Swindon Town’s ability to turn possession into goals has become a key driver behind their attacking explosion in the early part of this season.
Another game, another long passing move that ended in a goal for Swindon.
Ollie Palmer’s opener saw Swindon win the ball back on halfway before working the ball the length of the pitch and turning in the opener. Gavin Kilkenny to Connor Ripley to Ryan Tafazolli to Tom Nichols to Danny Butterworth to Kilkenny to Nichols to Joe Snowdon to Palmer to the back of the net.
Every pass is done with purpose. All of the excitement, with none of the fat of turgid possession play, and this is the balance Town have struck this season, scoring terrific team goals against Oldham Athletic, Shrewsbury Town, Crewe Alexandra, Barrow, and now Bromley.
Whilst the goal against Bromley did not quite meet Opta’s definition of a “build-up goal”, you need ten or more passes for that, it was yet another example of the sparkling football Swindon are playing with the ball.
Holloway said of his side’s ability to play that way: “They are able to pass through teams because their brains are showing them where to go.
“What I don’t ever want to do is tell them. We can help, but they have to do the moving and the passing and the moving and the passing.”
Swindon lead League Two for build-up goals scored, and are joint with Wigan Athletic, Cardiff City, Swansea City, Liverpool, and Manchester City for the most scored in English football, according to Opta. A key difference between Town and those other teams is, they are not a team that craves possession.
Ian Holloway’s side are only sixth in League Two for the number of ten-pass sequences they have put together, they are tenth for the direct speed of their attacks, sixth for the number of passes per sequence and average sequence time. This is a team that is comfortable on the ball, but is not defined by monopolising possession.
It is the efficiency with which Swindon play that makes them such a strong attacking force. When they have decided to keep the ball, we have seen them cut through teams by picking their passes, but they can also counterattack very effectively, as we saw for the opening two goals against Barrow.
It is the versatility of the team which has made them League Two’s most potent attacking force, with teams struggling to stop the great variety of goals they can score.
