In Praise Of Gaupa

This trend hasn't even managed to escape Roberto Martinez on his arrival at Swansea City. If ever a phrase encapsulated what a manager's team was about then it is Martinez's '¡Guapa!' in relation to the way his Swans side are currently playing. If you don't watch Sky Sports' Spanish football coverage (where Roberto makes regular appearances as a pundit) then don't worry it's a long story, but if you do you'll know exactly what I'm talking about! In short, the word 'guapa' might be how your average Spaniard might describe, say, Penelope Cruz or our very own Catherine Zeta-Jones when she was in 'Zorro' and anyone who has watched the Swans this year will appreciate just how apt that word is in relation to the style of football on display at the Liberty Stadium at present.

There will undoubtedly be some cynics reading this who will point to a not so 'guapa' total of just 1 win from our opening three games and it amazes me how supporters can continue to focus on the smallest of downsides. Despite it being commonly acknowledged by our opposition in those games (Oldham and Nottingham Forest - both sides with promotion aspirations) that we played them off the park and we were simply unfortunate in both, some sections of the support continue to show no patience whatsoever. If any further proof were needed of our credentials then the pre season friendly 2-0 win over Levante provides it. Yes, pre-season results do not matter but I can tell you now that performances do. The way we managed to out-pass and out-move a side from La Liga (In terms of technique the best league there is) for much of the game was quite astounding for a side in the third tier of English football.

At the same time, it has to be remembered that Arsenal have not featured in the Premiership title race for the past 2 seasons and over the summer, Argentina's seemingly invincible hugely talented line up, featuring the likes of Messi, Riquelme, Tevez, Veron and Aimar could not bring home the Copa America they seemed so destined to claim. Both these sides ended up trying to be too beautiful with their football, going for miracle passes and looking to mesmerise their opponents with unnecessary tricks and skills whilst forgetting about the sole objective in a game of football, to score goals.

However, I don't see Martinez's philosophy as being quite the same as the aforementioned sides. In fact the Brazil side that won South America's top prize might actually be a similar model. 'Guapa' is not trying to walk the ball into the net like Arsenal. Neither is it bringing together a group of vastly talented playmakers and hoping the can destroy sides with their tricks and ability to produce moments of magic like Argentina did in Venezula, or indeed Brazil did during the World Cup in Germany prior to Dunga taking over.

'Guapa' involves, fast passing, fast movement and spreading the ball across the pitch to stretch a defence and open up holes from which balls can be delivered into the opposition penalty box for strikers to feed off. The key to this is clearly Ferrie Bodde who has been outstanding to date in the middle of the park with his quick, accurate distribution. His range of passing can allow the likes of Britton, Robinson, Anderson and Rangel to get forward and produce dangerous balls for the front men to either attack in the air or run on to. It is vital that we don't allow ourselves to be bullied out of games either so a physical presence is still needed so Darren Pratley and possibly Owain Tudur-Jones when he returns will have their roles to play even if at first sight they may look slightly out of place.

The idea of 'Guapa' is not just to be pretty, it's about winning games and to do that we need goalscorers. When thinking about the men charged with finishing off the moves, it is interesting to ponder how Lee Trundle would have fitted into this system and with his propensity to drop deeper in search of the ball, to attempt to beat his man and show off his array of tricks it perhaps would have disrupted our quick passing flow somewhat. Trunds is a class act though, and I'm sure he'd have been able to adapt but we might not be missing him hugely at the moment. Darryl Duffy does need to find his goalscoring boots soon or 'guapa' will not produce the results it deserves. From what we saw of him at the tail end of last season with his pace and finishing I have every confidence that he will and alongside Jason Scotland our front two can get 40 goals between them. If not however, we will have to hope that the untried Bussi can bring something to the squad or we'll be forced to look elsewhere.

Whilst many might not agree I do think that John Hartson could have a role to play, not just as a battering ram to use as a 'Plan B' which we will undoubtedly require at some stage but having done it at the very highest level for Celtic and Wales I think he would positively thrive on the quality of service he would be provided with by 'guapa'. Who better, with defences at sixes and sevens, to have arriving in the box to attack pinpoint crosses and passes provided by the quality players we have on the flanks than Big John? It doesn't look like happening though so excuse me for deviating from the matter at hand.

Even if one famous Jack doesn't become part of the Spanish Revolution instigated by Roberto Martinez then the ideology of another is already there. Martinez works closely with John Toshack as part of Sky's Spanish football coverage and he knows that the style of football employed by Tosh during the glory years is how to really get the Swans fans buzzing, as opposed to the long ball football of his predecessor. He has spoken of his total commitment to this style of play and his firm belief that it will bring not only the results but also the performances Swansea City has been crying out for since the 80s.

When 'guapa' works I can see very few sides coping with it and it was this style with which Brazil dumbfounded their critics and those who had labelled Argentina as unstoppable to gain a crushing 3-0 win. They had wide players Maicon, Daniel Alves and Josue bombing on down the flanks to supply the strikers, being constantly put into space by the crisp, precise passing of the imperious Elano and Miniero, with Gilerto Silva alongside them ensuring they maintained a solid, physical aspect to their play. So, as the terrace favourite goes, it might well be just like watching Brazil this season, but maybe not the Brazil of Ronaldinho and Kaka that immediately springs to mind!

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