Ridgewell admits WBA were stung by excellent Swansea showing last time out.
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| Liam Ridgewell. Running Man. |
For a Swansea City fan, the West Brom game earlier in the season stands out in the memory as one of the best Swansea performances witnessed in recent times - if not ever. So much so, in fact, that the entire first forty-five minutes remain available on the SwansPlayer for your delectation. Sadly I wasn't able to attend the match, but I've heard from those who did (as well as watching that first half at least three times) that it really was a joy to behold. Baggies defender Ridgewell states that the West Brom players were disappointed to be humbled in such a manner, and are looking to the reverse fixture as one from which they can recover three points, and in doing so leapfrog the Swans, who are currently ahead of the Midlanders on goal difference.
Liam Ridgewell: "Swansea was disappointing for all of us. We're at home, we need to get three points to push us back up the league. We feel we could have got something out of our game at Chelsea and the boys are upbeat."
A quick look at the stats from the Chelsea v West Brom game, and Chelsea's 19 shots on target seem to indicate that they were well worthy of the three points, and the highlights online would lean towards agreeing with that verdict. West Brom were, however, without Romelu Lukaku - on loan from Chelsea and unable to play against his parent club. Lukaku has been, for me, a revelation this season - his hard running and physicality matched by his nous in and around the area, and it seems strange that given Chelsea's struggles under Benitez the Belgian international hasn't been recalled. His goals have been integral in West Brom maintaining their mid-table status, and he'll be a big loss when he moves on at the end of the season.
Swansea will have to guard against Lukaku - Ashley Williams will be, as always, up for any kind of physical battle presented to him, but it remains to be seen if Chico's ankle has recovered sufficiently for him to play some part. It seems unlikely given the nature of the injury, and given that he missed the cup final and subsequently the Newcastle game, it's more than possible Kyle Bartley will be drafted in to partner Ash, in an attempt to diminish the physical threat posed by Lukaku. The Congo-born Belgian will be fully rested given his ineligibility on Monday night, and will be looking to make his mark in front of a home crowd who will, no doubt, be expecting nothing less than victory.
Laudrup still undecided on who will be deemed "surplus to requirements" this summer.
Michael Laudrup was discussing more immediate matters (the upcoming matches against, amongst others, the current top 5 clubs in the Premier League) when he was questioned with regards to his plans for player retention this summer. While most Swans fans could probably guess a few of the names likely to depart, there are others who will split opinion, and with Laudrup keen to further stamp his identity on this Swansea squad it's possible there may be a few departures which will raise an eyebrow or two. Laudrup's desire for a much smaller squad may result in some clear-cutting this summer. To replace current fringe squad members with quality additions, while still keeping the squad small, will mean a sizable number of players moving on, and it seems the European Cup winner has already given plenty of thought into who he wants to retain for the coming season:
“I don’t want to go into individual things right now. Already we are thinking about next season and players to sign, but we are leaving something open to the players who are here so I don’t want to go into names and positions. I know more or less for next season, but there are still 10 games to go so it is not the correct moment to say ‘he will stay, he will leave’ and so on.
“I think we give everyone a possibility from now on. But you cannot start working on 20th May after the last game. So when people get a possibility they have to grab it and Luke is an example. He came in on Saturday, got 15 minutes and scored a goal.” Michael Laudrup
It remains to be seen who Laudrup is talking about - Luke Moore has scored some important goals but few would argue those goals alone are worthy of a renewed contract - not at Premiership levels anyway. There are a lot of players who haven't come near the first team (Situ, Gower, Tate, Donnelly, Lucas) and either they need to be given a go, or they need to move on. Possibly harsh in the cases of Lucas and, especially, Donnelly, and I wouldn't expect the Northern Irishman to move on so soon, however if we're going to go with a number of youth players in our squad then the remaining senior players need to all be capable of competing for a place in the first XI. While no-one is doubting Mark Gower's contribution to the Swans over the last few years, or his contributions in training, no PL appearances this season indicate he's unlikely to be given a renewed deal; and if he hasn't been sounded out about a non-footballing role one suspects he'll be asked to move on.
Alan Tate is another player who, it really pains me to say, is unlikely to get any game time under Laudrup. Tate spent time on loan at Leeds, and he, along with Laudrup, was expecting to remain there until the end of the season - however financial problems at Leeds meant that the ex-Man Utd youngster's loan deal was only extended by one month, before he returned home to Swansea. Speaking realistically, it's unlikely Tate will force his way into the first-team reckoning, so again, unless he's been asked about a non-footballing role he'll surely be moving on.
Another story that refuses to go away is "Laudrup to <insert big club here>" at the end of the season. Now, given Swansea's history of managers being lured away, and Laudrup's links with, amongst other clubs, Real Madrid, it might seem strange I'm confident he'll stay beyond this summer. He's stated time and time again that he doesn't really plan that far ahead, and that where he'll be next year isn't an immediate concern, yet the media refuse to let the issue drop. One interesting soundbite to come from recent queries, though, is that Laudrup feels new assistant (new to Swansea anyway) Morten Wieghorst is more than capable of taking the reigns at the Swans.
Michael Laudrup - speaking with Wales Online: "I certainly believe he can be manager here. He has experience from Scottish football and is familiar with (English football). He has shown ability in Denmark, both with FC Nordsjaelland and the under-21 national team.”
All well and good Michael, but stick around for another year to show him the ropes eh?