Michael Laudrup

Born in Frederiksberg, Copenhagen, Michael Laudrup began playing football in father Finn Laudrup's childhood club Vanløse. When Finn Laudrup became player/coach of Brøndby in 1973, the family moved to Brøndby and both Michael and his brother Brian Laudrup started playing for the club as well. Michael followed his father to the top-flight Danish 1st Division club KB in 1976, while Brian remained at Brøndby.

Early career

Laudrup made his senior debut playing for KB in 1981, and made his debut for the Danish under-19 national team in February 1981. In all, he scored a combined total of 14 goals in 25 games at various youth levels. He went back to play for Brøndby in 1982, where his father had ended his career in 1981, contributing to the promotion of Brøndby to the 1st Division. At Brøndby, Laudrup scored two goals in the club's 1st Division debut game, as fellow promoted team B 1909 were beaten 7–1. He scored 15 league goals in 1982, and ended the season as the third top goal scorer of the 1st Division. His accomplishments earned him the 1982 Danish Player of the Year award. He played part of the 1983 season for Brøndby, and scored nine goals, before he was sold to defending Serie A champions Juventus from Italy in June 1983. It was the biggest transfer deal in Danish football at the time, worth around $1 million. He was due to sign for Liverpool the same year on a three-year contract, but at the last minute, Liverpool proposed a four-year contract and Laudrup opted…

Laudrup was called up for the Denmark national team during Brøndby's debut season in the top-flight. On his 18th birthday on 15 June 1982, he became the then-second-youngest Danish national team player ever, following Harald Nielsen. Despite playing for relegation battlers Lazio, Laudrup starred for the Denmark national team at UEFA Euro 1984, playing all four of Denmark's matches. Laudrup participated in the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, a performance which is best remembered for his exceptional solo dribble and goal in the 6–1 defeat of Uruguay. He was also a part of the disappointing Denmark squad at Euro 1988, though Laudrup experienced personal success, scoring one of Denmark's two goals. Following three matches in the qualification campaign for Euro 1992, Laudrup opted to quit the national team in November 1990 (alongside his brother Brian Laudrup and Jan Mølby) following differences with coach Richard Møller Nielsen. The Danes originally failed to qualify but were later given Yugoslavia's place as Yugoslavia were disqualified due to war in their country. Notwithstanding their qualification, Laudrup rated Denmark's chances of success so low he stayed on holiday. However, Denmark caused one of the biggest upsets in football history by going on to win the tournament, beating holders the Netherlands in the semi-final and, in the final beating reigning world champions and favourites Germany, with a 2–0 win thanks to goals from John Jensen and Kim Vilfort. Laudrup returned…

Early years

After his playing career ended with Ajax, Laudrup became a coach at age 36 when he started serving as an assistant coach for the Denmark national team head coach Morten Olsen in 2000. The national team would play a 4–2–3–1 formation, depending on two fast wingers and with the aim to dominate games with a short-passing possession game. Together, they led Denmark to the knock-out stage of the 2002 World Cup.

Brøndby

After his success as Denmark assistant manager, Laudrup signed on as manager for Danish Superliga club Brøndby. As his assistant coach, he paired up with former Danish championship winning manager John Jensen, who had played alongside him in the Denmark national team. At the start of his reign, he proclaimed a tactical scheme close to that which Olsen and he had coached at the national team. He renovated the Brøndby team by letting a large contingent of older and experienced players leave, in favour of several new offensive players, and he also gave the chance to young talents from the club's youth scheme.

To ensure the defensive strength of the team, Laudrup signed proven national team player Morten Wieghorst. He began his reign as Brøndby manager by winning his first trophy in his managerial career, the 2002 Danish Supercup. In his first season as head coach, he guided the team to win the Danish Cup, after Brøndby beat Midtjylland 3–0 in the final and runners-up in the Danish Superliga. Laudrup's success led him to being voted and…

As assistant manager to Morten Olsen, the Denmark national team employed a 4–2–3–1 system with pacey wingers playing the pivotal role in attack. Laudrup learnt from Olsen and used the same tactical style with Brøndby, with the team becoming more attacking and focused on a short passing style. He continued to employ a similar tactical style when he joined Getafe, ushering a new brand of exciting and free-flowing attacking football to help the club to the Copa del Rey final. However, at Spartak Moscow, he could not adapt his formation and tactics to the Russian game, with the club unable to score enough goals per match. As Mallorca manager, Laudrup inspired a team that lost a number of key players from relegation by playing an offensive game. In 2012, he joined Swansea City as manager, replacing Brendan Rodgers. Under Rodgers, Swansea were known to play a 4–3–3 approach with a lot of focus on passing, where the full-backs pushed up when in possession and the outfield players played a high tempo pressing game. Under Laudrup, the team began employing a 4–2–3–1 formation, becoming more attacking while retaining the passing, possession, and pressing game. He also signed a number of new players, primarily from La Liga, trying to bring the attacking style from Spain to Wales, which saw more goals scored. He said, "You can get a lot of quality for a reasonable amount in Spain right now." Laudrup earned plaudits for maintaining their flowing, attacking brand of football and…