How Can Sweden Improve?
There are several positions where the Swedish team lo0ks vulnerable, are there any alternatives that can make the team stronger?
The fist and weakest link is the right defender where the reckless Alexander Östlund has played during the preliminaries. When he was a regular starter in Feyenoord you might understand that Lagerbäck choose him. But Feyenoord finally understood that Östlund isn’t a player for a top club in Europe and gave him to English Championship club Southampton. Ironically it is the former Southampton defender Mikael Nilsson that is his biggest competitor. Nilsson is a regular starter in Greek top club Panathinaikos and should be able to put Östlund on the bench in Germany.
In the midfield the most exciting question is who should play as centre attacking midfielder. Anders Svensson has been the first choice at that position since World Cup in Japan, but he has not impressed in his club team or in the national team lately. Kim Källström has been the first backup when Svensson has not been available, but he has not impressed when he got his chances. It would be exciting to see either Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Henrik Larsson in that position and make room for another attacker. As right midfielder Lagerbäck has alternated between Niclas Alexandersson and Christian Willhelmsson but none of them seems as a solid alterative, Henrik Larsson has played as a midfielder sometimes in his career and has the stamina to be a great midfielder.
With Larsson and Ibrahimovic Sweden has two world class forwards, but it is also there we have the most exciting alternatives. Three youngsters hope that they during the spring will make it impossible for Lagerbäck to leave them outside the starting eleven. Zlatan Muslimovic has impressed in Messina and if he starts to produce more goals it is just a matter of time before Lagerbäck has to try him in the national team. Johan Elmander in Bröndby has an incredible working capacity and can be used both as a right midfielder and as a striker. Recently Marcus Rosenberg has showed a fantastic form in Ajax and is their top goal scorer. Rosenberg will try to show Lagerbäck that he is a man for the starting eleven when Ajax meets Inter in Champions League.
Related Posts
Subscribe
|
Print
|
Share
|
Comments


I would love to see Larsson playing a withdrawn center midfield role with both Zlatans up front!
I’m happy to find this blog. I look forward to reading your thoughts about how you think the team will do. We are in a tough group but one that we can win.
Go Sweden!
Posted from
United States




i wish ostlund was english…..
Posted from
United Kingdom


Comments are closed
Send Your Tips!
Email tips[at]worldcupblog[dot]org
Sweden Club Football News
- Would You Rather: Club Win the League? Or Country Win the World Cup?
- Daily Dose: October 11th, 2009.
- The Atlantic League: A European Not-Quite-Super-But Still-Quite-Good-League for Celtic, Rangers and Others
- Is Watching Football on the Internet The Future?
- The FFT100 - Agree? Disagree?
More Europe Blogs
France World Cup Blog
791 Articles | 10,327 Comments
Croatia World Cup Blog
192 Articles | 1,821 Comments
Czech Republic World Cup Blog
196 Articles | 320 Comments
England World Cup Team Blog
811 Articles | 2,769 Comments
Germany World Cup Blog Blog
485 Articles | 3,098 Comments
Italy World Cup Blog
567 Articles | 21,792 Comments
Netherlands World Cup Blog
2,014 Articles | 26,955 Comments
Poland World Cup Blog
352 Articles | 4,200 Comments
Portugal World Cup Blog
453 Articles | 7,018 Comments
Serbia World Cup Team Blog
168 Articles | 847 Comments
Spain World Cup Blog
235 Articles | 1,926 Comments
Sweden World Cup Blog
151 Articles | 318 Comments
Switzerland World Cup Blog
217 Articles | 327 Comments
Ukraine World Cup Team Blog
120 Articles | 807 Comments
Greece World Cup Blog
142 Articles | 70 Comments
Russia World Cup Blog
81 Articles | 143 Comments
Scotland World Cup Team Blog
101 Articles | 108 Comments
Ireland World Cup Team Blog
55 Articles | 121 Comments
Norway World Cup Team Blog
9 Articles | 6 Comments
Turkey World Cup Blog
39 Articles | 293 Comments
Romania World Cup Blog
78 Articles | 281 Comments
Austria World Cup Blog
111 Articles | 117 Comments
Denmark World Cup Team Blog
8 Articles | 27 Comments
Albania World Cup Team Blog
4 Articles | 8 Comments
Belgium World Cup Team Blog
49 Articles | 59 Comments
Wales World Cup Team Blog
61 Articles | 17 Comments
Bosnia World Cup Team Blog
31 Articles | 87 Comments
Israel World Cup Team Blog
22 Articles | 18 Comments
Monthly Archives
World 







