The final few years of Erik Hamrén, now manager of Iceland, were rough for Sweden fans. Perhaps it may not look this way on paper- they haven’t failed to qualify for a Euros since 1996, with Hamrén taking them to both the 2012 and 2016 editions, ending up in tough groups at both finals, and had it not been for the heroics of Cristiano Ronaldo in Stockholm in the 2014 World Cup Playoff, would’ve added a World Cup finals performance to his CV. However, it wasn’t as it seemed. Euro 2012, a tournament in which they squandered leads in their first two fixtures against Ukraine and England, should’ve delivered more. Although they did well to beat Austria and the Republic of Ireland to 2nd spot in their 2014 qualifying group, they again squandered the advantage against Portugal in the playoff, playing a foolishly high line to allow Ronaldo in for two of his goals. Most of all, the period between 2014 and 2016 is often masqueraded by Zlatan Ibrahimović’s heroics against neighbours Denmark in the Euro 2016 playoff, but had an abject qualifying campaign in a very easy qualifying group (the two sides in the top two, Austria and Russia, got 2 points between them at the finals), and were lucky to get to the tournament. In France, creativity was deficient, transitions were turgid and unimaginative, and a lot of their defending seemed to just consist of hacking clear- their only goal at the tournament came courtesy of Ciaran Clark slicing a cross into his own net.
Hamrén after the draw with the Republic, a draw to forget
Thus, a reboot was needed, and my goodness has Janne Andersson provided it. They deservedly finished above the Netherlands in their 2018 World Cup qualifying group, one of the toughest in the qualifiers, and memorably beat Italy 1-0 over two legs to eliminate them from qualifying for the first time since 1958- in the 2nd leg at the San Siro, they weren’t even troubled by a desperate Italy, and were in fact unlucky not to win outright on the night having two clear penalties decisions turned down. Drawn in a group with Germany, Mexico and South Korea, they made life hard for themselves in their opener against the Taeguk Warriors in Nizhny Novgorod, eventually running out 1-0 winners, before an agonising defeat against Germany, a game in which they were 1-0 up, looked like it would end their tournament. However, against a Mexico side who looked like dark horses at the time, ripping a disjointed Germany to shreds in their opener, Sweden dominated the game against a tactically astute side, running out 3-0 winners. Victory over Switzerland in one of the dullest games I’ve ever seen was followed by a valiant defeat to England, confirming their quarter final exit. Far better than Sweden had hoped.
Whilst both Hamrén and Andersson have played a 4-4-2, the former with star man Ibrahimović at his disposal, Andersson has found a side with great balance and creativity, even with injuries regularly hampering this. In Russia and in qualifying, a back 4 with excellent balance was found- Ludwig Augustinsson at left-back, a player a with a penchant for regular overlaps and low crosses, was balanced on the right by a more defensive and sturdy Mikael Lustig or Emil Krafth. At centre back, titanic traditional Anders Granqvist, the new captain, a player whose action are all done with a satisfying thud, was partnered by the more elegant and technical Victor Lindelöf or Pontus Jansson. Moving into midfield, at the world cup, a slightly more progressive line was used, with veteran midfielder Sebastian Larsson partnering the box-to-box Albin Ekdal in the centre, instead of a ball winner more often used in qualifying in Jakob Johansson, though Larsson is a player with enough experience and diligence to aptly fulfil his defensive duties. Emil Forsberg, playing on the left as an inside forward, was the main source of creativity whilst providing space on the flank for the onrushing Augustinsson to frequently exploit, and on the right the extremely versatile Viktor Claesson was comfortable either staying wide or cutting in- his deep crossing abilities demonstrated by the chances creating for the front line vs South Korea, and in a more central role against Sweden in the Nations League with a lovely long range effort. Up front, Ola Toivonen and Marcus Berg acted as a bustling pair, even with inconsistent finishing. It’s easy to say that in the Korea game Sweden would’ve won 4-0 with a number 9 who could finish, in a passive aggressive manner suggesting Andersson should’ve taken the legendary forward, but he was vindicated by getting to the quarters with a great squad ethic. Comfortable in defensive transition, made simple by the balance and formation, comfortable in defence, in attack although their movements were focused down the flanks, they were also vindicated in where their goals came from, none at the World Cup stemming through aggressive line breaking through the centre of the pitch.
Defensive shape versus Switzerland in Russia, courtesy of The Telegraph
Since then, Andersson has only impressed further, and his options only bolstered. Robin Quaison’s sharp upturn in form at Mainz over the past year means he now looks like a player reborn, giving Sweden a true number 10 option, or even a false 9 alongside a target man. Granqvist’s ageing has forced Andersson’s hand to opt for two ball players at centre back in Lindelöf and Jansson, giving them a more progressive foundation. Young creative centre midfielders in Kristoffer Olsson and Mattias Svanberg are improving by the month the later scoring on debut against the Faroe Islands in November. Pontus Dahlberg is finally getting some game time on loan at BK Häcken to challenge Robin Olsen, whilst Karl-Johan Johnsson’s heroics for Copenhagen against Manchester Utd in the Europa League will have only helped his case.
Sweden with a new look celebrate qualification in Bucharest
But two absolute gamechangers lie in waiting for Sweden. First, Dejan Kulusevski, the man who has been snapped up by Italian giants Juventus and was unplayable at times on loan at Parma in the 2019/20. An inside forward on the right, he possesses a ludicrously powerful shot with his left peg and has a dribbling style reminiscent of Mason Greenwood with his explosiveness. It will be interesting to see how Andersson develops him into the fold whilst maintaining the balance of the 4-4-2, but it nonetheless adds to Sweden’s attacking firepower and at age 20 he will only continue his meteoric rise- he could even play as a second striker behind the other gamechanger, Alexander Isak. Another 20 year old, after struggling for game time at Dortmund, Isak, desperate for a loan, took a step down to Willem II in the Eredivisie in the 2018/19 season, where he nearly racked up a rate of a goal per game, clearly showing it was beneath him. Now at Real Sociedad, his 9 La Liga goals this season represent a reasonable first season return, but at age 20 this is understandable as he finds his feet in a new position, and his physical abilities creating space for other members of the forward line render his scoring record unimportant, certainly at Sociedad where it allowed other attackers in Willian José, Mikel Oyarzabal and Martin Ødegaard to flourish. Now with 12 appearances and 4 goals for the Blågult, since making his competitive debut against Romania in March 2019, and his dynamism has invigorated the side, a stark comparison to his relatively static predecessor in Marcus Berg. He now seems to have made the number 9 spot his own after some crucial displays in qualifying, most notably leading the line impressively in the 1-1 draw with Norway in October.
Since 2018, the only concern for Sweden that has been glaringly exposed has been their tendency to concede goals in clusters, such as in the 3-2 home defeat to Turkey in which they were 2-1 up until the 88th minute, going down 2-0 to Norway before rescuing a 3-3 draw in Oslo, and a flurry of 2nd half goals in Madrid last June. However, their mettle in key matches has been mightily impressive. Only 2 wins from 2 would see them win their Nations League, duly achieved away in Turkey and fellow World Cup quarter finalists Russia, and they beat Norway to 2nd spot in their qualifying group by being able to grind out wins home and away to tricky Romania, which Norway bottled. They were even a few minutes away from beating group winners Spain on home turf. If they’re displaying this level of it now, one would think they’d take this even further when a major tournament is at stake in Euro 2020(1).
Before the tournament, Sweden have a tough Nations League group with World Champions, the World Cup Runners Up and the European Champions, though they will fancy their chances against an ageing Croatia. Continue their streak of being hard to beat, and they will play Spain in their Euro 2020 opener in Bilbao with confidence. Beyond that, they have two winnable group games, travelling to Dublin to play one of Slovakia, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland or Bosnia and Herzegovina, before playing Poland in their final game in the same city. The tactically astute Andersson will have a meticulous game plan prepared for the Spanish after their 2 group encounters, and a result there could buoy them on for a famous tournament run. All the ingredients are there for them.
By Alfie Wilson