Swansea v Leyton Orient

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In my personal opinion I hate watching football from behind the goals. I find it difficult to get a perspective on the game, almost impossible to have any opinion on whether a player may or may not be offside and sometimes the action down the other end just passes you by as you struggle to try and obtain some idea of what is going on. Maybe it's something that you get used to after a while but it's not for me on a regular basis.

With that in mind, maybe some of the comments in this report will be borne out of not being able to get a true picture on the game but it was Saturday, it was the Liberty Stadium, and therefore I will give it a go.

As the Liberty crowd welcomed the return of Roberto Martinez, making his home managerial bow after the midweek win over Rotherham, he was left with limited options on his team line up as his side was decimated by injuries. Therefore there were no major surprises in his team line up which read as follows

Willy

Tatey Izzy Painter Williams

Britts Craney KOL Robbo

LT10 Pav

Subs: Oakes, Chambers, Duffy, Jones, Butler

Leyton Orient came here for a point, there is little disputing that and the couple of shots that they had on target plays tribute to that as they insisted on ten men behind the ball wherever possible. But one thing we have learned from the Swansea City of this season is we find it hard to break down teams that do just that and therefore perhaps at this stage it should be no surprise - new manager or not - that we achieved a 0-0 draw.

Maybe it would have been difference if Craney - bursting through from midfield - hadn't managed to pull his shot wide when faced with a one on one with the keeper or if Izzy hadn't have managed to head into the floor and over when unmarked from a cross from the right hand side. If either of those had found the net then Orient would have had to change their ways but they were the best two chances of the game. Or certainly the best two chances that stick out in my mind anyway.

For the first 45 minutes though we probably did look as if a goal was just around the corner. Trundle seemed able to find space on the left reasonably often - created by Robbo moving into the centre more often - but hi balls into the box seemed easily dealt with by the Orient defence whilst Britton is clearly recovering his match fitness on the other side following his return to the side. With a patched up back four dealing with what little the visitors threw at them, Swansea created more chances for O'Leary and Trundle, who had a free kick tipped around the post by the Orient keeper.

Trundle was the only one to hit the back of the net all afternoon but his goal was wiped out by the raised linesman's flag which led to the half time scoreline being goalless but it probably did only seem a matter of time at this point until that changed.

I'm not sure what gets said at half time but whatever is said hasn't hot home this season and we invariably seem worse in the second half when you compare it to the front. From my seat behind the goal, I was at least comforted that the Swans would be attacking in front of me second half and, judging by the input of Orient, the bulk of the action should take place in front of me for the next 45 minutes. Which probably makes it sods law that more took place in the middle third rather than our attacking third. We had plenty of possession but we looked far less likely to score in the second half although Pav did have a late shot cleared off the line after some good work from Trundle. Trundle in fairness was having a busy afternoon and a sprawling save from Garner when one-on-one was the best chance that he had in the afternoon and the pain on his face when he saw the ball head for a corner was there for all to see.

Butler replaced Williams on 80 minutes and immediately looked a threat to the Orient defence - maybe 10 minutes more from him may have made a difference but by this point the visitors were all behind the ball as Chambers had been sent off for a second bookable offence - a high challenge on O'Leary.

The game petered into a tame draw as the clock ticked past the three minutes of stoppage time and the return from Roberto's opening two games was four points. And it is the same gap (four points) that separates us from the play offs at this moment in time but that could change with the right performance and right result at Prenton Park next weekend - surely nothing less than a win will do?

There are positives to take forward from the day and we should remember that a change of management will not bring an instant change in fortune. Roberto has a job ahead of him, and that job will be made easier when people return to fitness and the like. He will also be gaining a further idea of how he sees his squad and team shaping up from here on in and how many of yesterday's starting XI will actually feature in his strongest first XI is a question that only he knows the answer to.

Onwards and maybe upwards.

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