This Is Our Time ~ Swansea City (FIFA 16 Dynasty)

[Number999]

Swansea City stun and clobber Arsenal, win 4-1

Game Recap: That has got to be Ooovaro's best performance as a manager to date.

Simply a stunning performance by Swansea City in all aspects. Arsenal haven't been the greatest club to start off the season. Entering the game they were in 15th place in the Barclays Premier League and had recently lost their last three matches in a row. But, against such a massive club even at home... what a damn performance Swansea. You came out early and strong, and finished in dominant fashion. THIS is a great victory.

The first goal came in splendid fashion in the first 5 minutes. Gylfi Sigurdsson had come forward and they were just a little bit beyond the halfway line when Arsenal's defense was all over the place. Breel Embolo was ahead of him and made a run to press the back-line and Sigurdsson timed a beautiful pass to get him through on goal. Instead of going all out to chase him down, Monreal and Yalcin raised their hands looking for an offside call but it never came. Embolo took on Gabriel Gasparotto (Arsenal's goalie) 1 on 1 and slotted it away to take a 1-0 lead in the first five minutes.

Yet Swansea City weren't able to hold onto that lead in the whole 1st half. A lucky header flipped in by Giroud on the edge of the box found it settle right at Theo Walcott's feet. He fired a shot 1 on 1 against Mvogo but he hit the crossbar to send it sailing back into the center of the box, unfortunately, SOMEHOW Santi Cazorla out-positioned and jumped both Kyle Naughton and Kaan Ayhan for a header goal that tied up the game at 1-1 in the 31st minute. What the hell defenders?

They went into the 1st half all tied up at 1-1 and Swansea City fans were feeling slightly uneasy based on the club's recent BPL performances. But they finally brokethrough all because of Jefferson Montero. Montero was racing down the top wing and had to get past Arsenal's centerback Gabriel. He did a fake shot to cut inside and get into the box but Gabriel went to get the ball and out-muscle Montero and failed. Montero sprinted past him, the other Arsenal centerback in Yalcin came forward to try and stop Montero's shot but he nut-megged him to send the shot through his legs, Gabriel Gasparotto was left motionless as it found the far back of the net as Swansea City once again took the lead as the crowd went insane.

In the 79th minute Jefferson Montero nearly pulled off the same exact move again racing down the top wing. But this time he crossed it in to Eder who was at the far post (who had been subbed on for Andre Ayew since he got injured halfway through the match). But Eder, after having such a good finish against Morecambe, within 2 feet SMASHED the ball into the left post. What a stupid finish by him that sent the ball flying backwards.

Luckily, Montero would do the same thing again just five minutes later in the 84th minute. This time he crossed it into to Breel Embolo at the center of the box he put the ball away nicely to essentially end the match and chances of an Arsenal comeback. The lad has also gotten a lot better at finishing these past two matches after that loss against Aston Villa. Finally the 4th goal came on a breakaway by Eder considering Arsenal had gone all-out attacking. It's not a brilliant goal, but Eder needed it considering that fail earlier in clanking it off the left upright.

So while Arsenal have NOT looked good through these first few matches, this is a tremendous win. It gets Swansea City back on pace telling everyone that it wasn't a fluke to start the season. Now with November coming up and having so many more less matches, it should allow time for Andre Ayew to heal as we await and update on his status.

Stats from Swansea City 4 - Arsenal 1

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Other Pictures from Swansea City 4 - Arsenal 1

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Montero nut-megging Yalcin, beating Gabriel, scoring


Andre Ayew down on the ground and in pain vs Arsenal

[Number999]

Massive blow for Swansea: Ayew out 3 months

It seems that Swansea City just can't keep the whole team healthy at once.

After losing their star centerback for two months or so, it was noticeable that Swansea City missed Ashley Williams and now that he has returned it seems as though he has started to find his footing once again it seems that Swansea City have also now turned it around once again following two large victories against Morecambe to advance in the Capital One Cup as well as thrashing Arsenal at home in a huge BPL game, 4-1.

Sadly in the midsts of that game around the 55th minute or so, Andre Ayew went down and couldn't get off the pitch. Swansea City stopped play and assisted him off the field, Eder was brought on in his replacement and you could tell he was holding his knee or leg intently. As it turns out after the game it was discovered he had a torn calf muscle that would sideline him for over 3 months. Felix Ooovaro admitted after the game that he wanted to take him out earlier but left him in, and now regrets that choice.

Ooovaro: At halftime I wanted to bring in Eder in replacement of Ayew. But, considering Eder had played the game a couple days ago against Morecambe in replacement of Montero I wanted to leave Ayew out there just a bit longer. By then more players on there side would be fatigued, and even though Eder wasn't 100% rested up he would still have significantly more stamina to go out there and be effective. Sadly, I didn't make the substitution because of that and it's on my shoulders that we'll be without Ayew for the next couple of months which is a huge blow considering how huge he is to this club. I do believe our reserves and youngsters can step up in his absence though."

The replacement for him exactly isn't know at the moment. It was starting to develop a lot of chemistry as a trio in Ayew/Embolo/Montero, but I guess that'll have to wait. A mix of Eder, Leroy Sane, and others will be expected to replace Ayew out on the left wing and we shall wait and see if they can do a suitable job replacing him like Ooovaro expects. But now, they must take on a huge game which you wouldn't have thought would be a big game in the offseason. On November 7th, 2015 Swansea City play Norwich. The shocker? Norwich is in 2nd place in the BPL. They have 20 points and have somehow grabbed 6 wins, 2 draws, and 3 losses through their first 11 games.

Swansea City of course have also had a hot start to the season with 5 wins, 3 draws, and 3 losses. It's a huge match early in the season considering both these clubs aren't expected to be in this sort of positioning later on in the year. It's #2 vs #4 in the rankings and you know the teams behind them such as Manchester City, Manchester United, and so forth and rooting for a draw so they can start their slow decline. Chelsea have emerged to 1st place after that opening day loss to Swansea. Is it plausible that one of these teams can take the bull by the horns and get a W? Perhaps. Swansea are playing on the road so let's see what they can do.

[Number999]

Mvogo plays magnificently, Swansea beat Norwich 1-0

Game Recap: Yvon Mvogo just had one of those watch out for him in the future games.

This is the definition of one of those games where your goalkeeper wins you a match. For the majority of the game other than that one goal and when Norwich City felt the need to start going ultra attacking, they couldn't generate much. The one man who did step up though? Yvon Mvogo. Scooping up his first career clean-sheet was simply marvelous, plus he earned it too. We'll get to his notable saves later, but first let's congratulate Gyfli Sigurdsson for getting back on the score-card with a goal.

Jefferson Montero cut inside against Bassong and he later sent in a hard cross on a ground pass to Gylfi Sigurdsson. Funnily enough, he banged it off the inside of the far left up-right but since it was on the inside, it bounced off and went up and into the top of the back of the net. In just the 13th minute against the 2nd placed team in the Barclays Premier League, Swansea City jumped out to a 1-0 lead, plus Montero continued his form.

The chances after that for Swansea City were lack-luster. But the saves by Mvogo were tremendous. Just so many huge saves, with one huge over-extending shot against Redmond in the 32nd minute and then another one right before the 1st half ended on a brilliant volley by Mulumbu which is the one pictured above. It was just so hard hit but he deflected it off his hand as it went out of play for a corner, but damn those are the kinds of reflexes as to why Ooovaro brought him on in.

Swansea had a couple of chances later on when Norwich went with a more attacking style but they were never quite able to capitalize. They really should though be thrilled with Jefferson Montero's recent performances. The Ecuadorian has really been turning it up as of late and it's shown with Swansea's ability to score more goals. Norwich will likely start falling back to reality after a loss like this at home, but it's been a nice start to the season for them and their fans regardless.

Now with international games starting to take place, Felix Ooovaro will still be training with the young members of the team not selected continuing to develop their skills and hopefully making them even better players. Huge things are expected for all of these kids after-all.

Stats from Norwich City 0 - Swansea City 1

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Norwich City:
Goals: 0
Shots: 6
Shots on Target: 4
Tackles: 11
Fouls: 1
Possession: 57%
Shot Accuracy: 66%
Passing Percentage: 88%
Man of the Match: Andre Wisdom (6.8)
Goals scored by -----
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Swansea City:
Goals: 1
Shots: 4
Shots on Target: 3
Tackles: 3
Fouls: 2
Possession: 43%
Shot Accuracy: 75%
Passing Percentage: 83%
Man of The Match: Yvon Mvogo (7.6)
Goals scored by Gylfi Sigurdsson (13)

Other Pictures from Norwich City 0 - Swansea City 1

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Sigurdsson celebrating with Leroy Sane after his goal

[Number999]

Embolo continues great form, Bournemouth lose 2-0

Game Recap: It wasn't easy for the first 75 minutes, but Swansea eventually broke through.

Swansea City played an attacking style and obviously set out to be more offensive focused following that game against Norwich City. They had a multitude of days to train and it seems Felix Ooovaro was focused on working with Embolo on his finishing and look at how that turned out. The funny thing is, for the majority early part of the game aside from a few chances, Swansea City didn't really generate all that much.

In the 10th minute, Jefferson Montero raced down the bottom wing and was able to get past two Bournemouth defenders to set up a beautiful shot for Embolo....except he banged it off the crossbar and even though it looked like it went in, it bounced right back out and was eventually ruled no goal. A very tough break for Swansea City and it would have been much worse if they didn't end up scoring 2 goals later on.

Despite having numerous shots on target, it took all the way until the 78th minute for Swansea City to score and it took one hell of a series of passes for it to happen. Just for an idea, Franck Tabanou was subbed on in the 76th minute and had just come into the game. He was down at around the halfway line and down the bottom wing but he saw Eder sprinting down the top wing. He flinged a ball all the way up to him and it was simply perfect since he caught it with momentum and he split two defenders while doing so.

He beat yet another defender closing inside the box and tried to finesse it around the keeper when it was saved, but as it started to roll away from goal and a defender nearly got there, Embolo extended his leg to tap it in and gift a 1-0 lead to Swansea City. The crowd erupted in cheers, and finally Swansea City had broken through against these bastards.

The second goal came in similar fashion like the one Embolo missed earlier. Except this time it was Leroy Sane beating a defender 1 on 1 by shielding the ball, cutting up the side of the box and then seeing Embolo get free from his defender marking him to tap it in near-post in the 86th minute. With that, AFC Bournemouth's chances of a comeback were laid to rest and for the remainder of the game they were still unable to get a shot on target. Great defensive performance with two goals.

Breel Embolo sure has turned it around since that game against Aston Villa. He has scored 5 goals in his last 4 games and really seems to be in-form now. Perhaps all that training with Felix Ooovaro during their time off has allowed him to grow exponentially. Now Swansea City aren't set to play a game until December, and during that span of time more training will be conducted as well as more time for Andre Ayew to heal on up from his injury. He's gonna be needed if Swansea City are serious about this run.

Stats for Swansea City 2 - AFC Bournemouth 0

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Other Pictures from Swansea City 2 - AFC Bournemouth 0

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Embolo with his 2nd goal from a pass from Sane

[Number999]

Swansea and Liverpool play in deep snow, draw 2-2

Game Recap: It was Christian Benteke vs Breel Embolo tonight.

It was a snowy and gloomy match in Liverpool today yet it didn't ruin one hell of a match between these two sides. Through the 1st half each of these sides weren't able to break a barrier. It seems like they were adjusting to the snow and the conditions on the field (so much to the point where there was a potential chance the match could be rescheduled). But eventually, each side adjusted and you had a 4-goal game.

The first of those came from Christian Benteke in the 65th minute. Beautiful play between James Milner and Roberto Firmino eventually got the defense rattled. Miler passed the ball to the edge of the box to Nathaniel Clyne who found an open Christian Benteke in the center of the box. It was Kaan Ayhan's job to mark him but regardless he failed, went it for the attempted block with his body and missed, and the ball went right past Mvogo to give Liverpool a 1-0 lead in a game that was scoreless.

Luckily it didn't take very long for Swansea City to respond. In the 68th minute, Jefferson Montero was subbed off for Eder. Eder out-muscled Nathaniel Clyne to get around him and into the box, when he would eventually be pushed and shoved to the ground in which a penalty would be called. Clyne wasn't given a card, but he did gift away the lead as Breel Embolo took the penalty for Eder and put it in the top left corner as Liverpool's goalie Adam Bogdan couldn't do anything about it. 1-1 now just 5 minutes after Benteke's goal.

The most infuriating part about Liverpool's 2nd goal was that it was a self-inflicted wound. Kyle Naughton had the ball all the way in Swansea City's territory in the bottom lefthand corner. He was feeling pressured by Kolo Toure and felt the need to get the ball out. He tried to pass the ball to Kaan Ayhan but he was being marked by Daniel Sturridge. It didn't help that the pass wasn't the greatest, and it allowed Sturridge to fight him off the ball, tip a pass on over to Benteke who was being covered by Ashley Williams but was just half a second late as Benteke smashed the ball in the top left corner. Now it was 2-1 Liverpool and it was as if they'd won it.

Luckily there was some 90th minute magic by Swansea City's attackers. Eder was able to get past his man and whip in a cross, Embolo originally shot it right at Bogdan who saved it, but the ball deflected back to Eder who sent in another cross to Embolo and this time he put the ball away. The defenders was lacks-adasical and on the rebound they all went for the ball leaving Embolo wide open instead of marking him, bad defense Rodgers.

It ended in a 2-2 draw, and considering the conditions it was a pretty damn thrilling match to kick-off the match of December. Let's just hope in the future and at home Swansea City don't have to deal with these sorts of conditions or you're going to see some ugly passes.

Stats from Liverpool 2 - Swansea City 2

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Other Pictures from Liverpool 2 - Swansea City 2

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Embolo is starting to realize how good he really is

[Number999]

Felix Ooovaro agrees to be Switzerland's new manager

Well that's a bit of a doozy...

Just under a couple of months ago, Felix Ooovaro stated that he did not expect to see himself coaching internationally anytime soon. He stated that his entire focus was on helping Swansea City win games and that he'd only consider international jobs once he felt he had the Swansea City job under control and felt like he truly knew what he was doing. Now though, it appears his opinion has changed. Breaking news coming from bbcsport.com released information that Felix Ooovaro and Switzerland had agreed on a deal where he would manage their international team for the next 12 months.

It comes off as a bit of a stunner. Reportedly, Ooovaro had received offers for coaching internationally from Norway, Northern Ireland, Peru, Switzerland, Sweden, Boliva, and Chile. But finally, he decided to agree upon his decision to go with Switzerland all of a sudden after a couple of months pondering the offer. Of course he was berated with media questions, and settled many people's questions with these remarks.

Ooovaro: "I know I'm going to be asked a lot about my previous statements regarding international management and I'll settle it with this. A couple months ago, I was still just learning the ropes. I still don't know what I don't know when it comes to this job and I still have plenty to learn. I do feel like we're in a good position right now and due to our performance, when I received the Switzerland offer I was intrigued if I'm being honest. I spent a month pondering it, and then went to the Swansea City board to see if they'd allow me to explore international opportunities. They were terrific with it and agreed. But, I wanted Switzerland to make sure they knew what they were signing up for. I explained that if I ever felt I was losing my grip on Swansea City because of the international job, I would re-sign with no hard feelings. They agreed to all of my requests, and for that I'm grateful to say I'm the new manager of Switzerland and hope to bring much success here."

Fascinating to say the least. It's a huge move for Felix Ooovaro but it makes sense when you look at his team. His star-man who's played in 14 matches for him in Breel Embolo has 11 goals and 3 assists. He's from Switzerland and is expected to be the face of Swiss football in the future. His current goalkeeper is Yvon Mvogo who's also from Switzerland. It seems quite evident that the board of Switzerland liked the connections being made there and now hopefully he'll be able to bring some success on the international stage like the ones he's brought to Swansea in the BPL.

Finally, among the expectations for Switzerland for Ooovaro are quite interesting to speculate. The 2018 World Cup is still far away but the 2016 European Championship is nearing closer and closer. With a potential strong performance there if he decides to select Breel Embolo, may make for a very nice love triangle between all three parties moving forward. Plus, perhaps you'll start seeing an abundance of new Swiss players at Swansea City considering the connections likely ahead of them.

[Number999]

Leicester City embarrass Swansea City in the snow, 3-0

Game Recap: That was a nightmare start to a nightmare ending.

It is the worst loss under Felix Ooovaro's tenure and it was not a pretty loss. At home, following a tough draw on the road in the snow at Anfield against Liverpool, you had a chance to return home and get a win against Leicester City before going on the road again next week against Manchester City. Instead, you come right out of the gate and just get wrecked. This isn't the best game to have just after announcing you've accepted a deal to be Switzerland's international manager and will start criticism.

In just the 7th minute, Shinji Okazaki wrecked Ashley Williams with some nice skills moves to get into the top of the box area, before whipping in a hard and low cross to Gokhan Inler who was waiting at the far post and volleyed it hard as hell into the back of the net to take an early lead. Kaan Ayhan did his best to try and block the cross but he was just too behind the play. He sure is seemingly at the fault of many of these goals that Swansea City end up conceding, and it didn't get better from there.

In the 19th minute, Kante found a cross up to Swansea City player Nathan Dyer who is out on loan at Leicester City. He hit him for a header just on the edge of the box as an assist to Shinji Okazaki who had started to move into the box and hit a one-touch shot past Yvon Mvogo to take a 2-0 lead just like that. Perhaps it's the snow or something else, but Swansea City's defense did not look very strong against Leicester City for whatever reason. It seems like the crosses just confused the hell out of the defense.

But even with those early goals they allowed, Swansea City actually got multiple really good chances this game before the end of the 1st half. Jefferson Montero hit a crazy shot at him that Kasper Schmeichel (Leicester's goalie) just deflected off despite him cutting up the edge of the box and firing one in. Then in the 38rd minute, Breel Embolo had a vintage moment where he got around a defender and had a clear shot on goal and just smashed it right into the right post to send the ball flying backwards. Two chances just like that to make it 2-2 and you failed miserably.

The mistakes kept on coming, Leroy Sane set up a PERFECT chance for Martin Odegaard on a cross on the ground and he just missed the entire chance in horrific fashion in the 43rd minute. To be fair to Leicester City, they were also generating other chances during this time and missing but man... you're at Liberty Stadium. You should be putting these away in front of your own club and fans.

Finally though, the 3rd and final goal for Leicester City came on a free kick conceded by a yellow card by Neil Taylor right on the bottom edge of the box. Of course it was Christian Fuchs whipping in a cross that found the head of Dean Hammond as Yvon Mvogo out-stretched but couldn't react fast enough. So just like that you let Leicester City blow you out in front of those 20k fans who came out to see you despite it snowing miserably in Wales at this time of year, not the sorta performance you want lads.

Oh, and next week you have to face Manchester City on the road. Yikes.

Stats from Swansea City 0 - Leicester City 3

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Other Pictures from Swansea City 0 - Leicester City 3

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None :/

[FudgyBiscuits]

Ouch, looks like you've hit a bit of topsy-turvy form lately, fantastic win against Arsenal and then slipping up against Leicester, still am sure you can steady the ship, good career mode so far!