Kyle Gammon Looks Forward To Monday's Play Off Final with his big match preview

The History

They call it the most expensive game in football and on 30^th May 2011 it will be Swansea City’s to win. With the clock counting down to the big game the city has been put into a jubilant mood, with even the players joining in with the fantastic effort by the staff at the Liberty to supply in excess of 40,000 tickets to the fans. But Swansea City fans will know all too well that reaching the play-off final does not mean the game is won.

The Swans have failed to win in two play-off finals in recent history, losing 1-0 to Northampton Town in the old Division Three in 1997 and losing on penalties to Barnsley in the League One play-offs only 5 years ago. However since then there has been a lot of change around the club since their last defeat.

The team has adapted to their new home at the Liberty and a new style of play initially started under Martinez’s reign which has since flourished under the successive managerial appointments of Paulo Sousa and current manager Brendan Rodgers. This free flowing adaptation of total football has wowed many opposition managers and pundits alike, giving the Swans the label of playing “the best football in the division”. However in my opinion, it is under Brendan that we’ve seen our best football.

However it isn’t just about Swansea, there is one team left standing in our way on the path becoming the first Welsh team in the Premier League – the team who lambasted our manager during his time there – Reading.

Brian McDermott took the reins at the Madejski after Rodgers departed from the position and slowly but surely regrouped the team spirit and re-incorporated a 4-4-2 system. McDermott’s efforts were reflected on the pitch, with Reading making a valiant rise up the table after a disappointing start to the season to finish the 09/10 season in 9^th. Similarly this season they also mounted another fantastic run near the tail end of the season to squeeze out other play-off contenders such as Leeds, Burnley, Millwall, Leicester and Hull to reach 5^th place and clinch a play-off semi-final game against Cardiff.

The Tactics

The system that Rodgers has implemented has almost turned into a blend of Martinez and Sousa’s influences. Martinez’s style was full of attacking intent but lacked the defensive qualities needed to excel in the division, whereas Sousa was the opposite – a rock solid defence with too much of an emphasis to walk the ball into the net. Rodgers has melded these ideologies with the best home defence in the league and goals scored aplenty.

Reading have also established a respected playing style of their own, relying on their attacking talents to counter attack teams very effectively. Tricky, pacey wingers such as Jimmy Kebe, Jobi McAnuff and Hal Robson-Kanu perfectly compliment their strike force lead by the lethal Shane Long and I think it is on the wings that the game may be decided on.

Nathan Dyer and Scott Sinclair have proven to be formidable for the Swans on the flanks and will give veteran full backs Andy Griffin and Ian Harte a torrid time when running at them with momentum. But the aforementioned Reading wingers may also spring the Swansea full backs. Alan Tate will be deputising at left back and will be less likely to join the offence in comparison to right back Angel Rangel who has the pace and quality to assist the wide men in front of him. However Rodgers will no doubt be well aware of the potential threat of Kebe, McAnuff et al. after working with and observing the Reading to team so I’d expect the forward runs from defence to be few and far between.

So are Swansea well equipped enough to cope with their style? Well the history books for this season would say yes, with the Swans doing the double over Reading in two 1-0 victories. The solid Swansea defence seems to be up to the job of nullifying Reading’s counter attacking style but with the loss of Neil Taylor and rumours of skipper Garry Monk having some fitness issues then the defence will be pushed but I feel they’ll still be suitably prepared.

One thing to mention is that these victories both came on or before the turn of the New Year (with the home tie being played on New Year’s Day 2011). Since then both teams have strengthened their squads offensively with the Swans bringing in Luke Moore from West Brom and Fabio Borini from Chelsea and Reading bringing in Mathieu Manset from Hereford. Manset is unlikely to push a starting position for the Royals but the additions of Moore and more importantly Borini have given the Swans that extra attacking quality and intent to grab more goals than would’ve been expected in their previous encounters.

The Prediction

The omen’s are in our favour, but football is a funny old game, and to predict such an important match as a fan would be ludicrous in my own superstitious standards. However if we play the way we have been in the past few months then I’ll gladly let Brendan and the lads do the talking on the pitch.But what we can do, as fans, is keep our support for the players and let them hear what 40,000 voices sound like. It’ll be an experience.

Photo: Action Images

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