After another 0-0 draw away at Swansea this weekend it is completely normal that fans are starting to get fed up. The Swansea game was slightly different to the Manchester United and Stoke game in the sense that for the first two 0-0 the team played well and done more than enough to win. The Swansea game we didn’t really create enough or play well enough but the positive was how well our defence performed yet again.
It’s easy to blame one person for a bad result and the player blamed after Sundays game was Jelavic. The first thing to say is that Bilic had no other choice but to play him, Valencia not fit to start, Carroll and Sakho injured. All you can ask for from a player when they go out is to put 100% effort and play to the best of their ability. That’s what he did, played and tried to his best. His life could have been made a lot easier if he was getting decent service or help. The midfield weren’t at their best so there wasn’t a lot of passes going forward towards him. Antonio seemed to do more defending than attacking and Zarate had one of his quieter games.
Our best chance of the game probably came from a Swansea mistake and because he was pressing and trying to close them down, it allowed the team to get forward and Mark Noble’s shot went just wide. It’s not the way we want the team to play but in reality he is normally 4th choice when players are back fit, he has a decent goal scoring record in the premier league and Bilic trusts him.
It should only be one or two more games that he plays, however after another 30 minutes, Valencia might be ready to start upfront on Saturday or both of them together which could give Jelavic exactly what he needs in a helping hand to create chances.
The team is lacking five influential attacking players which would hurt any team but if they can still pick up points without the five of them then once they start to return then the team should start to go back to the form at the start of the season.