Cup Triumph to Downwards Spiral: Michael Laudrup’s Time as Swansea City Manager is Up

Football

BY NISAR KHAN

Michael Laudrup was sacked by the Swansea City board on Tuesday evening after his eighteen-month spell as manager of the club. After winning Swansea’s first major trophy just less than a year ago, to a situation where relegation is still a big possibility, the Dane’s plumet has been dramatic.

Rainy Day: Laudrup finished with a 34.52% win percentage. IMAGE COURTESY: Mirror.co.uk

Michael Laudrup’s career as the manager of Swansea City started with a 5 – 0 thumping at Queens Park Rangers, in the first game after his appointment. Around the time of his appointment, Laudrup was busy in the Summer transfer window, acquiring Michu, Chico, Pablo Hernandez and a few others.

Under his power, the club would pick up seven points from their next three games, before three consecutive losses including a 3 – 0 home loss to Everton. In the remaining fourteen games of the calendar year, Swansea would only lose three times, while picking up a historic win over Arsenal along with a few, solid draws.

Michael Laudrup’s finest moment, and what would appear to be the peak of his managerial career at Swansea, would come on Sunday 24th February 2013. At Wembley Stadium, he managed his side to their first major trophy, after dispatching Bradford City by five-goals-to-nil in the Capital One Cup final. Even the man himself acknowledged it as the finest moment of his career, “as a manager it’s absolutely at the top”.

This would also result in Europa League qualification for next season, where his side famously defeated Valencia at the Mestalla Stadium, with the three scorers being players signed by Michael Laudrup during his tenure at the club. 

Swansea City would finish ninth to conclude the 2012/13 Premier League season, with Liverpool far ahead at seventh, while West Bromwich Albion finished just three points ahead of the Swans. 

Although it was a relatively successful finish for Swansea, their demise would eventually, almost subtly come into play following their League Cup triumph. 

When Michael Laudrup was sacked, he had a record of 29 wins out of 84 games, a win percentage of 34.52%. Although better than two of his managerial spells at other clubs, it was simply not good enough for the Welsh side who now find themselves stranded in the relegation battle, in a tight survival race that is sure to put them under pressure.

In the current Premier League season, Swansea City had won eleven of the twenty-four league games (as of 3rd Feb 2014), while only winning six, with their latest win being Michael Laudrup’s penultimate game as manager with a 2 – 0 win over fellow relegation battlers Fulham. 

Who could be Laudrup’s successor? 

In February last year, Michael Laudrup appointed Morten Wieghorst as assistant manager, claiming that he “can be manager” of Swansea with his experience in Scottish football and other leagues. Could Swansea’s assistant manager be ascending to the focal point of Swansea’s managerial hierarchy? 

They Tweeted: Reaction to the sacking harnesses support for the Dane


Unable to find a Tweet that supports the move, it looks like the vast majority support Michael Laudrup. We can conclude here that managing in football loses its job security by the day.

And Laudrup sacked! No Manager is safe in the game at the moment, too many Americanised owners without a clue about the game
— Mr Higgins (@mrhiggins180) February 5, 2014

Why sack Laudrup when we’re 3 points from 10th and in the last 32 of the europa league; both whilst having 5+ injuries to our starting XI?!
— Will Pike (@willpike8) February 5, 2014

Is there any reason why a club would sack their manager a few days after the transfer window closes. #Laudrup #Swansea #epicfail
— Kevin (@kevosullivan07) February 5, 2014

With Swansea’s hopes of survival still hanging in the balance, and now the sacking of their manager as the next blow, the Swans have their work cut out for the remainder of the season. Why was Michael Laudrup really sacked?

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Manchester City Hold Off Swans in New Year’s Thriller

BY NISAR KHAN

Football
Premier League
Week 20

SWANSEA CITY 2 – 3 MANCHESTER CITY

Fernandinho 13′, Bony 45+1′, Y. Toure 56′, Kolarov 62′, Bony 90+1

1 January 2014 at 12:45pm

Liberty Stadium, Swansea, Wales.

SWANSEA – Manchester City defied a resilient and late Swansea City surge to start the New Year at the top of the league.

Kolarov was one of the scorers in a great game to start the New Year. Courtesy: PremierLeague.com

Rain may have been pouring at the Liberty, but that did not dampen the game, in a very entertaining match.

Manchester City looked cruising towards an easy victory, but Wilfried Bony’s late goal set up for a tight finish.

A sloppy start to the game saw a kit change for the goalkeeper within three minutes, as Swansea’s keeper Tremmel had to change into correct attire. The hosts had a positive spell to start the game with early chances although the Swans couldn’t take an early lead.

Edin Dzeko had an early chance on the other side of the pitch following a Manchester City counter-attack. Navas ran through to lay it off to Negredo, then the Spaniard flicked it to Dzeko whose shot went wide.

Wilfried Bony was whiskers away of an opening goal with a low, powerful shot to the right just going wide within five minutes.

Swansea had to make an early substitution due to an injury. Pablo Hernandez picked up a hamstring injury just seven minutes in, and was replaced minutes later by Roland Lamah.

Fernandinho capitalized on Swansea’ failure to clear from Samir Nasri’s corner kick, firing it low past defenders to score the first goal of the year.

Fernandinho has emerged as a goal threat for City over the final months of the year. Courtesy: PremierLeague.com

Wilfried Bony’s acrobatic attempt was way off goal, and yet again Manchester City were potent on the break, this time restricted by the Swans’ defense as Alvaro Negredo couldn’t get the shot off.

With action on both sides of the field, Swansea had another chance with Jonjo Shelvey, cutting on to the outside of the box, but sliced his shot wide.

Johnathan de Guzman’s free-kick was blocked, awarded after Nasri was booked for a foul, then rebounded but the shot was wide.

It continued with back-and-forth action, with Wilfried Bony coming close once again before the end of the first half.

A positive and spell of much better chances for Swansea City would culminate in stoppage time, as Wilfried Bony headed home into the bottom corner off de Guzman’s chip. Later highlights revealed that Wilfried Bony was in fact offside. 

Wilfried Bony, the Swans’ top scorer, hit two past the visitors on New Year’s Day. Courtesy: PremierLeague.com

The second half followed the same tone as the first, a very quick and back-and-forth game. Manchester City developed into more likely scorers as the half progressed.

Fifty-six minutes in and Manchester City would take the lead once again, by way of Yaya Toure. It fell to the Ivorian from Canas’ failed clearance, worked into space then struck it past the keeper, with a deflection to go with it.

Swansea however were still showing resilience to keep going, but a third goal six minutes after the second would almost crush the hosts.

Kolarov surged down the left flank after picking up possession, then cut in, making use of Yaya Toure’s decoy run to strike it with his right past Tremmel.

Swansea were showing signs of the fatigue with the tempo drastically slowing down. Manchester City were comfortably in control and looking like they were cruising towards the victory.

Although seemingly buried for fifteen minutes, things suddenly lightened up when Wilfried Bony scored his second goal in stoppage time. Bony picked up the ball after a sequence of passes from the hosts, to strike low past Joe Hart.

Manchester City pick up another win to top the league at the start of the year. Swansea put on another solid performance, yet fail to pick up the points that are becoming imperative.

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BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE: Slowburner to Superb as Gunners Edge Out Swans

SWANSEA 1 – 2 ARSENAL
Gnabry ’58, Ramsey ’62, Davis ’82

KICK-OFF: Saturday 28 September at 5:30pm (BST) 

(GAMEWEEK 6) at Liberty Stadium, Swansea.

By Nisar Khan

SWANSEA – Pass. Pass. Pass. The predicted pattern of the late kick-off on Saturday afternoon which saw Arsenal pick up three points at the Liberty Stadium in a game of two very contrasting halves. With a lackluster first half, Arsenal would take the lead with two goals in the second half, only for the hosts to fire back one and result in a thrilling finish to the game.

Aaron Ramsey scored the second goal for the visitors (Image Courtesy: PremierLeague.com)

*This article is still being updated. Please refresh the page for more content.

SEE ALSO: Tottenham 1 – 1 Chelsea – Spurs and Blues Draw in Fierce Encounter

MATCH REPORT

The Swans got the proceedings underway as the fans at the Liberty Stadium where poised to watch a showcase of excellent football. After some early pressure from Swansea on the Gunners, Dyer won the first corner kick of the game albeit leaving Szczęsny unfazed in front of goal. They restricted Arsenal early on, as they continued to pass the ball round the field and disabling Arsenal’s ability to put together multiple passes early on. 

Former Liverpudlian Jonjo Shelvey fired at goal to get an early chance. It was teed up by numerous passes from the Swans and Shelvey chested it down for the shot, only to be fired over the bar.

Swansea continued their early dictation of the game, with another corner of which was once again saved calmly by Szczęsny. Arsenal were not however under the threshold of Swansea’s possession for too long, as they began to string together their passes in order to undermine the pressure, and had a chance on the break. Luke Gibbs made a promising run and passed it across the box only to a defender as no Arsenal attacker was present to put it past Vorm. Former Cardiff player Aaron Ramsey was subject to booos from the home crowd when he had early possession of the ball. 

Arsenal had another chance soon after, reverting back to their original and preferred style of passing the ball around the pitch. Mesut Ozil’s ball to Giroud was intercepted, timely too, as it would have definitely troubled Vorm if it went through. Two minutes later, Ramsey came close when his shot fizzed past the post, after Flamini set him up for the shot at goal.

There were no shots on target in the first thirty-five minutes (Image Courtesy: PremierLeague.com)

Swansea’s pass-and-move strategy was clear as the 20 minute mark approached. Wilshere fouled in frustration giving the hosts a free-kick. Rather than walloping the ball into the box, Swansea continued to pass-and-move, pass-and-move, delightful stuff to watch. It looked like it would come into fruition at times, as a great pass from Flores sent Dyers through, but Gibbs would eradicate the danger for the time being. Arsenal were leaving the right flank exposed, allowing the Swans to utilize the space and attack.  

Arsenal could have conceded in the 32nd minute. Wojech Szczęsny came rushing out of goal to close down Michu, and the ball seemingly went out for a goal-kick. However, Michu passed it back into Routledge who shot across goal. The linesman had the flag up, but very late. Szczęsny looked far too composed there, taking a big chance. 

As half-time approached, Swansea looked really dominant. They had a full threshold in possession, and had Arsenal in dire straits. However, defense was staying put on both sides and chances were restricted.

Although the passing was good to watch, the lack of attempts was becoming some what laborius. Neat, tidy possesion but not enough chances. Crowd quietened down a lot too. 

The players went into the break with it all even between Swansea City and Arsenal. Liberty Stadium had significantly quietened down. Plenty of nice possession, but not enough chances. In fact, zero shots on target in the first fourty-five minutes. 

Luke Gibbs denied the only legit chance in the first half (Image Courtesy: PremierLeague.com)

Both teams started the second half unchanged, with Swansea once again putting the pressure on the visitors, but Gnabry came close on the break conceding a corner – which came to nothing. 

After 51 minutes of minuscule chances and passing, the first shot on target game. Serge Gnabry was playing his heart out (partially) and got a shot of goal that Vorm easily saved. Swansea got some work done on the break, but nothing materialized.

Then, just minutes after the first shot on target. Serge Gnabry would score the first GOAL! of the game. He slotted it past Vorm in a calm and collected finish. Gnabry was looking like the only possible goalscorer, and he delivered on that promise.

The goal was very uplifting for the team, who began to pick up and get more and more chances. Mesut Ozil’s shot was just saved, and Arsenal pressed now having the Swans on the backfoot.

The euphoria would come into fruition, again, as Aaron Ramsey’s superb form would continue with another GOAL! four minutes after Gnabry opened the scoring. Szczęsny shifted the ball up to Ramsey, who flicked it onto Wilshere. Giroud’s back-heel into the box set Ramsey up to hammer it into the back of the net. 

Ramsey is on flying form (Courtesy: PA)

Swansea were not looking good contenders after the two goals, only able to put up a half-decent effort that was denied. More passing from the Swans, but nothing was coming into the quality needed to get back into the game.

Just when we thought Swansea were down and out, created and then scored by Ben Davis. A GOAL! that made it into a real contest. With less than 10 minutes remaining, there was a real contest in the offing. 

The 90 minute mark approached. Arsenal remained in the lead with a goal ahead, and the fans were getting worried but fired up with four minutes of stoppage time. There was just a goal in it. 

With moments remaining, Swansea’s free-kick came safely into the hands of Szczęsny. Another Arsenal clearance came back into Swansea possession, and a ball into the box went back into Szczęsny’s hands. The final whistle blew and it was all over.

Arsenal’s win means that they have won every game since their opening day defeat. A game of two very contrasting halves, the first, passing and lackluster play, the second, a real thrilling fourty-five minutes.

Young Gunner Serge Gnabry is Arsenal’s hero, scoring the opening goal, meanwhile Aaron Ramsey has another superb performance.

For Swansea, it is another story. Home performances have been lackluster and the fans may not be happy.

Arsenal’s three points men that they will end the gameweek topping the league.

Arsenal pick up the pace in the second half to cap off an extraordinary day of Premier League action. They top the league again, as Arsenal fans could be starting to believe that Silverware is in sight…



 By Nisar Khan

TheSportMatrix.com

 – Sports for the Fans, by the Fans.

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BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE: Champions Manchester United begin Title Defense with Masterclass Performance against The Swans

KICK-OFF: Saturday 17 August at 05:30pm.
(GAMEWEEK 1) at Liberty Stadium, Swansea

By Nisar Khan

Manchester United began their title defense emphatically with a masterful performance against Swansea at the Liberty Stadium as Robin van Persie and Danny Welbeck both struck the net twice.

Danny Welbeck celebrates his goal with Cleverley and van Persie. (via PremierLeague.com)

 The rain pouring down on the Liberty Stadium in Swansea definitely got all players off to a slow start, with general scuffling about around the rain and not too much significance, however as the game further progressed, the rain continued to pour but the game got much more lively.

Frequency of Manchester United chances increased with Giggs being involved in a few. On one occassion he made a mess of the pass (not a regular occurrence from someone like Giggs) but the chances were still coming. 

Michu really had a legitimate chance of giving Swansea the lead, when Evra and Ferdinand seemed to stop contributing defense, the shot was hit straight at David De Gea. Things then went quiet again before a poor passback from from Chico Flores almost let Welbeck in, but Vorm was quick to clear. 

On the 34th minute, Robin van Persie would get off the mark with a superb goal. It was a good ball played into the box, and the Dutchman chested it and it bounced up allowing him to strike it showcasing great acrobatics whilst doing so. Fantastic.

Robin van Persie strikes home the first goal. (via PremierLeague.com)

Manchester United extended their lead to two goals in quick succession, leaving Swansea struggling severely. Robin Van Persie orchestrated the goal which ended in Valencia playing it accross goal leaving Welbeck to simply tap it in and give Manchester United an affirmative lead. 

The Champions looked on another level from then on in, silencing the home crowd in Swansea and passing the ball around comfortably.

Michael Carrick and Tom Cleverley picked up bookings, Carrick in the 40th minute for a foul that looked much worse than it was due to him slipping in the rain, and Cleverley was booked when he took down Rangel. Nothing came from the free-kick, though. 
Swansea were desperate for a goal that would drastically change their mentality going into the second half, but nothing really materialized and the half time whistle blew with Manchester United firmly in the lead. 

Robin van Persie was the main guy throughout the first half, scoring the 1st, and orchestrating the second. The slippy conditions caused by the rain are a problem for players, especially during tackles – hence the four bookings in the first half. Manchester United. Although Manchester United are under a new manager, they are still playing like before, playing just enough to be in the lead. 


Manchester United went unchanged going into the second half, meanwhile Swansea introduced Wilfried Bony and Pablo Hernandez substituted for Wayne Routledge and Tony Leon Briton. 

Michu improved from his lackluster first half performance and gave the Manchester United defenders a hard time dealing with the situation. Swansea’s play increased the optimism of fans in attendance, with Bony setting up Michu, but a great and courageous block by De Gea kept Manchester United’s 2 – 0 lead. 

Speculation about Rooney’s future within the club may have been simmered slightly as David Moyes put on Wayne Rooney in replacement for Ryan Giggs. 

Ryan Giggs still showed great skill during the match. (via ACTION IMAGES)

While Swansea may have been attempting to eliminate the 2-goal deficit, they seemed that they were still in it, giving Rio Ferdinand a hard time too with Bony and Michu both getting involved time and time again. 

A sensational goal from Robin van Persie pretty much secured the 3 points. Amazing finish by van Persie with a huge shot fizzing into the roof of the net. 

It may have had Swansea beaten, but it did not stop Bony from a debut goal for Swansea where he picked up the ball from the edge of the box and drilled it to the back of the net. The deficit was back down to two goals. Swansea fans thought they were back in it and made themselves heard.

Danny Welbeck further secured the 3 points with a brilliant lob when he came one-on-one with Vorm, a superb finish that gets him his second goal. 

And the final whistle blew. Manchester United cruise to an affirmative victory beginning their title defense with 3 points.

THE BREAKDOWN:


OPTIMISTIC DEBUT: 

Wilfried Bony – The Ivorian striker showed great signs of play during the match, and a goal on his debut makes it better. A great performance like this in his debut may gain him a lot of fans. Excited to see his next game. 

DOUBLE-DOUBLE FOR STRIKERS:

Danny Welbeck, Robin van Persie – Both Danny Welbeck and Robin van Persie got off the mark with two goals each in the game. They look set for much more in the season. 

MAN OF THE MATCH: 

Robin van Persie – Robin van Persie had a major contribution to Danny Webeck’s first goal and two sensational goals for himself that we are likely to see again in a few highlight reels. I am expecting another great season for the star Dutchman.

 STATS:

Provided by BBC Sport

Robin van Persie – Man of the Match.

THE FINAL SAY:


Swansea can take a lot of lessons away from this game, but Manchester United were on a different level today. Superb performance and the Rooney situation has been dealt with for now with him playing. Credit to Swansea for a decent effort but this was a hard start to the season. United have started their season in emphatic fashion. 

Off to a great start is new manager David Moyes (via GETTY IMAGES)

David Moyes’ side gets off to a great start in their title defense, completely outplaying Swansea. The Champions and their strikers really turned up. Robin van Persie once again takes the headlines, as Manchester United are on winning ways… as per usual, it seems for now.

By Nisar Khan

TheSportMatrix.com

 – Sports for the Fans, by the Fans.

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