Bell is an interesting one. The fact he hasn’t ended up in the UK yet and he’s 26 is quite crazy.
Maybe that stint in Brondby where he struggled to make the team turned teams away?
He’s a great player but I’m not sure how he compares to a Stamenić or other 6s in the championship. Stamenić is very mobile and slick in possession and the added height and physicality with being able to drive the ball forward with speed.
Bell is a proper holder. He’s an engine that likes to sit and roam but he can’t get side to side like Marko in or out of possession. He’s not really someone who can get on the ball and start knocking it around or get past a man and start an attack.
Just some thoughts on why Bell hasn’t been picked up by an EFL club. I do think he could do well but maybe scouts etc see it differently.
Stamenic will absolutely eat in this league. I think he’s a one season player here at Swansea. A top 5 league side will pick him up after the World Cup or maybe even before. Marto
YellowAndBlack
He definitely played well, watching him play in that role that Bell does for the All Whites made me think Bell would definitely do well in the championship
Are you sure? He's a better player then Bell. I'd like to see Bell in the UK but feel that him and Rufer are well behind Marko now.
I think Bell’s career trajectory hasn’t helped. If he’d had a happier Denmark stint I think he would be there now. He’s back tracking well now, so the second bite of the cherry could be soon.
Stamenic looks to have improved out of sight. He just looks better every time I see him. I think the most impressive thing for me is that I feel he looks even better with the step up in pace. AW games are usually much much slower than this.
Well he's only playing 45-60 mins at the moment, so he should be able to keep up.
He's played what 5-10 UCL games, incl 3 against Man City. So he's come against better opponents before.
But yeah you can sense him quickly being an importnant player for the Swans. Be really interesting to see how he goes against Forest, if he plays that League Cup match.
My app has him starting at CB?? Occasionally makes a mistake on positions. Too much British football. No Belgium or Italian this season. And no access to Dutch or second tier French.
2-0 win on the road. Swans fans saying he was one of the standouts in the middle. They love his ability to glide around the pitch and dictate the game along with his astute technique on the ball.
7th on the ladder now, early days but good signs that Stamenic will be playing a lot of 90 min games this season which is only a positive for us All Whites fans.
Saving people from tuning in to this one - Marko has been ruled out of the Hull game with injury...
From the BBC.
The 23-year-old flew to Australia last week to link up with the New Zealand squad only to return without playing because he was deemed unfit.
"Marko felt something in his groin at Sheffield Wednesday," head coach Alan Sheehan said - "He's an honest guy so he travelled halfway round the world to pull out of training with New Zealand".
"We have had that scanned and he will definitely miss the weekend, which is disappointing as he has shown how important he is over the last couple of games."
Libby Cacace might be the only Kiwi in Championship action this weekend by the look of it.
Marko Stamenic has never played in the English Premier League but he's about to face Manchester City for the fourth time in his career https://t.co/SeFObTd7IR
Very tight start to the Champ. Only 3 points separating 2nd to 12th. A lot of draws happening among the middle packs which is keeping things very tight. It will obviously open up as the season goes on.
Swansea have the potential to get promoted imo. The frustration is mainly their fullbacks getting exposed way too often and the fact that they can’t figure out their best midfield. Stamenic and Galbraith seem pretty nailed on according to fans but they’re struggling to find the balance between attack and defence.
Questions have been raised on whether Sheehan is the man to take them to the top. The football at times can be quite a hard watch and it’s frustrating because they’ve got some amazing players that could easily step up into the bottom end prem sides.
Marko Stamenic: “I’ve had the opportunity to play them probably more times than I’ve wanted. I played against them in Copenhagen and at Red Star. My dad was laughing that the odds are more often than not that you’re going to draw Man City in this cup — look what happened! No, [Haaland] didn’t play in [New Zealand’s friendly] against Norway but I’m hoping he plays here. Of course. You want the best players to play, so you can test yourselves against the best. But we won’t treat him any differently. We’ll stick to our game plan.”
Their Slovenian striker Žan Vipotnik can hit a ball.
And he wins the ball, sucks in two players and makes the pass that sets away that second strike which gets tipped into the post.
Fark. Reckon I’m a Vipotnik fan after that!
That assist he pulls in two to three defenders before passing, though there’s still a bit to do.
Good signs! Maybe needs to be doing that and feeding McCowatt or Just or Randall. It’s certainly another option for the 10 ahead of Singh, with Bell and Thomas in the 6. Good times to be a Kiwi fan this week.