Michel Vorm: Why Swansea Goalkeeper Belongs at a Big Club Next Season

Among the many nice surprises of this Barclays Premier League season was Swansea City, who seemed to feel none of the pressure of being the first Welsh team in England's top division en route to their current 12th-place position.

The Swans have played refreshingly pure football, and have at times looked like the Barcelona of the southwest UK in such swashbuckling victories over Arsenal and Manchester City.

But Swansea are not the first side in the recent past to attempt to bring a very aesthetically pleasing, technical style of play to the Premier League.

Blackpool, for example, drew many plaudits last year for their willingness to go after big clubs and their lack of reservation in doing so. And yet the Seasiders still got relegated at the end of the season.

Why have the Welsh wizards succeeded where others have failed? The biggest reason is their stable and mostly reliable defence. And the shining light behind the back four is arguably the Swans' most outstanding player of the season: Michel Vorm.

The Dutchman has been a revelation since completing a low-priced move from Utrecht last summer, and has kept his side afloat at times with truly incredible play between the sticks.

One cannot analyze Vorm without focusing on his remarkable penalty-saving abilities. In Swansea's 2-0 December win over Fulham, he capped off a stunning display on the night by saving a penalty from Clint Dempsey in the 87th minute when the score was still 1-0.

And back in August, it was Vorm who came to the rescue to give the Swans the first Premier League point in club history by saving a penalty from Wigan's Ben Watson deep into the second half.

Even better in open play, the goalkeeper has been a nightmare to opposing attackers this season.

Just ask Manchester City, who have come across Vorm on two of his best days this season. In their first Premier League game, Swansea lost to a great City side 4-0 in the cauldron of the Etihad Stadium. But Vorm made a stunning 11 saves when his defence deserted him.

And in a crushing encounter in March, the Dutchman was again brilliant, withstanding a barrage of City attacks, especially late in the match, to keep a clean sheet and earn his side a massive 1-0 victory.

If it were not for Joe Hart's equally fantastic goalkeeping this season and his helpful English nationality, Vorm would have been a great candidate for the PFA Team of the Year—quite an accolade for a player at a mid-table club.

The latter's career is on a sharply upward trajectory. Only 28 years old, Vorm is about to enter his prime, and would flourish at a bigger club than that for which he currently plies his trade.

Unfortunately for him, none of the absolute top-tier English clubs need a goalkeeper at the moment—although Tottenham, who need a replacement for the 40-year-old Brad Friedel, could be lumped into that group if they manage to qualify for the Champions League.

While he might not be able to remain in the country where he has become settled, talent of his nature can thrive in any league in the world.

The thought of a Swansea keeper between the sticks for, say, AC Milan in the near future might be somewhat odd to some, but this man really does have the talent to make that leap.

When more people get to see this man on a weekly basis, they will be amazed at the talents of a player who has been hidden in the obscurity of Eredivisie and Premier League mediocrity.

Unfortunately for Vorm, football is a team sport. If all 11 men had the skill and intensity at their positions that he has at his, Swansea might well be challenging for a Champions League place this season, rather than contenting themselves with a mid-table finish.

Often, when football fans hear of a player whose talents are supposedly too grand for the relatively small club he plays for, they turn their noses at the arrogance of another conceited professional athlete.

But Vorm, a humble and dedicated individual, really does deserve to be showcased on a bigger stage and under brighter lights every week than his surroundings at the Liberty Stadium. He is at a point in his career when he can genuinely claim that he has earned a move to a bigger club.

Perhaps, in his humbleness, Vorm will decline such a move if one does come up. But Swansea can count on offers coming in from any big club that has an opening between the sticks. Their goalkeeper has proven this season that he is worthy of playing against top European competition.