One team which caught the attention of the Premier League followers last season was Swansea City. The Welsh club only gained entry into the top division in 2011, courtesy their play-off final win against Reading in May.
Not many people would have put their money on the Swans’ survival prior to their 2011/12 campaign, given their limited resources and mediocre squad. However, they were soon to be proven wrong.
After getting off to a slow start, Brendan Rodgers’ men quickly attuned themselves to the fast pace and competitive nature of English football. Teams appearing in their debut Premier League season are sure to display resilience, determination and strong
will of survival.
In the case of Swansea, there was more than just a strong survival will at display. The Welsh club entered into the fray with a unique playing style to show for, as they introduced a new short passing and possession retaining style in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/England-c749 – a technique
often associated with the Spanish teams.
Their aggressive playing style, coupled with the dynamic leadership qualities of Rodgers, enabled them to finish the table at the eleventh spot – only five points shy of eighth ranked Liverpool. Their wins against some of the top flight teams was a strong
signal of intent from them that they were in the league to stay.
However, a lot has changed since the culmination of the preceding term in May, which forces one into pondering whether the club will be able to repeat their impressive run all over again.
Rodgers, believed to be the mastermind of the club’s successes, decamped from the Liberty Stadium to take over the reins of Liverpool in June. Taking into consideration the Northern Irishman’s huge impact and his strong affinity with the squad, his departure
has certainly served as a big setback for the Swans.
Secondly, the club failed to claim the signature of their star performer, Gylfi Sigurdsson during the transfer window. Even though the newly appointed manager, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Michael-c25261 Laudrup has signed a couple of new players to fill his void, the absence of the influential
Icelandic International in the midfield is likely to dent their hopes of putting up a mid-table fight.
Swansea introduced some of the finest talents to the footballing world last season. However, by doing do, they were always running in the risk of catching the attention of the Premier League’s big boys. As it happened, the Swans are also currently in the
risk of losing out Joe Allen and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809 and Manchester City respectively.
The 2012/13 season is set to commence from the 18th of August. Although it will be important for the Swans to get their campaign off to good start, what will be even more important for them is that they see off the current transfer window without
losing any more big names.
The manager, Laudrup seems to be aware of the problem in hand, and is trying his level best to convince his high profile players against decamping from the Liberty Stadium.
Whether or not Swansea can go on and emulate their last term’s achievements will hinge on what steps the Dane takes to prevent his side from getting raided. Surely, the Swans fans will take a breather once the transfer window closes.
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