Football League World
·15 November 2024
Football League World
·15 November 2024
Football League World's Swansea City fan pundit reveals that Matt Grimes is a divisive figure among the Swans fanbase
This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...
Swansea City sit 11th in the Championship table during the November international break, but are just six points below the play-off places following a run of form which has seen two wins in their last three games.
The Swans signed off from second tier action prior to the international break with a 1-0 loss at Burnley, but will have been previously pleased with successive wins over newly promoted Oxford United, and current top-six club Watford.
Luke Williams' side face Leeds United next Sunday, when the Championship makes its return, and will be looking to cause somewhat of an upset against Daniel Farke's promotion chasers.
Should the Swans manage a win over the West Yorkshire outfit, it will cement their status as play-off contenders, despite the fact that they have scored just 11 goals in 15 league outings so far.
On the other hand, Williams' side should be given a great deal of credit for their defensive work, having conceded just 10 goals in the second tier.
Now that the south Wales outfit are a third of the way through their Championship campaign, Football League World asked our Swans fan pundit, James Fleming, to name a player that always seems to divide opinion, and which side of the fence he was on.
James revealed: "I think weirdly, one player who divides opinion a lot of the time is Matt Grimes.
"I don't really understand it personally, I am definitely on the side of Matt Grimes.
"He's an unbelievable footballer, and a great captain, and I think we'd really struggle without him.
"And I think we almost, in a way, need to see him leave for people to understand.
"Obviously, none of us want him to leave, but if he did, people would soon understand how important he actually is to this team.
"I think he's a fantastic footballer, and he's so pivotal to the way we play football.
"He is a midfielder with unbelievable passing ability and range.
"He can drop in to between the centre-backs, and get us out of trouble, and he also has one of the best stats.
"I think last season he was (one of the) the top line-breaking passers in football in England, something like that.
"He's a fantastic footballer, and I think for some reason, it does divide opinion with people thinking he's not positive enough, but I think that's just the way he's deployed.
"(It's) not necessarily his fault with that being an issue, but I still think it's not one that should be present."
Most Championship observers will be surprised to hear that Grimes is a divisive figure among the Swans faithful, as he is arguably one of the best central midfielders in the second tier.
As alluded to by James, the 29-year-old boasts a fantastic passing range, while according to FotMob, he has a pass accuracy of 91.8% so far this term, and he has also created 21 chances.
Furthermore, there is an admirably tenacious side to Grimes' game, as he has won 62.8% of his duels in the Championship this season, as well as winning 18 fouls, as per FotMob.
Frankly, the Swans are lucky to have the talented Englishman as their midfield metronome, and he wouldn't look out of place in any second tier starting 11.
It is surprising that some of his own supporters seemingly do not rate one of their side's key men, as per the revealing comments made by our fan pundit James.