Manager hails his team after opening-day victory over Swedish counterparts
Now that the dust has settled after last night's fabulous 4-0 win over Malmo, we've all had a chance to assess how good the performance was. I've watched a succession of highlights until I found the entire match available on ITVPlayer (click here), and now that I've had a chance to watch it all back I've come to the conclusion the performance was actually better than I thought first time around. Malmo's chances really were few and far between, and any time they got anywhere near the goal Ashley Williams popped up to smash the ball and/or the player out of the way. There was a nice moment at the beginning of the second half when, after prolonged chanting of "Ashley Williams...he's captain of Wales" he turned and acknowledged the crowd, which served to turn the volume in that corner of the stadium up to eleven - for a few moments at least.
Jonjo Shelvey, too, was excellent and in truth you could single any number of players out for individual praise but I thought Wayne Routledge was excellent. His work-rate is better than anyone's and he seems to be gaining more and more confidence - he's starting to play with an arrogance that I love to see from technical players, and is using skills to beat his man more and more often. Last night he got himself two assists, with the second being an impudent cross with the outside of his boot. He also looked lively in front of goal, breaking through after three minutes before being crowded out, as well as seeing a shot blocked just short of half time, when it seemed to be heading into the top corner. A player like Routledge is probably the most likely to benefit from training with someone like Michael Laudrup; Wayne has all the technique in the world - it's about when and where to use it and to what effect.
The Dane seems to be having a positive effect on the entire Swansea squad at the moment, and was in effusive mood directly after the match:
“I’m very pleased. It’s very difficult not to be satisfied with that and no goals conceded as well, which was very important. Perfect isn’t often used in football, but that was about as close as you can get tonight. Two goals from our new striker, Michu is back scoring and no injuries either.
“If we win 4-0, despite them not knowing each other that well, it can’t be a bad night. There are so many different games. You play home and away, against different styles, but we have a lot of alternatives right now.
“Even without the Europa League, you still need that depth. From game to game, you get phases in November and December where there are a lot of cup games, but first we have to finish this tie in Malmo, and then we maybe have another round before we can even think about the group stages.
“I’m very confident in my players and there was no way that they were going to underestimate Malmo. A lot of the squad haven’t played in Europe, so we want to go as far as we can.” Michael Laudrup
His opposite number Rikard Norling wasn't as full of beans, but he remained diplomatic and was complimentary about the Swans, before stating simply that "it will be very difficult next week, but we will try".
It's got to suck being asked loads of questions in the aftermath of a big loss, when all you want to do is get on a plane and fly back to a country where everyone is probably going to be a bit nicer to you, but that's the lot of a football manager.
All in all, a thoroughly impressive opening display from the Swans, and one they'll hoping they can repeat in a week's time.
I'd love to hear from anyone making the trip, and if anyone takes a load of photos and fancies sending them in via email or twitter I can include them in upcoming blogs about the game. Fan power and all that...