After two very contrasting starts to the league, Nottingham Forest hosted Swansea City and it had importance at both ends of the table. Forest have struggled in front of goal and their woes continued today. They had 13 shots with only 1 on target and they recorded an xG of 1.37 in today’s game despite not scoring. Forest played in their usual 4-2-3-1 formation with Lyle Taylor leading the line.
Meanwhile Swansea rotated the personnel in their team today but still played in their usual 3-4-1-2 formation with wide wingbacks and ball playing centre-backs, with Marc Guehi coming back into the side from injury. Swansea took the lead at the end of the first half after dominating the ball and the score line didn’t change in the second half. Forest had more of the ball in the second half but were too slow in possession and it was fairly easy for Swansea to defend.
Ratings:
- A1 – Very good, could play higher
- A2 – Strong potential to play higher
- B1 – Good, strong player at level
- B2 – Potential to be a strong player at level
- C – Average for their level, rewatch
- D – Below average in this match
Freddie Woodman
Player Profile:
- Nationality: English
- Age: 23
- Date of Birth: 04/03/1997
- Current Club: Swansea City, on loan from Newcastle United
- Career: Crystal Palace (Y), Newcastle United, Hartlepool (L), Crawley (L), Kilmarnock (L), Aberdeen (L), Swansea (L)
- Position: Goalkeeper
- Preferred foot: Right
Woodman had very little to do today as the opposition only had one shot on target, but he did well to save it as he had to react quickly to the shot on target that was hit hard and low. He saved it well with his feet and got good distance on the save so it didn’t rebound back into the danger area. Woodman is only 6’1 which is relatively short for a goalkeeper, and this is maybe why he didn’t come for many crosses. He stayed on his line from most corners and crosses, which wasn’t a bad thing as the crosses weren’t right on top of him, he did come for one corner and got something on it but he wasn’t overly convincing or controlling of his penalty box.
One of Woodman’s assets is his calmness on the ball and ability to play out from the back, he was able to play around pressing forwards with ease and had good accuracy and pace on his shorter passes. Woodman was clearly trusted on the ball with his defenders which is a great asset as it makes them more comfortable on the ball knowing they have a last resort to go back to keeper on the ball if they have no other options and are being pressed. Woodman had slightly less accurate long passing, he always played it in the rough area of who he was aiming for which was good, but some of his goal kicks were easily headed away by the Nottingham Forest defenders.
Overall, it was a competent display from Woodman who is clearly a very good goalkeeper looking at the stats. Swansea’s expected goals against for the season is 14.42, but Swansea have only conceded 8 goals this season so they are massively overachieving which will be due to a combination of opposition missed chances, but I suspect Woodman’s good shot stopping ability is playing a large role also. His ball playing ability is at a Premier League level, the only concern I have is with his aerial dominance, but I’ll have to watch more of him.
Rating – A2
Marc Guehi
Player Profile:
- Nationality: English
- Age: 20
- Date of Birth: 13/07/2000
- Current Club: Swansea City, on loan from Chelsea
- Career: Chelsea, Swansea (L)
- Position: Centre Back
- Preferred foot: Right
Guehi has a physical build however he isn’t that for a centre-back standing at 6’0. This didn’t stop him competing aerially for the ball as he has a good leap on him and he uses his physicality well to compete with the striker. He got into a good standing position to win the header. Guehi applied good pressure when the opposition striker received the ball at his feet and he forced them backwards using good strength and jockeying. The loanee defender had good awareness of runs being made in behind and he gave himself an extra couple of yards when 1v1 defending to keep up with Forest’s quick striker.
Guehi did become a bit unstuck when defending the tricky Anthony Knockaert. He had poor body positioning and was too upright which made it easy for Knockaert to come inside and get a shot away. Guehi wasn’t that agile and couldn’t turn quick enough to get a block in which led to a good chance. However, this was his only fault in the game. Guehi was very impressive on the ball. He was very comfortable and wasn’t afraid to receive the ball even when being pressed. He was comfortable passing with both feet which was handy when playing around the press. The England U21 international had very good accuracy in his long range passing in particular. His ability to switch the play was a great asset for Swansea’s fluid style of football and showed good vision and awareness of where the space was.
Guehi is becoming one of the leagues best defenders and is crucial to Swansea’s system in playing out from the back. He is a big reason as to why Swansea have the best defence in the league. He looks like he has the physicality and technical ability to make the step up to the Premier League.
Rating – A2
Written by Andrew Hunter – @HunterAnalysis on Twitter