All talk about the Swans goes here. Good to see that Laudrup has committed his future to Swansea for at least another year as well as the tying down of the likes of Michu, Rangel, and Hernandez as well. Williams and Vorm could yet leave though, pending on how good the incoming offers are. Shechter goes back to FCK from his loan although that isn't too big a loss as he was unconvincing last season I thought anyways but de Guzman going back to Villarreal is a loss and quite a shame as he built up a good rapport as a starter in 12/13. It was always a short term move I guess from how Villarreal made things clear when the loan was confirmed. 26 year old Jose Canas takes his place, signing on a free transfer from Betis. Very good player, one of the better midfielders in Spain last season outside of the Big Two. Should definitely be another solid acquisition for Swansea. Another winger, a good centerforward, a midfielder, and maybe another centerback should be the targets now during the summer window. Interest in Aspas and a Lukaku loan are rumored. We'll see how that and other moves develop. Swansea will be playing in the Europa League this season, starting from the third qualifying round, to add on to their already busy schedule of Premier League, League Cup, and FA Cup games as well.
the most important thing would IMO be a good striker so the Swans can score even if Michu have an off-day ... remember seeing some stats stating that he's the player (after Benteke) that have scored the highest procentage of the team's goals
Top striker Bony joins and is the clubs 7th signing this season http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23224017
Well, Michu is probably going to play behind the striker if I'm not wrong. I'm looking forward to see Swansea next season, I think they're exiting to follow.
NerJag, that is where he is best as anyways, playing just behind the striker. He played his best football at Rayo Vallecano playing there behind Diego Costa in his final season in Spain, even though he is a competent striker as well. Well from what I said was needed at the time the OP was made, Swansea have obliged to all of them. They signed Jonjo Shelvey from Liverpool as well as re-loaning Jonathan de Guzman for another season so the midfield is strong and competitive enough now. They also signed Alejandro Pozuelo, who can play on both wings and in the center of attacking midfield, another hot prospect in centerback Jordi Amat, and a prolific centerforward in Wilfried Bony, as already mentioned. They also signed Jermaine Meade but not sure I get the point of that signing unless it's for the reserve side, he isn't good enough to take minutes from Davies or Taylor on the left side of defense. The preparations in Holland went very well with Swansea winning all 4 pre-season games there before coming back to England to beat Yeovil Town and Exeter City in the past few days. Rory Donnelly has impressed and surprised with 6 goals in as many games so far in these preparations. He didn't even get a chance in the first team last season but maybe he'll get a better look at this season after some of his pre-season performances so far. There's one more pre-season game left to be played away to Reading on the 27th before they start their Europa League campaign at home to either Scottish Hibernian or Swedish Malmo on the 1st of August, pending on the result of the return leg between the two sides (Malmo won the first leg 2-0 in Sweden). With the amount of quality in the first team squad and the rising talents coming through from the academy waiting to get a chance, it'll be very interesting to see how Swansea do in 2013/14 and if they can do even better than they did last season in the Premier League as well as maybe forging a decent run in Europe on top of that as well.
The man behind all the succsess. It'll be very interesting too see how Swansea will do this season. I think that they already surprised us in a good way last season and if they can do even better than they did last season they'll probably be a competitor for the international competitions in few years. I'm not saying that they'll be able to compete with clubs like Tottenham and Arsenal, but if they can attract good players in the next few years it'll be very interesting to see where all this will end.
Swansea finished their pre-season last Saturday with a 3-0 win away to Reading at the Madejski, with goals from Michu, Shelvey, and Pablo Hernandez. Swansea won all 7 pre-season matches with 28 goals scored and just one conceded, giving them the perfect preparations for the new Premier League and Europa League campaigns. Speaking of the latter, they started their first European campaign in 22 years today with a 4-0 win at home to Swedish side Malmo FF. The goals were scored by Michu, new signing Alejandro Pozuelo, and another new acquisition in Wilfried Bony who scored twice. The second leg is on August 8 in Sweden but it's a near formality now so it's likely that Laudrup will use the match to tinker some more ahead of the opening league fixture at home to Manchester United. The highlights of the win:
Swansea managed to get the job in Sweden over a week ago with a goalless draw away to Malmo, ensuring that they'll face Romanian side Petrolul Ploiesti in the playoff round. The first leg will be played at the Liberty Stadium on August 22 with the return leg in Romania following up seven days afterwards. If Swansea go through, it'll be their first ever group stage appearance in a European competition. And today is the opening day of the Swans' third consecutive Barclays Premier League campaign which starts off with a home game against the champions of England, Manchester United. Jonathan de Guzman will miss the game because of a concussion he picked up in Holland's midweek friendly in Portugal but every other first team player is available for Laudrup to pick from. Rafael is suspended for United and it's still undecided whether Moyes will let Rooney play or not. That's all the news as far as I'm aware coming from their camp for this match. The projected Swansea lineup: Vorm Rangel Williams Amat B. Davies P. Hernandez Britton Shelvey Routledge Michu Bony Some talk that United may go with a 3-man midfield for this but I guess it won't really be known until the lineups are confirmed. Looking forward to a good opening game and day in the Premier League today.
Today will be a very intereesting and exiting match, good start on the new season with this match. Come on, Swans!
Actually, the projected lineup was off by a bit. Swansea is actually starting with a 4-3-3. Bony and Hernandez left on the bench. Vorm Rangel Chico Williams B. Davies Britton Canas Shelvey Dyer Michu Routledge
Swansea City 1-4 Manchester United W. Bony 82' / R. van Persie 34' 72', D. Welbeck 36' 90+3' A bad start to the new Premier League season for Swansea but it was a pretty satisfying performance on the whole aside from some of the shambolic defending that cost them two goals in quick succession during the first half. Rangel played van Persie onside on the first goal while everyone else was playing an offside trap, Williams was ball watching after the ball ricocheted in the air, and Chico didn't get close enough to put van Persie under pressure either. Three defenders to blame on that first goal and on the second Davies made a bad mistake and got sucked into coming into the center to challenge van Persie for a header leaving Valencia free at his post after he lost the duel and he teed up Welbeck for a tap in. Really poor two goals to be conceding against a team of United's quality. The other two goals from van Persie and Welbeck were just class and extremely well taken, not much could have been done about those goals. Bony took his goal well but looked poor overall coming off the bench, but I'd imagine the long trip back from New Jersey less than two days ago somewhat affected his performance. Canas and Shelvey were good in midfield while Pablo provided a much needed spark coming off the bench (probably should have started over Routledge). Michu had a decent game as well, his general play was good as usual even if he didn't manage to score. The result wasn't good, but the performance was good. The defending needs to improve but I imagine new signing Jordi Amat will get some chances pretty soon and hopefully Neil Taylor as well as he tries to regain his form. Europa League duty with a trip to WHL sandwiched in between so the schedule won't be getting any lighter any time soon. Work to do for the Swans.
They played really well today against LFC, Ive been following Swansea since last year in late November/December and I hope they manage to stay up and not get relegated. But today was a great win against a decent opponent so props to swansea
Swans played really well tonight. That's Jonjo in a nutshell. Doesn't usually happen all in one match so spectacularly though. We were lucky to get a point in the end. Williams "tackle" on Coutinho was absurd.
Swansea vs St Gallen. Swansea on the back foot, they play a very non aggressive game, which involves a lot of passes. St Gallen have been impressive. They moved the ball around sweetly but need to counterattack better. Karanovic's penalty miss might haunt them in the second half. Amat is a little brash but holds himself against others, Michu and Bony combined better, though St Gallen have kept them on the ropes.
Swansea come away with a 1-0 win over St Gallen. Swansea wanted to win it more in the end, their play wasn't great though. Michu was affected by the collision and their Davies coming out strong in this match. St Gallen tried everything it seems but couldn't score a goal, the penalty miss affected them.
Southampton vs Swansea. Should be decent game, Swansea style is good and the same goes for Southampton. The passes from Swansea are difficult to close down, while Southampton's defense looks very good.
Swansea against Southampton. 1-0 to Southampton at half time, it's a decent game from both sides. Swansea dominated towards the end, Michu had a great chance and Southampton could've done more themselves.
A win for Southampton and it looks like a decent one against Swansea. Swansea looked frustrated throughout the match, Davies showed little compsure as did the rest. Their best player was Bony who looked lively at least throughout the game. For Southampton it payed dividends. Rodriguez scoring, alongside some good running from Clyne and some lucky decisions for both sides by the ref, ensures a 2-0 win for the Saints.
http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/36443990 Levien is the managing general partner of Major League Soccer side DC United, while Kaplan is principal of Oaktree Capital investment fund and vice-chairman of NBA franchise Memphis Grizzlies. They are understood to be keen to buy Swansea's home ground, Liberty Stadium, which is owned by the local council, with a view to increasing its capacity. Levien and Kaplan had initially been negotiating a deal which would have seen them acquire more than 75% of Swansea's shares, effectively giving the American consortium complete control, including the power to issue more shares. However, the modified acquisition of 60% will see the trust retain its 21.1% stake and ensure continuity at board level with the retention of Jenkins and Dineen.
According to the Charlotte Observer's David Scott, Charlotte Independence will be announcing this week that the team will play host to the English Premier League's Swansea City on July 13th at the team's Ramblewood Stadium. Fans have been clamoring for the team to try and host a summer friendly all season, especially with teams like the Railhawks, Wilmington and Charleston all hosting similar teams this summer. Independence will surely use this friendly as a selling point to potential new fans, hoping to fill out the stadium with folks that normally wouldn't come out to a USL game and trying to sell them on the team. Hosting a team like Swansea will also help keep the team in city leader's radar - surely Charlotte mayor Jennifer Roberts will finally make it out to Ramblewood to see her city's professional soccer team, even if it is for a "meaningless" friendly with an EPL side.
It appears as though the Swans are missing life in the Championship and are constructing a team that will take them there.
Unlucky result for Swansea against Liverpool. I hope the owners don't jump the gun and sack Francesco Guidolin. They are playing good football and the expected results will come.
D.C. United netminder Bill Hamid has begun training with Swansea City, coached by former MLS head coach Bob Bradley