Alexi Lalas, Manager

[pittsburgher86]

Swansea City Announcements

Swansea city announced recently the team has been taken over by American Sports Businessmen Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan. Mr. Levien has experience in the soccer world, running MLS side DC United. Mr. Kaplan, however, is new to soccer having come from helping to run the mildly successful basketball team, the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA. Both men are very excited about taking over Swansea City and look forward to growing the team into a successful BPL team and getting them to compete in European competitions as well.

They also look forward to helping grow American interest in European soccer and have announced that former USA Soccer star and commentator Alexi Lalas has been appointed as Manager of Swansea City. In an introductory press conference held by all three men, Lalas said "Despite my lack of coaching experience, I am very excited to building this team and making them a winner. This may take a good bit of work on everyones part, as I learn and grow as a successful coach. Jason and Steve have blessed me with great leniency and have stated they will have a lot of patience in me as we all work together to grow this team into a competitive European team."

Lalas announced he's accepted an invitation to the Preseason Champions Trophy Competition in Columbia. Swansea will take on Atletico Nacional, Independiente Medellin (both of Columbia) and CSKA Moscow (of Russia) in the group stage of the competition. In Group B of the competition is San Lorenzo (Argentina), Club America (Mexico), NYCFC (United States) and Olympique Lyonnais (France).

**I will be simming all games of year 1 and have turned off summer transfer window**

[pittsburgher86]

July Updates

Game Notes

July 5: Swansea 3 vs. Medellin 0 (Gomis - 2 Goals, Fer - 1 Goal)
July 8: CSKA 1 vs. Swansea 0
July 12: Swansea vs. Nacional (Sigurdsson - 2 goals, Fer - 1 Goal)

Group A
1. CSKA - 9 Points
2. Swansea - 6 Points
3. Atl. Nacional - 3 Points
4. Indep. Medellin - 0 Points

Group B
1. Olym. Lyonnais - 9 Points
2. San Lorenzo - 6 Points
3. America - 3 Points
4. NYCFC - 0 Points

Semi-Final on July 15: Lyon 2 (5) vs. Swansea 2 (4) (Sigurdsson - Goal, Paloschi - Goal)

[Olymique Lyonnais defeated San Lorenzo to win the preseason tournament. Lacazette was named Player of the Tournament]

Team Notes
July 16th - Alexi Lalas announces first Youth Scout hiring of Luke Hurst (of England). Lalas stated, "Luke is a very talent scout and his first assignment will be to scour Enland for all sorts of young talented players. We look forward to seeing who Luke finds and develops for our future."

[pittsburgher86]

August and September Updates

Game Results

August 08: Chelsea 1 vs. Swansea 1 (Sigurdsson - Goal)
August 15: Swansea 1 vs. Newcastle 1 (Paloschi - Goal)
August 22: Sunderland 0 vs. Swansea 1 (Sigurdsson - Goal)
August 25: Brighton 1 vs. Swansea 2 (Sigurdsson - 2 Goals) [Capital One Cup]
August 30: Swansea 1 vs. Man Utd. 3 (Ayew - Goal)

September 12: Watford 2 vs. Swansea 1 (Williams - Goal)
September 19: Swansea 2 vs. Everton 1 (Sigurdsson - Goal, Gomis - Goal)
September 22: Wigan 0 vs. Swansea 2 (Sigurdsson - Goal, Gomis -Goal) [Capital One Cup]
September 26: Southampton 2 vs. Swansea 1 (Paloschi - Goal)

Lalas Talks

• Alexi Lalas was recently offered two jobs at the national coaching level. Both Chili and India have reached out the American national and Swansea coach. Lalas candidly stated he had "no interest whatsoever" in coaching India. As for the Chilean team he spoke highly of their potential but ultimately felt taking on a national team job was not a good idea at this point.
  
• Lalas announced youth scout Luke Hurst has signed his first younger, Jordan Abedayo-Rowling. At 16, Jordan, has a ton of time to grow and his potential looks to be strong. He already possesses decent speed, balance and agility.
  
• After 7 games of BPL play Swansea sit at 12 in the standings with 2 wins, 2 draws and 3 losses. Lalas says both he and the team have work to do and believes they are capable of more. He has praised the play of Sigurdsson, telling reporters "Gylfi has been our best player. 9 goals and 4 assists in 13 games in all competitions has been impressive. He's got very good natural scoring ability for a non-striker." On the flip side Lalas has been unimpressed by defender Federico Fernandez, "Fernandez has not been playing well, he's being beaten often and has taken poor tackles causing 2 match bans now. I'm unhappy, he needs to show more. We've got younger, more hungry guys like Jordi Amat, maybe Amat plays more."

[pittsburgher86]

October and November Updates

Game Updates

October 05: Swansea 1 vs. Spurs 1 (Ki Sung Yueng - Goal)
October 19: Swansea 0 vs. Stoke City 1
October 24: Aston Villa 0 vs. Swansea City 0
October 27: Swansea 2 [4] vs. Everton 2 [3] [Capital One Cup]
October 31: Swansea 1 vs. Arsenal 0 (Ayew - Goal)

November 07: Norwich 0 vs. Swansea 0
November 21: Swansea 1 vs. Bournemouth 1 (Rangel - Goal)

Lalas Talks

• Alexi Lalas has once again been approached by several national teams. South Africa, Egypt, Norway, and Bolivia have all reached out to the Swansea Coach. "I'll be frank in effort to dispel any silly rumors. There is only one national team job for me, the United States. My home country is very special to me and I would only consider taking a national team job for them. I'm flattered by the interest me though and I do thank all of these nations for considering me.
• It has been in the press recently that Swansea defender Jordi Amat is unhappy with his situation in England, specifically the weather. There is much speculation about his future with the club. Lalas is a fan of Amat though, and hopes he'll stay, "Amat is a good defender, I would hate to see him go. At the same time, I do believe to an extent that pleasing players keeps the team happy and makes me a more likable coach. So should Amat find a team that will satisfy him better, I do not intend on blocking a transfer."
• "Luke Hurst has signed two more youth players; goalkeeper Brandon Oduwa and attacking player Jonathon White." Alexi Lalas announced today. "Oduwa already stands at 5'11" as a 16 year old. With growing still to do, his size alone intrigues us. Beyond that Mr. Hurst has provided good scouting reports on this kid. His development should be interesting. White is 17 years of age, he's got winger skills that should develop fairly well."

[pittsburgher86]

December Updates

Game Scores

December 01: Liverpool 1 vs. Swansea 1 (Sigurdsson - Goal)
December 05: Swansea 0 vs. Leicester 2
December 12: Man City 2 vs. Swansea 0
December 16: Newcastle 3 vs. Swansea 2 (Fer - Goal, Gomis - Goal) [Capital One Cup Quarter Final]
December 19: Swansea 1 vs. West Ham 1 (Fernandez - Goal)
December 26: Swansea 0 vs. West Brom 0
December 28: Crystal Palace 2 vs. Swansea 2 (Barrow - Goal, Paloschi - Goal)

Lalas Talks

• Alexi Lalas has told England, Paraguay, and Slovenia all no to national team offers.
• Lalas has hired youth scout Martin Boden (of England) with his first assignment being to scout the United States for 9 months. Lalas an American himself said "I feel the US is getting better in producing players. You have young players like Matt Miazaga and Christian Pulisic at top flight European clubs so its getting better so we need to tap into the area for sure."
• With the January transfer window ahead of us, Lalas laid out some plans for the time. "The board feels we need to bring in some more defensemen and I could not agree more. We are allowing too many goals and as a former defenseman its sickening. Look for us to try to make a splash in that area." Alexi Lalas went onto say he'll look to make one or two free signings because "who doesn't like things for free," Lalas joked. He also said that he plans to target American midfielder Christian Pulisic. "Pulisic is a really good young player, I'd love to bring him here and coach him up," Lalas mentioned during his press conference.

[pittsburgher86]

January Updates

Game Scores

January 03: Swansea 4 vs. Port Vale 0 (Barrow - 2 Goals, Paloschi - 2 Goals) [The Emirates FA Cup]
January 07: Man Utd 3 vs. Swansea 0
January 16: Swansea 1 vs. Watford 2 (Paloschi - Goal)
January 24: Swansea 2 vs. Wigan 0 (Ki Sung Yueng - Goal, Montero - Goal) [The Emirates FA Cup]
January 29: Swansea 2 vs. Sunderland 1 (Sigurdsson - Goal, Paloschi -Goal)

Lalas Talks

• Venezuela and Portugal called Lalas this past month. Lalas remains saying he would only coach the US on the internation level.
• January was a busy month for Swansea City and Alexi Lalas. It saw the team start off losing to Man U and Watford, but then winning and FA cup match and closing the month off with a win versus Sunderland. Between the losses and wins Lalas made changes. "In the past we've ran a 4-2-3-1 formation. I made the change to a 4-4-1-1 to set up more offense, knowing we were getting some defensive reinforcements. The change puts Leroy Fer and Ki Sung Yueng in better positions to score and set up offense which is more of their game than defense is." Lalas commented.

Transfer Talk

The transfer news was the other part of the busy month for Swansea and their manager Alexi Lalas. It saw the sale of four low level players just for the sake of trimming some players off the roster to kick off the transfer window.

Then about a week in West Brom approached Lalas about starting keeper Lukasz Fabianski. "Fabianski is a good player and I wasn't too keen to sell him. However, I knew of a younger keep we could get that has loads of potential. We managed a good price for the sale of Lukasz and managed an even better price for his replacement, Dragowski. Speaking of whom, he's played well and will only get better."

Lalas and his staff launched their campaign for defenders. They discussed many backs, but two names popped up most often, John Stones and Jairo Riedewald. Stones, a high profile English player, joined for 15 million dollars. "We had an opportunity for a number of players, but Stones feels like a great fit with Ashley
Williams at centerback. He's oozing potential and we got a fair deal for him." Riedewald is a natural centerback back but is also a capable full back and can even play defensive mid when needed. Lalas expects for Riedewald, 20, to start at leftback, but may move around when needed. There was speculation about Federico Fernandez and Jordi Amat being on the move, but transfers never materialized. Amat had been complaining of the weather in England but ultimately decided to stay. Fernandez was rumored to be on the cutting board by Lalas, however a transfer offer never came. It will be a surprise if he sees much playing time.

Lalas mentioned Christian Pulisic as a potential target for the team. Dortmund was unwilling to make a permanent move of him but Lalas did work out a two year loan of the young American star. "I'm excited to have Christian in the fold here. He's got work to do but can make in impact here and there, spelling other players. I hope to make him a permanent player at the end of the loan."

Alexi Lalas has previously stated he loves getting things for free. He managed to orchestrate the free, contract expiration transfer of Alex Pato from Chelsea early on in transfer window. Pato, a striker and attacking midfielder, will likely make starts at both positions next year when he joins the team. Then in a completely shocking, out of nowhere, deadline deal Alexi Lalas got another free transfer for Valencia star Sofiane Feghouli. "Feghouli was talked about by our staff but I wasn't sure we could pull off acquiring him. One of my assistants brought it to my attention that Feghouli had not signed a new contract with any team yet, so I called his agent and asked if Feghouli would be interested in coming to Swansea. About a half hour later, the deal was worked out. Feghouli is a very creative player, cannot wait to have at the start of next season. He looks forward to playing for us and competing in the England."

Marc Stendera also joined in the transfer window in an exchange of Leon Britton and around 6 million dollars. He figures to be rotating in and out of the midfield for Sigurdsson, Fer and Yueng.

[pittsburgher86]

United States Fires Klinsmann, Hires Lalas

The United States Soccer Federation has grown tired of Jurgen Klinsmann, sacking him in early February. He's helped the team grow somewhat but has struggled to find the success the federation has wanted. Tapped to replace Klinsmann is American Alexi Lalas.

Lalas, a former player for the national team, has been saying for a while the only national team he'd coach would be the United States. In addition to his duties as the Men's team coach, he will continue to manage BPL side Swansea City. Though, Swansea has not been very successful yet under Lalas the federation said he was picked for no nonsense attitude and willingness to make moves others may be afraid to make.

Because the BPL is still playing Lalas was unable to attend the press conference announcing his hiring. He did however send this message state side:

Quote:

I am absolutely thrilled to have been asked to coach the US Men's National Soccer team. I want to thank everyone at Swansea for allowing to me to be a two team coach and promise both Swansea and the United States to devote tons of time into both teams. I look forward to leading our national soccer team program and cannot wait to get know our players a lot better, teach them, and ultimately win as much as humanly possible.

[pittsburgher86]

February and March Updates

Game Scores

February 06: Swansea 1 vs. Crystal Palace 2 (Ayew - Goal)
February 10: Everton 3 vs. Swansea 0
February 13: Swansea 1 vs. Manchester City 1 (Ayew - Goal) [Capital One Cup Round of 16]
February 16: Swansea 0 vs. Southampton 0
February 23: West Brom 1 vs. Swansea 0

March 01: Manchester City 3 vs. Swansea 0 [Capital One Cup Round of 16]
March 04: Arsenal 3 vs. Swansea 1 (Gomis - Goal)
March 07: Swansea 1 vs. Norwich 3 (Paloschi - Goal)
March 12: Bournemouth 1 vs. Swansea 2 (Ayew - Goal, Sigurdsson - Goal)
March 18: Swansea 1 vs. Aston Villa 2 (Sigurdsson - Goal)
March 22: Netherlands 1 vs. USA 1 [International Friendly]
March 25: USA 1 vs. Russia 0 (Dempsey - Goal) [International Friendly]

Lalas Talks

• Swansea has signed youth players Jonathan McCrary (USA) and Jerell Ormonde-Ottewill (England) to the youth squad. Lalas says "both players have a bright future."
• With eight games left to play Swansea are in last play, very much in danger of relegation. Lalas is toying the lineup often trying to find a winning combination. "We're not playing remotely well, defenders are poor, scoring is worse. Truthfully, I'm not sure what to do" Lalas recently said.
• Lalas also made his international debut this past month. The US drew against the Netherlands and beat Russia. Dempsey was the star man as always. Michael Bradley was rumored to be a player Lalas was paying close attention to. "Michael is good player but tends to turn the ball over a lot" Lalas mentioned. After the games his tone on Bradley changed slightly "He played very well and didn't make mistakes, he's going to continue to be a key player for us."

*** I will likely play the last few games, as I do not want to be relegated because I never played a game. ***