5 Reasons Why McClaren's Newcastle Are Trying To Emulate Swansea

5. Swansea Play Attractive, Quick-Paced Passing Football

On the counter-attack last week Swansea were simply devastating, with Jefferson Montero in particular continuously getting the better of Branislav Ivanovic - despite the Chelsea defender being one of the most-consistent right-backs in the Premier League. That pace on the counter-attack has been allied neatly with the so-called "Swansea way" by Garry Monk over the past 18 months to make the Welsh club one of the best sides to watch. Rather than perform a complete revolution and completely alter the way in which Swansea play, Monk has instead evolved Roberto Martinez, Brendan Rodgers and Michael Laudrup's passing philosophy to make it more direct. No longer do the Swans pass it for passing sake, or use "tappy, tappy football" - a phrase Steve McClaren coined to explain how he did not want his side to play going forward - but there is a purpose to everything they do. Their midfield of Ki Sung-yeung, Jonjo Shelvey and Jack Cork pass the ball about until an opportunity arises, then Gylfi Sigurdsson or Montero will capitalise and get in behind the opposition defence. McClaren, Paul Simpson and Ian Cathro want Newcastle United to become a "footballing side" as well, and the change in the Magpies' approach has already been evident throughout pre-season and against Southampton. Given time, McClaren would love to have a slick Newcastle outfit passing the ball around in an attractive, attacking way - just as Swansea do.