Michael Laudrup continues the fairytale at Swansea City

Saturday's 2-0 win at Arsenal was the result of Michael Laudrup's short reign at Swansea so far

Swansea City played Arsenal off the park at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday and thoroughly deserved their 2-0 win.

Much of the focus since the game has been on the Gunners' failings, but Swansea deserve much more credit than that.

Something very special is being built in South Wales and, in truth, Saturday's scoreline shouldn't have come as too much of a surprise.

Michael Laudrup has his side playing slick, attractive football, so much so that they enjoyed 56% of the possession at the Emirates Stadium.

When was the last time Arsenal saw less of the ball than their opponents at home, excluding matches against the so-called big hitters of the Premier League?

Arsene Wenger's team look a shadow of Arsenal sides of the past, but Swansea deserve most of the praise for their victory.

The Swans in effect out-Arsenaled Arsenal with their passing game, and even Wenger admitted afterwards his side had been outplayed by the Welsh outfit.

They were patient, controlled and picked Arsenal off at the end, with the wonderful Michu on hand to add two more goals to his ever-growing tally.

The result took Swansea up to seventh in the table - ahead of the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Newcastle - and the early signs are they are not in a false position.

After a stunning start to the season, with a 5-0 win at QPR and 3-0 home victory over West Ham, they endured a frustrating spell, with no wins in their next five.

However, since then they have been sensational and only champions Manchester City have beaten them since September.

Even the most ardent of Swansea supporters could not have expected such a great start to the campaign, as Laudrup looked to have a near-impossible job on his hands when he took over from Brendan Rodgers in the summer.

Rodgers had been a breath of fresh air at the Liberty Stadium and led them to an unexpected promotion to the top flight, only to usurp that achievement by steering them to an 11th place finish in their debut Premier League season.

Laudrup also had to deal with the loss of key players and has had to do without two of Swansea's stars from last season, Michel Vorm and Neil Taylor, due to injury.

The Dane - who is widely regarded as one of the best players of his generation - has had to almost rebuild the side Rodgers built in one summer, and he actually seems to have improved it.

Allen is among the key members of Rodgers' Swansea side Laudrup has had to do without

Swansea had their best players picked off in the summer. Joe Allen and Scott Sinclair were sold, while Gylfi Sigurdsson and Steven Caulker both saw their loan spells in South Wales come to an end.

When you add those departures to the long-term injuries picked up by Vorm and Taylor, Laudrup has had to mould together an almost entirely new team.

In fact, in their line-up at the Emirates on Saturday, only four regular starters from Rodgers' reign were present, yet Laudrup has made the raft of changes look seamless.

It would have been easy for the new manager to come in and replace those who left with proven Premier League players, but he took the risky decision to sign individuals with no experience of English football. He is now reaping the benefits.

Michu, Pablo Hernandez, Jonathan de Guzman, Ki Sung-Yueng, Chico Flores and Itay Shechter were among those brought in, and all have taken to the Premier League easily, along with the stand-ins for Vorm and Taylor, Gerhard Tremmel and the youngster Ben Davies.

Michu has been the most impressive, although it shouldn't be too much of a surprise to see him succeeding in England (and Wales, of course).

The 26-year-old is currently the joint-top scorer in the Premier League with 10, including the two that put Arsenal to the sword on Saturday, but he boasted similarly impressive figures in La Liga last season for Rayo Vallecano.

His 15 strikes last season made him the top-scoring midfielder in Spain, and with the standard of defending in the Premier League having fallen so dramatically in the last three seasons or so, if you can score regularly in La Liga you should be able to do it in England, too.

Michu has all the attributes needed to be a success in English football, with his finishing and heading abilities, along with his movement and work-rate, and he already looks like the signing of the season in the Premier League at just £2million.

He started in a more withdrawn role this season, but his regular stream of goals, coupled with the lack of strikes from Danny Graham, led to him playing in more of a 'false 9' role.

With Shechter now in the team, Michu has reverted to again playing behind the front-man, and his impressive form shows no sign of stopping.

Michu was a reported target of Manchester United and Liverpool before he joined Swansea

His quality was again underlined at Arsenal on Saturday, with his two extremely well-taken goals, and it may only be a matter of time before the likes of the Gunners take a keen interest in him.

However, for now, worries like that will have to wait for Swansea.

Pre-season fears of a relegation dogfight now seem long gone, and Laudrup's side continue to look forward.

As well as sitting in the Premier League's top seven, they also have a League Cup quarter-final at home to Middlesbrough to look forward, so the Swans already have a fantastic chance to improve on last season and complete a truly memorable campaign.

The philosophy of the club is also one which should be applauded, with chairman Huw Jenkins deserving much of the praise for their success.

He has helped lead the club from League Two to the Premier League, and has ensured Swansea have continued to grow year on year.

Jenkins knows exactly what he wants from a manager, and that has shown in the appointments he has made.

Roberto Martinez, Paulo Sousa, Rodgers and now Laudrup have similar football philosophies, with incisive, attacking play the order of the day, but it took courage for Jenkins to turn to Laudrup.

The Dane had no experience of English football prior to being appointed, while he struggled in spells in charge at Spartak Moscow and Real Mallorca.

It would have been easy for Swansea to appoint an experienced man to lead them through a difficult, transitional campaign, but then that's not really their style.

They're ambitious, they're bold and they're willing to take risks. That is what has got them to the Premier League.

Laudrup's style of play is a slightly different variation of Rodgers', but equally - if not more - effective.

These are still very early days in his reign at the Liberty Stadium, but the early signs are all very positive.

During a disappointing period of form in September, there were murmurs of discontent towards Laudrup, with players reportedly unhappy with his tactical changes and lack of focus on fitness work.

However, the Dane has come through that sticky spell brilliantly and their victory at Arsenal must have left their fans in dreamland.

It would have been easy for the club to fall back after the departures of Rodgers, Allen, Sinclair and Sigurdsson, but Swansea continue to move forward and act as an example to other clubs.

There have been so many impressive performances, including the 5-0 win at QPR, 3-0 victory over West Ham, the home thrashing of West Brom, draw against Chelsea and victories at Newcastle and Arsenal.

Their new signings have taken to the Premier League with ease, while the likes of Wayne Routledge, Nathan Dyer and Angel Rangel look like players reborn under Laudrup.

Michu has been their star man, and it is hard to think of any summer signing who has had a bigger impact on his new club this season than the Spaniard.

Swansea are flying high, and the challenge now for Laudrup and his squad is to maintain it.

They have already come through one spell of poor form, and more could well come later in the season, but if the win at Arsenal is anything to go by, they are more than ready for the challenges to come.

Forget West Brom, Everton and West Ham - Swansea are the Premier League's success story so far.

They are just three points off third-placed Chelsea, with some decent fixtures on the horizon, and are playing a refreshing brand of football which can only be admired.

The rise of Swansea City over the last decade, from the depths of League Two to the top half of the Premier League, has been a fairytale story.

There may be no such thing as a happy ending in football and challenges will lie in wait, but for now, they should just enjoy the ride.

Swansea are a club on the up and their success is a joy to behold.