Sweden 2 Moldova 1: Three Points is Three Points

March 30th, 2011 | by: aron | Comments Off

Erik Hamren likes to talk about attitude and the will to win. That is the kind of thing I like to call heart. Team Sweden didn’t show very much of it last night though. Still, even playing at half speed we won and that is probably the most important thing to remember. Its funny to think that I actually tipped this game correctly and I do wish I had been wrong about. Moldova was a team we should have beat with scores like 3-0 or 4-1. Instead we ended with 2-1 and a little bit of stress during that last minute or two of stoppage time.

We started nicely though with pace and attitude coming from the likes of Bajrami and Ibrahimovic who seem to find each other quite nicely on the field.  This lasted for all of ten to fifteen minutes and then we took up some kind of thinking that we could simply cruise to a win (a very bad way to think). We let Moldova have the ball a bit too much; we let them into the game. We stopped moving the ball around as much and we gave away easy balls, and this let them keep a tight seal in the back and then have a bit of wiggle room up front.

Then somehow Lustig got forward on what seemed like a counter and managed a strange sideway shot with no angle that went in off one of their defenders (a certain Igor Armas). Then Ibrahimovic won a penalty two minutes before the halftime whistle and typically for the national team the Moldovan keeper blocked it. If he had put that ball away, it would have been a different game in the second half. Instead we continued to allow the Moldovans more and more time on the ball, even looking at some moments completely incapable of creating anything at all and this in a home game!

Hamren had to do something and so he took off Pontus Wernbloom, who was not having a good game and also had a yellow card from the first half, and sent in Rasmus Elm. While it didn’t solve all of our problems, it did on the other hand enable us to hold possession better. The passing game improved somewhat though I still expect a lot more from someone of Elm’s caliber. Then off of a throw-in deep in Moldovan territory, Ibrahimovic contributed with a beautiful assist for Sebastian Larsson’s first international goal. With the game all but over, we then allowed the Moldovans to come deep into our territory and score a goal in stoppage time. This of course led to a minute or two of mild panic as we seriously wondered if they might not be capable of equalizing. Finally, the German referee (who by the way wasn’t that great) blew the whistle and we had three points in the bag on the road to Euro 2012.

I’ll start off with what didn’t look good, because there was a lot of it and its going to have to get better or we aren’t going to have a chance when things really get hot in this qualifying group. First off the makeshift defense line looked weak. Sure they did their job but they didn’t look convincing, nor did they contribute all that much going forward (besides Lustig but he was kind of up and down all through the game). They stayed low and gave Moldova too much time on the ball. I really missed Mellberg. The man is the only remnant of the ancient Vikings and his warrior attitude would have been much welcomed in Råsunda last night. Oscar Wendt may be amazing at FC Copenhagen but he didn’t do much to convince me that he is a man for the starting eleven come next qualifier. I can’t help but wonder if Jonas Olsson wouldn’t have been a better choice than Antonsson, though to be fair it would probably have been the same result in the end.

It will also be no surprise for anyone who follows Swedish football that we had midfield problems. Kim Källström was exceptionally weak last night and neither he nor Wernbloom were really anywhere near convincing. I missed the injured Anders Svensson and I also realized that at the moment we have no one of his caliber ready for when he retires (which is going to be soon). Hamren has made some kind of statement that he has found the midfielder of the future and I am really hoping that whoever he may be, he will show himself to the rest of us really soon. Don’t take this wrong now, I really like Källström and Wernbloom but they were not up to the task yesterday. Elm was not exactly a diamond either, but he at least came in and didn’t give the ball away all the time.

As to the offence side of the game: we need a goal scorer. I think Ibrahimovic needs someone more like Toivonen who can also pass the ball and not just run like a crazy man. Elmander runs his heart out every game I see him play, but he isn’t always so smart about choosing his runs. I would rather play him as the right-winger instead of pure striker. Bajrami looked good early on but faded out of the game by the time the second half had started. He still has a long way to go development-wise, but he is on the right path. Ibrahimovic seems to be suffering under some form of curse at the moment. I am hoping it is a mental thing, and that he gets over it fast because we need him in top form for the two games in June. Still, the assist on Larsson’s goal and some of his passing here and there was spectacular. Sebastian Larsson also didn’t really seem to get all that much done and I hate to say this, but he didn’t really leave his mark on the right midfield position the way everyone was hoping. He and Elmander are going to have to battle it out for that position in June. Martin Olsson didn’t play all that long, but he was a breath of fresh air and if he stays fit over at Blackburn then we will be seeing him quite often in Hamren’s squad selections.

To sum it up: we won, we got the three points (Hungary lost by the way in a spectacular game against the Netherlands making us second in the group for now), and are on course for the second place, but we can’t lose a single game if we want a realistic shot at Euro 2012. The playing as a whole has to improve and hopefully if everyone can stay healthy and fit, then we will have some good games to look forward to in June. The return of Mellberg and Majstorovic should also mean we are more stable in defense and that usually means that we can invest more going forward. I’ll be honest though: I like to win even when its done in an ugly way.

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The U21 team lost against Italy’s U21 team in the friendly from last week. 3-1 away and it means that the U21s have a lot of work to do before the qualifiers start in the fall. It also shows once again that Sweden need to pay attention to working as a team unit and not get lost trying to become superstars.

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No player ratings this time, that will have to start next game.