Set-Piece Defending Disappoints Rodgers

Swansea City manager Brendan Rodgers was disappointed with his side's set-piece defending during yesterday's 4-2 defeat at Blackburn Rovers.

The Swans struggled to deal with Rovers' direct approach to the game and their physical edge, as Yakubu scored all four goals in their much-needed win.

Yakubu scored in first half injury time to make it 2-1 at the break, the goal coming following poor marking at a corner. The striker then added a third, again from a corner before substitute Luke Moore gave us hope with a close range goal to make it 3-2.

However, the Swans lost their momentum and hope of getting a point in a mad minute which saw Joe Allen sent off for a second booking before Neil Taylor conceded a penalty for a clumsy and needless foul inside the box.

Despite what was probably our most disappointing defeat all season, Rodgers could still see positives from the performance:

"We got ourselves back in it but we were very disappointed how we defended.

"Going forward we were fantastic at times, our creativity was excellent.and we looked like we could penetrate. But we`ve suffered a bit at set pieces and it`s disappointing." At home we`ve been very strong and away from home we`ve been getting better but it cost us here and we need to assess it and then move on."

When asked if he needed to change his side's approach to suit different opposition, Rodgers hit back and said:

"There is a certain way that we play. Would we be happy to play like Blackburn? No chance. Would I resort to smashing the ball into the box from the half-way line onwards and look for a scramble every time there`s a free-kick - no, I wouldn`t.

"I`m very proud of the way we adapted to the Premier League and when you play like ourselves you have to defend the way you play and we will continue to do that. It`s always of interest to learn from others and we will always look to learn. We`ve done well at set pieces this season, we changed to more zonal play this season because of the physical capacity of players at this level.

"But we`ve been outdone here. The ball comes into the box and Samba at 6ft 5 gets a jump on a player that`s 6ft - but it`s not winning the second ball that`s disappointing because it`s something we speak about.

"Because we`ve dealt with bigger sides than Blackburn and we need to learn something from that."

Swansea City will look to bounce back next Saturday when they host Fulham at the Liberty Stadium.

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