Swansea City continued their preparations for the new campaign with a 1-1 draw against Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday night.
Substitute Ryan Hardie cancelled out Joel Piroe's stunning opener as the spoils were shared at Home Park. Here's a closer look at some of the talking points from the Swans' clash with the Pilgrims.
Naughton epitomises formation tweaks
Russell Martin used a total of 21 players during the course of the game. He also tried out a number of different formations, with players regularly being expected to shift around the pitch.
READ MORE: Swansea City boss Russell Martin addresses key Joel Piroe concern after Flynn Downes' exit
Kyle Naughton epitomised the Swans' flexibility against Steven Schumacher's side, and it's something that has been worked on a lot during the summer so far. Defensively, the experienced defender operated on the left of a back three and at left-back in a back four during various stages of the encounter.
However, with Swansea in possession, Naughton - along with Joel Latibeaudiere on the right hand side - pushed up the pitch to effectively become an additional midfielder, with summer signings Harry Darling and Nathan Wood sitting deep to give Andy Fisher protection.
For the second-half, Naughton was in his more familiar role at the heart of a back three in a switch that saw Darling play on the left and Wood on the right. Olivier Ntcham is another who was also shifted around during the contest.
The Cameroon star played in a very wide position on the right in the first 45 but was in a slightly more central role on the left after the restart. Adaptability is something head coach Martin was eager to improve this summer, and it's already clear to see that the Swans want to mix things up a lot more during the 2022/23 season.
Huge intensity
From the word go, Swansea set about controlling the tempo of the match. But whenever they lost possession in the opening stages, their press was fierce and aggressive.
Michael Obafemi regularly hunted down goalkeeper Callum Burton with real vigour, but Matty Sorinola in particular caught the eye for the way he harassed Plymouth as the Swans looked to win the ball back swiftly.
The 21-year-old is blessed with real pace, and with quality in the final third, he could well make a real impact at SA1 this season following his loan move from Union SG. But even further back, the collective effort in the press was visible, with Harry Darling and Nathan Wood only too willing to step up the pitch to help those ahead of them in their pursuit of possession.
It sounds like a fairly simplistic feature of the game these days given the way teams such as Liverpool and Manchester City press off the ball. But it requires supreme fitness, a luxury that takes time.
It was a real concern for Swansea last season, and Martin regularly admitted his players needed to be better conditioned. But with a full season and a full summer schedule under the current coaching staff, the squad is now far better suited to the head coach's physical demands.
Notable absentees
Ben Cabango was among those absent from the game in Devon. The defender is continuing his recovery from ankle surgery but has returned to training at Fairwood.
But there were others whose absences appeared more telling - or at least initially. It's understood the Swans are willing to let Steven Benda and Jordon Garrick leave the club this summer.
Neither player was involved at Plymouth, although Martin confirmed on Saturday that Garrick has been struggling with a minor injury, and Benda is thought to have been left out on Tuesday night as a precautionary measure, too. Tivonge Rushesha is continuing his recovery from an ACL injury while Liam Walsh was also absent having ruptured his Achilles earlier this summer.
Ryan Bennett has been omitted from Swansea's first-team training this summer after being deemed surplus to requirements. Joe Allen was in Devon to watch his new team-mates in action, although Russell Martin is eager not to rush the midfielder back to action after he suffered a hamstring injury on Wales duty last month.
Morgan Whittaker was not included in the squad, although he was at Home Park. He is in talks with multiple League One clubs over a potential loan exit from Swansea. You can read more on that here.
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A glowing reference
Steven Schumacher described Swansea as one of the Championship's best sides when in possession.
The Swans dominated the ball for long periods at Home Park as they tried out various new systems and personnel. Martin's men averaged the most possession per game in the second tier last season and are likely to continue to want to control proceedings at every opportunity possible.
And Plymouth boss Schumacher has delivered his verdict on the friendly contest between the sides. “There’s plenty of stuff to work on, but overall I’m pleased they didn’t have that many shots on goal, everything was from long distance," he said.
"The goal was from a mistake; a poor clearance from us. That happens; it’s the rustiness of pre-season. It was a tough test, as we knew it was going to be.
"They are one of the best teams in the Championship in possession of the ball and they showed it at times tonight. I felt that we were organised, we looked okay and then when we did force them into errors, we didn’t make the most of the opportunities.”
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