Football
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Swansea's Garry Monk calls position of England mangager 'ultimate job'

Swansea boss Garry Monk has set his sights on managing England, describing it as the "ultimate job."

Monk has impressed in his role at the Liberty Stadium after he succeeded Michael Laudrup in February of last year.

The 36-year-old guided Swansea to a record 56 points and an eighth-placed finish last season and was rewarded with a three-year deal at the start of the summer.

The ease in which he has moved into management after 10 years as a player for Swansea has seen him emerge as one of the country's most promising coaches.

But while Monk insisted taking charge of England is his ultimate goal, his focus, for the foreseeable future at least, remains on managing Swansea.

"I have always been patriotic, a massive supporter of England and grew up watching all of it," said Monk. "To manage or play for your country, whichever way round it is, has to be the ultimate job doesn't it?

"Representing your country would be an honour for anyone, and you see the players and managers who have done it over the years and the regard they are held in, so of course it is.

"But right now it is about concentrating on club football and trying to do well."

Monk's side travel to Stamford Bridge on Saturday for their opening fixture of the Premier League season, and Monk can count Jose Mourinho among his growing list of admirers.

Earlier this week, the Chelsea boss described Monk as a "very good manager" and hailed the "magnificent" job he has done at Swansea.

"He is a great guy," said Monk, who was joined by Mourinho at the Premier League launch at Southfields Academy in west London earlier this week.

"I haven't had lots and lots of dealings with him but the times we have met and spoken he has been very humble, and very supportive towards me. That is important and you have to look at him as the benchmark for this league and his career in terms of what he delivers year in, year out."

Monk said Chelsea's ordinary preseason form will have no bearing on the start of their Premier League defence on Saturday.

The English champions failed to win any of their five preseason games in 90 minutes, but Monk expects the "best Chelsea side" at Stamford Bridge.

"It doesn't mean anything," Monk said referring to Chelsea's winless run in preseason. "Man United won every single game in preseason last year and we won at Old Trafford on the opening day.

"It's very difficult to read into preseason games as teams are experimenting, organising and preparing.

"When you come into Premier League games it's a totally different animal. Players think differently and the approach and intensity is different, so we will prepare for the best Chelsea side and hopefully put on a good performance."

Swansea suffered few dark days last season when Monk, in his first full year in charge, guided the club to eighth and a record points tally.

But Chelsea handed out heavy defeats, winning 4-2 at Stamford Bridge early on in the season before romping to a 5-0 victory at the Liberty Stadium in January.

"Down there we were excellent for 45 minutes last season and if we can produce 90 minutes like that it will be great," Monk said. "It doesn't come any tougher than starting at the home of the champions and they've set the standard. They've kept the squad together and added a few to it, and the way they won the league comfortably towards the end was testament to how good they were.

"It's a new season and a fresh start but hopefully we can take on the good things we did last year and try and improve on them and take it into each and every game."

Monk remains reluctant to say whether Swansea can improve on eighth place but he believes the squad he has assembled, keeping all major players over the summer while adding international forwards Andre Ayew and Eder, France Under-21 left-back Franck Tabanou and Sweden goalkeeper Kristoffer Nordfeldt, is capable of improvement.

"I want us to improve as a team, offensively and defensively, and we can do that," Monk said. "The players are ready to take our football on to another level. I don't focus on targets in terms of points and what we should be achieving at the end. We want to put a good start together and last year it was about getting to 40 points as quickly as we could and it's the same approach.

"I want to get to 40 points as quickly as possible and then reassess and see what we can do."

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