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It marks a wonderful journey for a football club who just eight years ago were rooted to the foot of the fourth tier of English football. It seems like an argument that we hear every year to suggest that the team who gains promotion from the play-offs will find life in the top tier, but I think that the Premier League’s first Welsh side are a little bit different.
There is a lot to suggest that Swansea will flourish in the top flight. They have long been considered the best passing team in the Championship and they definitely play the game in the right way. The core to Swansea’s success this season has been their midfield and especially their wide players, Scott Sinclair and Nathan Dyer. Both are blessed with blistering pace, but like all great wingers they are both very tricky players who will happily take the ball either side of the full back with good control. They are also intelligent players who exploit the space behind the full backs by making clever runs, and Swansea will want both of them to carry their current electric form into next season.
For Swans boss Brendan Rodgers, the road to the promised land has been somewhat a story of redemption. His coaching career began under the wings of Jose Mourinho as Chelsea reserve team manager. After a troubled period in charge of Watford, he replaced Steve Coppell as Reading boss in 2009, but was quickly sacked after just six months in the job. When Roberto Martinez left Swansea to join Wigan, Rodgers was placed in charge, much to the dismay of some Swans fans, who felt that Rodgers represented a failed Championship manager.
However, it seemed to be more of a case of Rodgers just not having found the right club. With Swansea he found that he had players who could execute the brand of football that he had spent time getting the Chelsea youngsters to play, and a perfect match was created. The 4-2 play-off victory against Reading symbolised a re-born Rodgers, and no doubt that the victory would have been extra special for the man who was deemed not good enough to manage in the Championship.
If anything, Swansea’s biggest problem next season may be that they are almost too suited to the Premier League. It would seem a stretch too far to imagine that the Swans will not be in and around the bottom eight next season, and they will have to show the mental toughness to scrap and fight for valuable points. Just as playing attractive football has got them into the position they are in, they must quickly realise that playing unattractive football can be productive and purposeful at times. In other words, they need to learn how to ‘win ugly’.
In terms of bringing players in, I think that if Swansea are to flourish in the top flight, they need to add some steel to their squad to complement the flair players that they already have, particularly down the spine of the team. An experienced centre back and a gritty central midfielder would make welcomed additions, and bringing in such players would also release Swansea’s flair players and give them more freedom to play their natural games.
I see no reason why Swansea can’t turn their promotion into an extended stay in the top flight. It would be excellent for Welsh football if they managed to do so, but it will take a great deal of planning and shrewd dealings in the transfer window to ensure that Premiership football stays in Wales beyond next season.
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