Swansea City defender Angel Rangel believes the club have ‘lost the way’ of the more continental methods introduced by former manager Roberto Martinez.
The full-back was one of a host of Spaniards brought in by Martinez but 12 of his compatriots have since left the club, with Borja Baston and Jordi Amat on loan in La Liga while Roque Mesa has not cemented a first-team place yet.
“I had a call from a guy called Roberto Martinez. He told me he was a Spanish manager in English football, for a team called Swansea City I did not know much about,” Rangel told an interview with The Independent.
“I had nothing to lose. I thought I was going to go there, learn English and have the chance to play in a different division. So let’s go and try.
“We were the only team in League One who tried to play the European way, not the British way. And we succeeded – always playing from the back, try to play the ball on the floor.
“I feel proud that we did something that nobody thought we could do. We overcame a very difficult style of football, in a country where the culture was long-ball and physicality.
“To do that, you needed a European manager first and European players, mixed with British players because they’re the ones who know the league here.
“We had a great mixture here. When teams saw we could get to the Premier League, they started to change, and the culture started changing.
“The most inspiring thing during that time was that we never talked about other teams, it was all about ourselves, how to play football offensively.
“His team-meetings would be 15 minutes before the game on a board. Say a few things, go and play and enjoy.
“You can see that Swansea don’t do it now. We always talk about it, some of the players who have been here a long time.
“That’s the way we succeeded. Why are we changing it? That’s my only question. I know we have different players now, different managers.
“But the philosophy of the club could still be in place. And it’s not.”
