A poor Swansea City side found themselves a distant second best at the Liberty Stadium this afternoon as they fell to defeat

In truth, three nil probably did not flatter the former Premier League side who were superior on the day to the Swans in just about every department.

Quicker to the ball, slicker with their passing, more mobile and - most importantly of all for them - more deadly in front of goal with more chances going begging when the Swans really failed to trouble the visiting goalkeeper.

There was a gulf between the two sides that Paulo's makeshift side never looked like bridging as a midfield consisting of Britton, MacDonald and Orlandi never looked like being anywhere near as effective of whichever three from five we elected to play last season.

Indeed, the performance was proof positive that you cannot be without Darren Pratley, Joe Allen and Ferrie Bodde and retain the same level of play.   The Swans never really competed in midfield and if Gareth Southgate came down expecting a tough test for his team he must be returning North East wondering whether his afternoon could have gone any better.

The Swans lined up as follows

Dorus

Rangel     Monk     Williams     Tate

Dyer     Britton     McDonald     Orlandi     Gower

Dobbie

After his two goals in midweek, Stephen Dobbie was handed his Swansea City start at the expense of Pintado who started last week against Leicester.   Orlandi was in as well for a rare league start whilst Leon Britton led the side out on the occasion of his 300th appearance for the club.

Swansea were almost immediately under pressure with poor distribution from Dorus not helping our cause as Boro looked to stamp their authority on the game with a series of corners and one header crashing against the bar.  

Nathan Dyer was a wiulling outlet for the Swans throughout the first half but the team seemed to lack the ability to use him to his strengths and there was no real pattern to the home play as they became increasingly frustrated at not being able to get into the game

The surprise of the first half was that it took over half an hour for the visitors to take the lead when Johnson's low cross somehow sneaked in at the near post to give Boro the lead.

Could that have been the spur that the Swans needed to kick start their afternoon?  In short the answer was no.  Bar a good five minute spell after the interval where Dobbie should have equalised following Dyer's run into the box they remained second best throughout the second half.

Ashley Williams conceded cheap possession again shortly after and Boro were two up from an excellent finish from the edge of the box and Swansea were beaten.  Richards and Thomas replaced the disappointing Gower and McDonald but it made little difference to the pattern of the match as Swansea had possession but Boro had the threat of more goals - something they achieved 8 minutes from time with a free header (marking zones does not prevent free headers) which gave the scoreline a feeling of reflectiveness on the game that had just passed.

The empty seats at the Liberty come the final whistle said much for the performance generated by the team and improvements need to be made and certainly there is little doubt that activity in the transfer market has become a must with the Swans lack of strength in depth more obvious by the game.

No need for the pressing of the panic button by any means but two defeats in two games to date suggests that the second season is not likely to be anywhere near the first - well not on current showings anyway

Photo: Action Images

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