Long long way to go, but Swansea getting promoted would be O for Oarsome. Fingers crossed. And yeah why not bring in either Bindon or Surman as well for a Kiwi trio at the Swans.
Niche Cache
With all these New Zealanders in the English Championship this season, it’d be choice if at least one of their clubs promoted. It’s been a long time since we last had a Premier League debutant and we’ve seen in recent years that merely signing with an EPL club does not equate to playing for them (Alex Paulsen, Marko Stamenić, Tyler Bindon...). The best bet for promotion might be Swansea City. Not only because it’s double money since they’ve got two NZers... but also because there’s genuine buzz around this team. First full season under coach Vitor Matos, lots of exciting additions, an enjoyable playing style. The days are as early as they get on that front but they’ve begun in the right fashion with a 2-1 victory against Stoke City.
This match was extra fun because Swansea brought defensive midfielder Jay Fulton into the line-up (he got man of the match in an excellent performance) which meant Marko Stamenić and Elijah Just were paired together in the more advanced midfield roles. More so with Just, obviously, but seeing Stamenić with licence to push up into the attacking penalty area is always an enticing prospect. It didn’t start so great with Swansea’s initial possession spoiled by a single lapse allowing Eric Mocat to thump in a goal off the crossbar for Stoke. But some clever retention out near the sideline by Stamenić sparked a move that ended in Joseph Opoku slamming home a deflected effort from close-ish to make it 1-1 (22’) and with Swansea continuing to boss possession and win duels around the park, eventually Adam Idah bunted in a winner with his first touch after being subbed on (66’). Again Stamenić was involved in the build-up, splitting a pass through pressure to find space.
Eli Just was subbed as part of the triple change that saw Idah introduced. Quieter game from him here as he continues to work on his combos with these new teammates, with couple instances where he was open in the middle and guys didn’t look in his direction. Still heaps of drifting around and getting things rolling for his team but not one where he had any major highlights... which was all good because it allows us focus on a tremendous Marko Stamenić performance.
Stamenić was a late window transfer last season having done preseason with Nottingham Forest. He then tragically lost his father a few months later. Chuck in a managerial change and the shadow of the World Cup and while he was good last season... there’s every reason to think his second season is going to blow the first one out of the water. He flexed a fair bit of that against Stoke where he played the full ninety, was involved in the early phases of both goals, dominated his duels on the ground and in the air, had a header on target from a corner... and most enthralling were the occasional little flair touches that suggested a player full of confidence, comfortable with the tempo, and ready to make a mark. Stamenić was the first player embraced by his coach after the final whistle with a big ol’ bear hug.
Vitor Matos on his midfield:
“Yeah, we thought that could be an important change to give a little bit of stability, a little bit more security in the building phases. I think they were both brilliant [Stamenic & Fulton]. I’m really happy with both, I think they had a really good game.”
One other thing to be aware of is that Aussie centre-back Cameron Burgess ruptured his Achilles tendon in the EFL Cup defeat to Birmingham City last week. Burgess, who was part of the Socceroos World Cup squad, has been a key player in central defence alongside club captain Ben Cabango... and now he’s set to miss most if not all of the Championship season. Stephen Welsh was signed from Motherwell in the summer, (beating Elijah Just by a few weeks in his parallel move) so he lined up with Cabango for the Stoke game.
But they’re probably going to need to find another senior CB from somewhere if they’re going to make it through a gruelling Championship season with their playoff hopes intact. Only mention that because they’ve already got two New Zealanders on the books so a third wouldn’t go astray with both Finn Surman and Tyler Bindon potentially available for Championship transfers. Surman permanently, Bindon on loan. Just sayin’.
