Swansea City, The Blueprint (No Jay Z)

I would like to start this post with an apology. To all 12 people who read this blog I’m sorry about the lack of activity over the last couple of weeks. I have had quite a lot going on and as much as I like writing, this isn’t putting money in the bank, (well not yet) so I’ve been occupied by other things but I’m back now so will try harder to post a bit more regularly.

Not to sound too much like a crap Primary school teacher but the topic for today is Swansea City and their manager Michael Laudrup.

As you may have seen Swansea beat League 2 Bradford City yesterday in the League Cup final, winning the 1^st major trophy in the club’s history in what is its centenary year. On the day, they won the game comfortably 5-0, but Bradford had already written their fairy-tale just by getting to the final, by the final whistle Swansea had written theirs.

But this was no overnight success.

10 years ago Swansea went into the last game of the season knowing that if things didn’t go their way, they would be relegated from the league. Conference football beckoned. But the Swans were not going down without a fight; they beat Hull 4-2 at the old Vetch Field ground and stayed up. Current squad members Leon Britton and Garry Monk were in the Swansea team that day. This was rock bottom and from this point onwards, the only way was up.

He has been overlooked by much of the media this week but Kenny Jacket got the ball rolling by getting the club promoted from League 2. Next in the manager’s office came Roberto Martinez. It is here that the current Swansea ‘philosophy’ is born. Playing fluid passing football the Swans win League 1 and arrive in the Championship. Martinez moved on and Paulo Sousa came in, the club consolidated in the Championship and Brendan Rodgers entered the story. He guided the club to promotion to the Premier League and then safety in the top tier.

At the end of last season after keeping the club well clear of relegation, Rodgers had his head turned by Liverpool and he was away, moving on to bigger and better things. He hopes. Swansea were without a manager and with such a successful period behind them, had they gone as far as they could? Following Rodgers was going to be a big task; the 2^nd season in the Premier League for promoted teams is hard enough as it is. Step forward one Michael Laudrup.

As a player his career took in Lazio, Juventus, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Ajax, with a small excursion to Japan in-between. He was a key member of the Barcelona Dream Team in the early 90’s. He won 4 straight La Liga championships with the Catalans, before a move to Madrid where he won another making it 5 in a row. Not to mention the European Cup in 1992 and the Super Cup in 1990. In short, the boy could play a little bit.

As he hung up his boots at the end of the 97-98 season a future as a coach was on the horizon. He enjoyed success at Bromby and Getafe. His teams played easy on the eye attacking football. He had a difficult spell in Russia with Spartak Moscow, followed by Mallorca, where he walked out after the club sacked his assistant. Swansea had either pulled off a masterstroke or things were about to go the way of the pear.

Under Rodgers the Swans played a very patient possession game. And I know this isn’t a fashionable thing to say but they were also at times a little bit boring. Passing the ball across the back 4 keeping passion may be effective and make keep many of you happy but I want a little more entertainment from my teams. That’s not to say that at times they didn’t turn on the flair at times and when they did they were a joy to watch. The 2 highest profile signings in the summer were Hernandez from Valencia (A very classy player) and an attacking midfielder also from Spain called Michu. Who was he?

Swansea started the season well and as they approached Christmas people were starting to take note. It turned out that that Michu bloke was pretty handy and was banging in goals left, right and centre. The other signings had also settled in well. They had developed into a very good team, and in my opinion they are easily better than the Rodgers team.

Laudrup hasn’t tried to reinvent the wheel. There wasn’t a lot wrong with the team that he inherited, so he took the good bits and built on the rest. They are still a possession team but now they have a more direct edge to them. Not content with just keeping the ball now they look at doing something with it. When a player receives the ball he immediately looks to play it forwards. Not a hoof up the field but a measured pass normally along the ground but a pass that will affect the game. They now attack with more pace, more urgency and there is more flair in the final 3^rd. Hernandez has played a big part in this area. He is a fantastic player.

So, what’s not to like? Britton and Monk who were there in the dark days are still there, they have some great young players, they haven’t paid stupid money to try and get success and they play brilliant football. Laudrup is a good coach and an absolute gent. What Swansea have done is set the template for teams in the lower divisions to follow. If your Chairman has a plan and makes good managerial appointments, and the club has a sound financial footing there is no reason why your club can't 'do a Swansea.’ The Welsh wonders have shown it can be done, and in the process they have become the 2^nd team of millions of football fans around the country. Long may it continue.

The Munich Air Disaster 55 Years On

55 Years ago today was one of the saddest days in English football history. A plane carrying Manchester United players, staff, a group of journalists and a few other guests crashed on a frozen runway in Munich.

Manchester United were on a one club mission to make an impact in Europe and despite a lack of support from the F.A they were winning matches as well as admirers on the continent. They had reached the semi-finals of the European Cup the previous season and needed only a draw away at Redstar Belgrade to do the same again. United left for Belgrade 6 points behind leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers in the league with 14 games to go, (Aiming to become only the 3^rd club to win 3 league titles in a row) they had moved into the 5^th round of the F.A Cup and were the holders of the Charity Shield. This was one of the finest teams of not only their generation but of every generation that went before and came after.

The young team from Manchester got the job done in Belgrade earning a 3-3 draw; they were
European semi-finalists for the 2^nd year in a row. On their return the party had to make a brief stop in Munich so that the aircraft could refuel, not long now and the boys would be home.  However, the weather in Munich was far from perfect and snow had been falling steadily.  Once refuelled the plane made 2 aborted attempts to take off, but it seemed the weather was against them so an overnight stay in Munich beckoned. The pilot decided they would have one more go at trying to take off, but again the plane didn’t make it into the air, this time with disastrous consequences.  A layer of slush had started to build up at the end of the runway and when the plane hit it, it was unable to build up enough velocity to get off the ground. The plane skidded and went through the perimeter fence of the airport, its port wing was torn off as it hit a house, and the right side of the fuselage collided with a wooden hut, inside was a truck filled with tyres and fuel which exploded.

8 players, 8 journalists, 3 club officials, 2 other guests and 2 crew members lost their lives as a result of the crash. Among the journalists was former Manchester City and England goalkeeper Frank Swift, who was working for the News of The World. Duncan Edwards one of the most promising players in not only England but in Europe battled hard and survived for 15 days but eventually succumbed to his injuries. The teams’ manager and leader Matt Busby was seriously injured in the crash and was forced to spend 2 months in hospital where he was read his Last Rites twice.

One of the best teams in Europe had been torn apart, but this story isn’t over. There were stories at the time that the club would have to fold, but it fought on. Using youth and reserve team players as well as anyone else they could manage to buy and with Busby’s assistant Jimmy Murphy in charge, the team took to the field once more. A Manchester United team not only played Sheffield Wednesday, they beat them 3-0. In the match programme blank spaces were left on the team sheet where the names of those who lost their lives should have been. The club managed to complete the rest of their fixtures that season; they slipped to 9^th in league and were knocked out of the European Cup by Milan despite beating them at Old Trafford. They also managed to make it to the final of the F.A only to lose to Bolton Wanderers with a recovering Matt Busby in attendance.

But from the most difficult season in the clubs history it would rise again. The following season after some convincing from his wife Jean, Busby returned to lead his team again. And in 1968 his European dream finally came true when his United team beat Benfica to win the European Cup.  But none of this would have been possible without those who lost their lives on 6^th February 1958.

Lest we forget.