The flight of the Swans

A few years ago the thought of a Welsh team in the top tier of English football would have been laughed at! But Swansea City FC have achieved the impossible. Their run in the last five years has been nothing short of spectacular. To jump from the third tier League One to the Premiership in such a short interval of time would have been a dream come true! And to top that off, unlike other teams who get promoted, the Swans managed to stay in the Premier League. Finishing at a handsome 11^th in the league table, they won the hearts of many. To me, their rise is just like a phoenix rising from its ashes and spreading its wings to achieve full flight! Spectacular!

The Managers so far…

Their dream run started with the appointment of Roberto Martinez

Their dream run started with the appointment of Roberto Martinez. The man who introduced a style of playing which awed the footballing world. At times they were being compared to Barcelona, because of their similar possession style of play. Roberto Martinez, appointed in 2007, would see them promote to the Championship the next year, taking them to 8^th place. He then moved on to coach Wigan Athletic where he enjoyed similar success.

The Latin connection continued with Paulo Sousa taking over at the Liberty. Sousa worked on the base laid down by Martinez, strengthening the passing game. He strengthened the defense and this worked for them. The Swans continued to win matches, finishing at 7^th place, the highest league finish for 27 years, despite being the lowest scorers in the division. Paulo then decided to quit and move onto Leicester.

Under Rodgers, the Swans would see their dream come true and enter the Premier League in the 2011-12 season

Then came in Brendon Rodgers. Under him, the Swans would see their dream come true and enter the Premier League in the 2011-12 season. They managed wins over Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool in this season and were being seen as a serious threat. Manchester United too did not manage to win convincingly over them, registering a 1-0 away score. Rodgers left at the end of the season for Liverpool, giving way to Michael Laudrup. Only time will tell if he can match the standards set by his recent predecessors.

Squad Analysis:

Goalkeeper:

The obvious choice, Michel Vorm should guard the posts for most of the season as the first choice keeper.

Defense:

The regular appearances – Ash Williams, Alan Tate and Garry Monk should also appear for most part of this season, constituting the central defense. Alan Tate, though preferring to play centrally, may rather be employed as a full back. Williams & co. should be joined by summer recruit Chico Flores, while Angel Rangel will be on the right flank of Laudrup’s back four. Chico, famous for silencing the likes of Xavi, will be a great addition to the squad.

Midfield:

Leon Britton completed an astounding 93% of passes

With Brendon Rodgers moving onto greener pastures, he has decided to bring in his favorite midfielder Joe Allen with him to Anfield. The midfield consisting of Joe Allen, Leon Britton, Nathan Dyer, Scott Sinclair, Wayne Routledge and Gylfi Sigurdsson, were the backbone of the team. With an exceptional passing of 91%, Joe Allen was being spoken of in the same breath as Xavi and Iniesta. Leon Britton on the other hand, was the best passer in all of Europe with an astounding 93% of passes completed. And with Scott Sinclair also looking to be on his way, the rest two have a pivotal role to play in the next season. If Bolton’s Mark Davies gets in, he might also prove to be a crucial part.

Attack:

Striker Danny Graham too looks to be in form, scoring freely in the pre-season matches. Graham will be joined by wingers Nathan Dyers and either Scott Sinclair or Wayne Routledge on the opposite wing. These players will be crucial in the attack play Laudrup intends to apply. Graham will be the target man for the midfield with Laudrup already tipping him to get 20 goals this season.

Transfers:

Players In:

Miguel Cuesta a.k.a. Michu – £2m

Jonathan Guzman – Loan

Chico – £2m

Rumored:

Itay Shechter – Loan from Kaiserslautern

Players Out:

Joe Allen – Liverpool

Rumored:

Scott Sinclair – Manchester City

Formations:

The pre-season saw the Swans continue to line-up in the 4-3-3 formation favored under Rodgers, with Gower sitting in a three-man midfield alongside Orlandi and Agustien. But Laudrup will tend to employ a tried and tested 4-2-3-1 formation. The key central midfielders will provide plenty of support to the agile wingers and the strikers up front. And with the short passing game that they are used to, they will tend to starve the opposition of the ball. This will ensure that the big names in the opposition don’t get the time to display their fancy footwork. This is vital, considering they will have to face the likes of Eden Hazard, Lucas Podolski and many more who have joined the English sides this year. Laudrup though will be more attack minded than Rodgers. This will see a lot more attacking balls being played rather than the possession game as last season.

Expectations:

Finishing mid-table in their very first season in the Barclay’s Premier League, Swansea City appear to be going nowhere. With a strong pre-season, they look to be all set for the new campaign. The new promotions Southampton, Reading and West Ham, not looking like “premiership material”, the Swans look favorites to remain in the EPL. I do not expect them to finish as high as last year but anywhere above 15^th place would be granted as another successful year. If Laudrup does handle the squad well then we might as well look at a top-ten finish, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.