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Rodgers resists tactical put-down

Brendan Rodgers has rejected suggestions that Swansea City lost out in the tactical battle against Everton last weekend. And the Swansea manager has insisted Everton's pressing game is not a blueprint for other clubs to follow when they come up against his side.

Rodgers has saluted David Moyes's team for the mix of discipline, nous, energy and quality they displayed as they became only the third visiting outfit to win at the Liberty Stadium this season.

But he argues that the Toffees' 2-0 victory was partially down to a dip in performance level by his team.

And he believes Swansea will benefit from Saturday's setback in the closing weeks of their Premier League campaign.

"I have heard people talking about how Everton's win was down to tactical astuteness," Rodgers says.

"But I don't think there was any great tactical item which made the difference.

"We went behind to a brilliant free-kick after we had lost their runner to give them the free-kick in the first place — that's nothing to do with tactics.

"The second goal was down to (Marouane) Fellaini turning in the box more easily than he should have done."

Rodgers accepts that Everton were more successful than most opposition sides have been this season when it came to shutting Swansea down.

But while he was impressed by the Merseysiders' work-rate, Rodgers is convinced Swansea could have coped better with the challenge thrown down.

"What Everton did well against us was that they pressed us for long periods," he adds.

"Throughout this season we have normally broken teams' resilience a little bit sooner, and that's where we must learn from the Everton game.

"Teams have tried to press us like Everton did and we have coped with that, but they are a defensive team — that's why they don't score so many goals.

"Their outlook on the game is defensive, so they are used to the level of game we saw last Saturday and they can sustain that level of game for long periods.

"We can take something away from that and use it in the future.

"At this level, against very experienced players, we have to retain our patience for longer and maybe pass the ball a wee bit quicker.

"They were the nuts and bolts of Saturday — it was quite straightforward for me."

The majority of sides who have troubled Swansea in recent times have done so by stationing themselves high up the field, pressurising Rodgers's rearguard rather than letting them play out from the back.

Yet most of the time — as results have proved — Swansea have found a way to deal with opponents who come out ball-hunting.

What made Everton's performance impressive was that they kept on harrying their hosts, Moyes's players actually getting stronger as the contest wore on rather than flagging.

Was their approach one that every side facing Swansea should try to emulate in future?

"I am not going to tell people how to do their work," Rodgers says.

"Football is very simple. When you haven't got the ball you have a choice — you either press the ball or you sit off.

"It wasn't rocket science (last weekend). If you are a passing team like we are, then the idea of a defensive team will be to try to stop you playing.

"That worked for Everton, but it wasn't purely about what they did. We were short of our best."

Not helping the Swansea cause was the sickness bug which still lingers at the Liberty: "There are things I don't cry about, and one of those was that we had a number of players who were not well before the Everton game," Rodgers says.

"We get on with it and, even without the pressure from Everton, some of our passing was loose last weekend.

"It was a very close game until they got the first goal — I felt we were the better side in the first half.

"Even at 1-0 I felt we could retrieve something from the game, and we took a risk by changing to two strikers to see if we could open things up a bit.

"But it's a fantastic game for us to learn from, because going forward at this level teams are going to press up against us."

Quotes or other material sourced from South Wales Evening Post

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