Alexi Lalas, Manager

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April Updates

Game Scores

April 02: Stoke 0 vs. Swansea 2 (Montero, Ayew)
April 09: Swansea 0 vs. Chelsea 0
April 19: Spurs 0 vs. Swansea 2 (Ki Sung Yueng)
April 23: Leicester 0 vs. Swansea 2 (2 Fer)

Lalas Talks

• Jordan Abedayo-Rowling of the Swansea youth squad has been signed to the first team, manager Alexi Lalas recently announced. “He’s outgrown his time in the youth team. It’s unlikely he see’s much actual playing time, but his growth and development will be better served around top players” Lalas told reporters.
• Lalas announced that Swansea has filled out youth squad scout positions with the hiring of scout James King of England. For his first assignment he will be scouting Brazil. “Brazil has always been a great contributor of to the soccer talent pool and its important to scout there for that reason” Lalas said of assigning a scout there. Also in youth scouting news, Luke Hurst will continue scouting England, this time specifically looking for players that are physically strong.
• The bottom of the the BPL standing is jam packed with teams trying to avoid relegation. That of course included Swansea City. At the beginning of April, Swansea had begun at the very bottom of the league. However, since that time they have 3 wins, no losses and one draw to raise their spot in the league to 15th. Still in danger of relegation but playing better manager Alexi Lalas had this to say “We’ve played well this month for sure. Hats off to the defenders and especially Dragowski whose stood on his head out there. Allowing no goals this month has been huge. There is plenty of work to do, but this gives us confidence and should allow us to move forward and forget some of the demons that have plagued us.”
• With just four games left Swansea City’s schedule does not figure to be an easy one. In the span of one week they will play Liverpool, Newcastle and West Ham, who are sixth, twelfth and nineteenth respectively in the standings. For their last game of the year they take on Manchester City. In regards to the last games of the season Alexis Lalas issued this statement to his players, “Everyone has to be on the top of their games for these last few. We’re only one point from relegation teams and we play one of current relegation coming down the stretch. We’re better than a Championship League team. Lets finish strong heading into the offseason.”

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May Updates

Game Scores

May 01: Swansea 4 vs. Liverpool 1 (3 Gomis, Ayew)
May 04: Newcastle 0 vs. Swansea 2 (2 Barrow)
May 07: West Ham 1 vs. Swansea 1 (Fer)
May 15: Swansea 2 vs. Manchester City (Ki Sung Yueng, Paloschi)

Lalas Talks

• With spectacular play to end the season Swansea finished 11th overall. Manager Alexi Lalas felt the team could’ve performed better overall but praised them for their finish. “It was really rough for quite a while there,” Lalas began, “I didn’t know what to make of the players, how to make change, anything really. We came on strong late when faced with the potential of being relegated. I have to give tons of credit to our backline of Riedewald, Williams, Stones, Naughton as the starters. But also to Amat, Bartley, Taylor and Rangel for stepping in when needed. Dragowski as the last line of defense played well too and kept us in many games. I also want to congratulate Paloschi and Sigurdsson on leading our team in goals. As a final shout out, I want to thank Leroy Fer for being a steadying force in our midfield and playing extremely well despite being on loan from QPR. I intend to bring him back permanently when the transfer window opens.”
• Lalas was asked about defender Federico Fernandez and his status within the team and gave a decent endorsement to the Argentinian but was uncertain about his future. “Federico is a very good competitor and despite receiving some tongue lashings from me always worked hard and fought hard when called upon” Lalas said of Fernandez. “As for his future here, I’m not really sure. He’s a good player and deserves playing time but I’m very happy where we defensively so I’m not sure I can promise playing time. Its very possible there may be a better fit for him with another team.”
• When asked about other potential transfer plans Lalas spoke of two spots he’d like to improve upon. “When I look at our team I don’t believe we have any major holes but theres places to improve upon for sure. I’m not overly worried about striking and wide play with Pato and Feghouli set to come in for free, plus with Ayew, Montero, Gomis and others we’re solid in those spots. Central midfield is spot I’d like to bring someone in though. Not that I have a problem per se with any of them, but midfield play is important and if theres any splash transfer to be had for us, I’d like to make it improving our midfield. I’d also like to bring in a solid fullback to sure up so lackadaisical play I’ve seen every once in a while.”
• Youth Signings - Harry Sapong (USA, Playmaker); Adrian Rolfe (USA, Attacker); James Thomas (England, Defensive Minded); George Gardner (England, Playmaker)
• Contract extensions - Jefferson Montero, Josh Sheehan, Raheem Hanley, Gregor Zabret

Final Standings

In some around the league news Olivier Giroud won the Golden Boot while Harry Kane took home the Player of the Year award, despite neither of them being named in the of the year. Speaking of the team of year, they'd line up as follows: Vorm (Spurs) would be in goal, while Baines (Everton), Blind (Manchester Utd), Jagielka (Everton) and Simpson (Leicester) would be the backline. In midfield would be Chadli of the Spurs, Naismith of Norwich, McCarthy of Everton, and Willian of Chelsea. The striker partnership would be Rooney (Manchester Utd) and Vardy (Leicester).

Rounding other competition news:

• Liverpool beat Manchester City to win the FA Cup.
• FC Bayern beat Real Madrid to win Champions League.
• Spurs beat Bayer Leverkusen in penalty kicks to win Europa League.
• Norwich beat Manchester City to win the Capital One Cup.
• Olym. Marseille edged PSG to win Ligue 1 by one point.
• FC Bayern won the Bundesliga.
• Inter wins Serie A by one point over Juventus.
• Real Madrid edges Barcelona and Atletico to win Liga BBVA.

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