveaway was unforgivable for a side now firmly in contention for the drop.

As if things weren’t already bad enough for West Ham’s defense, they had to deal with a red hot Sanchez coming straight at them. The Chilean has always been dangerous, but his run at center-forward this season has taken his form to another level.

Arsene Wenger has used Sanchez as a lone striker in previous seasons, but it’s taken until now for him to really hit his stride this season, and the relationship he’s built up with Ozil has made them one of the most dangerous attacking combinations in the league.

The Hammers did churn out some good chances in the second half — where they held most of the possession until the 70th minute mark — but luck hasn’t been with them for much of the season.

Sanchez was rewarded for his earlier assist in the 72nd minute, taking a nice touch and speeding by full back Arthur Masuaku to run in on goal and drill a nice shot past Hammer’s keeper Darren Randolph.

The Sanchez show didn’t end there, as Arsenal went on to score three more goals in 10 minutes to complete a commanding 5-1 win over their local rivals.

It’s hard to say what would have happened had Ogbonna not gifted Arsenal an opportunity to take the lead, but the way they collapsed after Sanchez made it 2-0 was indicative of the weakness currently running through this team.

The Gunners were excellent, and few will be able to stop Sanchez in this form, but that won’t make Hammers manager Slaven Bilic feel any better about the result.

This just hasn’t been West Ham’s season. Bad luck, injuries and some poor performances have cost a team that looks great on paper. They have talent with Dimitri Payet, Michail Antonio, Manuel Lanzini and others, but it’s been a long time since they’ve shown it.

Fabregas shows his worth to Conte’s Chelsea

James Dudko, @JamesDudko

Just when you thought Antonio Conte was never going to start Cesc Fabregas again, he turned to the Spanish playmaker in the biggest game of Chelsea’s season. Not only did Fabregas answer his manager’s call in the 3-1 away win over Manchester City, he bellowed a full-throated shout to remind everyone at Chelsea and beyond he’s still valuable to the Premier League leaders.

It was Fabregas’ superbly lofted pass that released striker Diego Costa to equalize on the hour mark and permanently shift the momentum of the game Chelsea’s way. The contribution was just so typically Fabregas.

Few players are as prolific at splitting defenses and releasing runners as Fabregas. He’s a push-button chance dispenser who’s good for at least two passes threaded between the lines per game.

Fabregas’ unsurpassable vision and radar can change the fate of matches in an instant. It’s what he did to City on their own turf. It’s what the 29-year-old can do any time Conte trusts him.

Of course, Chelsea should already know about Fabregas’ enduring value. He came off the bench in the third league game of the season, a 2-1 victory at Watford. The winning goal came from Chelsea’s killer combination: Costa running onto a defense-splitting pass from, you guessed it, Fabregas.

The unmistakable Fabregas knack for turning a match Chelsea’s way with a single pass makes it all the more confusing Conte hasn’t trusted him more. Instead, the Blues gaffer has relied on the brawn of Nemanja Matic and N’Golo Kante in the middle.

Some fans may tell you Fabregas is a luxury in matches like Saturday’s. His creative flair and forward-thinking instincts weave pretty patterns on the pitch, but he’s too artsy for the serious business of staying compact and defending in the big games.

Those of us who still champion the beauty of the sport should be grateful Fabregas rebuffed those critiques in the headline fixture of the season so far.

Conte still might not be ready to trust Fabregas regularly, but he can’t leave his talents on the bench every week without hurting Chelsea’s title bid.

It said a lot about Chelsea and City that Conte was able to freshen up his team by bringing a world-class player in from the cold. By contrast, City’s Pep Guardiola could hardly do the same. In fact, if he takes anything away from this humbling defeat, it should be the sobering reminder his squad is bloated with too many mediocre players.

The mediocrity in City’s squad was highlighted by the players brought off the bench to try and turn around a marquee match. Guardiola inexplicably left Yaya Toure, always a man for the big occasions, out of the starting XI and didn’t bring him on until it was too late.

Toure couldn’t change things and neither could 20-year-old striker Kelechi Iheanacho. He looked hopelessly out of his depth while Sergio Aguero went missing in action until his Kung Fu-style attempt to take out David Luiz sparked a brawl in stoppage time.

The disparity in quality among City’s ranks was best summed up by accident-prone left-back Gael Clichy’s appearance for Leroy Sane. The latter was played out of position thanks to Guardiola’s bizarre decision to play 3-4-3, an alarming lack of trust in his own tactics. But a change in formation was never going to cover the holes in City’s squad.

Defensively they’re a mess, with Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones both calamitous, while the decision to replace goalkeeper Joe Hart with Claudio Bravo remains baffling. Things are also suspect up front, where City’s attack is still too reliant on Aguero.

City ooze talent and class going forward, but the makeup of this squad isn’t convincing enough to win a title.