Lineker Hopes Laudrup Can Continue Success

Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker hopes it works well for Michael Laudrup at Swansea City.

The former England international admits that it'll be tough for new manager Michael Laudrup to beat last season's success of achieving 11th place in their opening Premier League campaign.

Brendan Rodgers' achievements last year attracted Liverpool to appoint him as their management replacement for Kenny Dalglish, who could only guide the Reds to 8th place.

Match of the Day, which will now be available to watch back on BBC iPlayer, will surely be excited with the arrival of Danish legend Michael Laudrup, as Swansea City's coverage continues to grow.

Lineker says Laudrup's appointment is an interesting one:

'It'll be a tough one for him [Laudrup] but they've got a lot of good footballers and a style of play that seems comfortable to them,'

'So I don't think he'll have to change too much, which is a good thing, maybe just add one or two players that he thinks will strengthen their squad.

'It's an interesting appointment and makes a lot of sense in many ways, because Brendan Rodgers played a certain style of football that I suppose equates to the way they play in Spain a lot of the time.

'He'd done a magnificent job there, to take them up for a start and then not only to manage to stay up but to stay up comfortably playing the sort of football we see Barcelona playing in terms of the percentage of possession they had in games.

Lineker also says that Laudrup is a sensible fit for the Swans and wishes him well at the Liberty Stadium:

'Swansea got bags of attention last year because they played so wonderfully well... a lot of our guys eulogised at not only how well Swansea had done after being promoted but also the style of football they played last season was so good to watch.

'Michael Laudrup has had a lot of experience playing and coaching in Spain so it looks like a sensible fit.

'Obviously he's a very respected both as a footballer, he was a brilliant player, and he's made quite a lot of progress in his coaching career, so hopefully it'll work out well for both parties.'

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