'Swansea Want To Play An Attractive Brand Of Football' - The Visitors Assessed
- Leicester City host Swansea City at King Power Stadium on Tuesday (7:45pm kick-off)
- BBC Sport Wales Reporter Gareth Vincent has provided the lowdown on the Swans
- The Welsh club are under new management after Luke Williams' January appointment
- Live coverage of the match will be available in the UK and everywhere on Foxes Hub
It's been a season of frustration so far for the Swans, who started the campaign with Michael Duff in charge, but now find former Notts County manager Williams in the hotseat at Swansea.com Stadium.
Sat reasonably comfortably above the relegation zone, but out of reach of the play-offs, Williams has been tasked with remedying the situation to drive the 2013 League Cup winners back up the Sky Bet Championship.
Returning the club to their roots, built on the ethos of Roberto Martínez's 2003-2006 spell there, is one of several things on the new man's to-do list. They visit King Power Stadium on Tuesday to face leaders Leicester City (7:45pm kick-off).
"Swansea were a work in progress under Russell Martin last year, despite the fact that they did nothing in the January transfer window this time last year," Vincent said recently.
"They didn’t sign a single player even though they were on the fringes of the play-offs. Martin famously expressed his disappointment about that in a press conference.
"Certainly, looking back with hindsight, that was the beginning of the end of his time at Swansea. He went in the summer, despite a really good run at the end of the season.
"They brought in Michael Duff, who most people wondered if he was a good fit, given the way Swansea like to play football – and have done over the last 15 or so years. That all started when Roberto Martínez was their manager.
"As it turned out, Duff wasn’t a great fit, and they’ve now got Luke Williams. In philosophy terms, he is much closer to how Martin likes to see the game played. He was on his staff after all. He was one of his coaches.
"They’re trying to get back to that – so that’s the first goal. Obviously they need to make sure they don’t get sucked into a relegation battle.
"Although they’re comfortably clear of it at the moment, they still need a good few results to make sure they’re not going to be in the picture come April or May.
"Alongside that, they want to get back to playing an attractive brand of football, a possession-based game. That’s probably something akin to what Leicester City are doing.
"Leicester have got a very talented squad to do it with, and more options, but Swansea have played that kind of football for many years and, at no stage, have they been a rich club.
"They’ve shown they can do it without throwing money at a squad, and that’s what they need to get back to doing now."
City were 3-1 winners in Swansea back in October and the Welsh outfit have struggled for consistency across the 2023/24 campaign. Their last outing, meanwhile, was 5-0 reverse at Premier League side AFC Bournemouth in the Emirates FA Cup.
"They’ve got a new head coach, who’s still finding his feet," the BBC Sport Wales journalist added. "When you go and get thumped, as Swansea did, at Bournemouth in the FA Cup, you’re definitely going to be licking your wounds.
"They had a bit of a tough afternoon in their last league game, against Southampton, one of the top sides in the Championship. Certainly in the first half, that was really difficult.
"They managed to come back into that one as the contest wore on and actually, in the end, they had enough chances to scramble a draw. But if Southampton hadn’t won, they would have been fuming all the way back to the South Coast that they’d blown it.
"It hasn’t been a really good season, all in all, after the progress they made last year. They’re on their third manager now, if you include (former Leicester City defender) Alan Sheehan, who was interim boss for a few games.
"There are question marks about various departments in the squad, so it’s fair to say it’s not a great time at Swansea."
Having played that FA Cup tie at Bournemouth on Thursday night, the Swans have enjoyed a longer rest and preparation period than Leicester, who beat Birmingham City on Saturday. That could be a factor on Tuesday, Vincent believes.
"That won’t do them any harm," he explained. "Their game was moved for television reasons. It was shown live on the Welsh-language channel. That’s not going to be a negative from Swansea’s point of view.
"They didn’t make wholesale changes, but they did make five changes, to the team which started against Southampton.
"There will be a few players who are fresh. They do have a few injury issues at the moment as well, so they won’t be travelling at full strength regardless of when their last game was played."
Jamie Paterson, who has five goals to his name this season, has stepped up to the challenge over recent weeks and could be among the primary threats for Enzo Maresca's men on Filbert Way.
"Attacking-wise, their most influential player, certainly in recent weeks, has been Jamie Paterson," Vincent said. "He featured briefly at Bournemouth but got a bit of a rest. He’s not quite a veteran but he’s in his 30s.
"He’s at that end of his career, but he’s been really influential. The good things they have done going forward, most of them have come through him. He’s had an up and down time as a Swansea player.
"He made a huge impact when he first came under Russell Martin. Last season was a bit of a struggle, but now, this year, he’s got back to the sort of level of influence he showed when he first arrived. He’ll be one they look to again.
"They’ve lost Jamal Lowe, who’s been leading the line for much of this season, to an injury. That’s one of the missing few I’m talking about and that’s a blow because they haven’t got endless options up front or in the wide areas."
All times GMT.