Michael Laudrup’s playing career was the stuff of legend, with the Danish great winning league titles in Italy and Spain, while also lifting the Champions League trophy with Barcelona.
He would also earn a century of international caps before hanging up his boots in 1998. What came next was a move to the dugout that began back at Brondby, where he did the double, before taking an unfancied Getafe side to the Copa del Rey final and then the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup.
In 2012 he moved to Swansea and led them to their historic 2013 League Cup victory, the club’s first major trophy.
Laurdup opens up on his managerial career
After working as an assistant coach for the Danish national team at the 2002 World Cup, Laudrup enjoyed early success at Brondby. This acted as an early indicator of his managerial credentials, with his spell at Getafe proving there was real substance to his philosophy.
“With those teams, and Swansea later, I played a possession-based style, even though Getafe and Swansea were fairly new to the top tiers,” the Dane tells FourFourTwo.
“That season with Getafe, we played more matches than Real Madrid and Barcelona, because we went so far in two cup competitions. In the [UEFA Cup] last 16, we faced Benfica with just 14 first-team players fit, but we still won 2-1 at the Estadio da Luz.”
After proving he could succeed on limited resources, Laudrup’s reputation grew, with Swansea City bringing him to English football in 2012 as the replacement for Brendan Rodgers, who had established the side in the Premier League before departing for Liverpool.
Laudrup would enjoy early success in the form of another cup run, as the Swans made it to Wembley where they would thrash fourth-tier Bradford City 5-0 in the final to win the first major trophy in the club’s history, something Laudrup remains proud of.
“It was the first major trophy in their history, and who knows when they’ll win another,” he says. “We beat Chelsea over two legs in the semi-final and Liverpool at Anfield. It was incredible, and meant so much to so many people.
“Also, I was the manager, which is much more work than being a player. You have to make so many different decisions.”
Despite this cup win - and a top-half Premier League finish in his first season, Laudrup was sacked in February 2014, with the club sitting just above the relegation zone.
“That was tough, especially after the successful season we’d had,” he admits. “The next year, we were still in the Europa League, about to play Napoli in the last 32. And in the league, the strain on the players sometimes affected results, but there were still a lot of teams down there, then suddenly they dismissed me. It hurt.
“A few years later, they called me to see if I wanted to go back, but I didn’t. I’m not really a believer in going back – people hope it will be like the first time, but it will never be the same.”
