Swansea City’s appointment of Danish legend Michael Laudrup is one of the most intriguing of the season.
I must admit when I heard Swansea had appointed Michael Laudrup as their new manager I was surprised; but after doing a bit of research about his post-playing career I think Swansea may have made a very astute decision.
His playing career started in his native Denmark with a club called KB before moving on to Brondby. Italian club Juventus signed him after just one season with one of Denmark’s top clubs.
He stayed at the Turin club for six years before going to Lazio on loan for a couple of years. He then signed for Barcelona where he won four La Liga titles then moved on to Real Madrid where he won a fifth title before he finished his playing career with Ajax.
He became the assistant manager of Denmark in 2000 where he stayed for a couple of years before taking over at Brondby. He stayed there for four years and in 2006 couldn’t agree a contract so left the club.
In 2007 he went back to Spain to manage Getafe, he took them to the final of the Copa del Rey which was a great achievement for one of Spain’s smaller clubs.
After a short spell at Spartak Moscow he again went back to Spain, taking over at Mallorca. The team were in trouble and after his assistant was fired he also left.
So now he has taken over at Swansea City, a club that faired very well in their first season in the top flight. What the man from Denmark will bring is style and flair; his teams play the way he used to.
At forty eight years old and with a wealth of experience of international football I think Swansea have made a fabulous choice.
Brendan Rodgers had the Swans playing some nice football and I think Laudrup can take it to the next level.
He has admitted not knowing a lot about the Welsh side but since taking over he’s watched a back catalogue of Swansea’s games and is impressed with their style of play adding he wants to bring a bit of Barcelona to the team.
If he gets them playing the way he used to I think they’ll be a very dangerous side this season; getting Laudrup could be one of the signings of the season!
image: © Ronnie Macdonald
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