Swnasea City’s second season was even better than the first with a ninth place finish and the League Cup to boot. New Manager Michael Laudrup had a tough act to follow in the summer when he took over from the Liverpool-bound Brendan Rodgers. The Dane used his contacts in the Spanish league to sign offensive midfielders Michu, Pablo and De Guzman, along with central defender Chico. Korean Ki Sung Yueng also joined in the summer from Celtic. All proved great signings for the Swans but Michu was definitely the pick of the bunch, ending up with a tally of 18 goals in the League alone. The former Rayo Vallecano man already had three goals to his name after Swansea’s first two victorious games and didn’t disappoint until the very late stages of the season when he had a slight dip in form which corresponded to his side’s drop in form after winning the League Cup. Laudrup fielded the Spaniard in the out and out striker role most of the time throughout the season, particularly against top sides. Against lower profile opposition, Danny Graham often got the nod but the former Watford man proved surplus to requirements and left for Sunderland in January. Swansea were firing on all cylinders then, with a string of good results installing them in the top ten. Ashley Williams and Chico proved a solid central defensive partnership while Rangel and Ben Davies were regular starters at full backs. Laudrup applied some degree of rotation in midfield, with Ki Sung, De Guzman and Britton in the deeper roles. Nathan Dyer, Pablo and Wayne Routledge competed for the wide offensive starting spots in support of the strike force. Michel Vorm asserted himself as one of the best keepers in the League, confirming a great first season in goal. When the Dutchman went down with a groin injury either side of Christmas, Gerhard Tremmel proved more than an apt deputy between the sticks, with a commendable spell of 10 starts to help keep Swansea firmly afloat. The Swans achieved great results with wins over Arsenal and Chelsea away. They peaked in seventh place in February just before they beat Bradford by 5-0 at Wembley in the League Cup final. Swansea’s season could have been even better but for an 8-game winless streak in March and April. The Swans only won one of their final ten games but they had done the job earlier and managed to hang on to their top ten finish
