Any ideas who the wildcards for the next Sweden friendly might be? There are a few names out there for players who are on the edge of making it on to the team. First I will list the regular squad (w/o injuries).

GK

Andreas Isaksson (PSV Eindhoven)

Johan Wiland (FC Copenhagen)

Defenders

Martin Olsson (Blackburn Rovers)

Jonas Olsson (WBA)

Olof Mellberg (Olympiakos)

Daniel Majstorovic (Celtic)

Mikael Lustig (Celtic)

Oscar Wendt (Mönchengladbach)

Midfield

Rasmus Elm (AZ Alkmaar)

Pontus Wernbloom (CSKA Moscow)

Anders Svensson (Elfsborg)

Kim Källström (Lyon)

Emir Bajrami (Twente)

Christian Wilhelmsson (Dubai?)

Samuel Holmen (B.B. Istanbul)

Sebastian Larsson (Sunderland)

Strikers

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan)

Johan Elmander (Galatasaray)

Alexander Gerndt (FC Utrecht)

Ola Toivonen (PSV Eindhoven)

Obviously there are some solid names here. Ibrahimovic has slowed a notch or two from the last couple of seasons and has failed to impress in friendlies. Nevertheless, his status and role as captain all but guarantees him a spot at least until the Euros-as long as he is match fit. Elmander is having one of his best seasons in years. True to form he is not a goal machine, but he works his ass off up and down the field. Toivonen is steady at PSV (also a captain) but not shining the way he was at the beginning of the season. Nonetheless he will be in the squad against Croatia. Alexander Gerndt has lost all feeling for the back of the net. Still he remains a talented player whose private life is affecting his football negatively at the moment. He has been banned from the Sweden squad until the court case concerning his marriage has been cleared up.

That leaves room for another striker now doesn´t it? There is someone who has been riding a giant wave to towards the top of the Eredivisie and has been banging in goals left and right, including a hattrick in each of his last three appearances at the De Kuip. John Guidetti will be called up for the Sweden squad against Croatia. Whether there is a chance to get playing time or not is up in the air. It depends a lot on the other strikers match fitness.

Lustig and Wendt are not getting much playing time at the moment, which serves as an indicator that Sweden is on the lookout for a right back and a back up left back. Anyone have any ideas. We could recall Behrang Safari, and there is always the option of making Sebastian Larsson drop back to right back. Another possibility would be for Hamren to let Joel Ekstrand from Udinese get ninety minutes and see how he is holding up. The problem of course is that there are only three games left before the opening showdown against the Ukraine. Lustig needs to get some playing time ASAP.

In the long term, Ekstrand may very well be a man for the starting eleven, but it hangs on his ability to get some playing time at Udinese.

Emir Bajrami has had a tough season at Twente. He has been on and off the bench, playing as a starter, starting as a reserve, and sometimes finishing games for other tired midfielders. He seems to have lost some of that magic he used to show at Elfsborg. All this while three midfielders are eagerly awaiting their turn behind him: Mervan Celik, Oscar Hiljemark, and Jiloan Hamad. I don´t expect to see any of them against Croatia, though I would love to see Celik get a call up. Albin Ekdal is getting some minutes at Cagliari, but to me he just doesn´t seem to be showing enough get up and go for the national team.

So all and all, I am only expecting one new joiner against Croatia: John Guidetti.

If I had to go with my preferred starting line-up, at this moment it looks a lot like this:

Isaksson

Larsson (Ekstrand), Mellberg, J. Olsson, M. Olsson,

Svensson, Källström

Elmander, Ibrahimovic, Elm

Guidetti

Why not? I am sure Hamren has some other ideas and it will be a very interesting squad for him to take out. The final question I leave you with dear readers is how long will Anders Svensson last? There is a high chance that he may not make the Euro squad with some kind of injury early in the Allsvenskan spring season. What would that mean for Sweden?

Since the last post, I have found a new job and gotten twins so there has been a lot to do. In between changing diapers and walking a baby-carriage, I have found a moment to update the dear readers of this blog.

Lets start with the national team. Since beating the Netherlands to make it to the Euro 2012 endgame, we have been absolutely piss awful. We have played like amateurs and not shown all that much drive. Sure it could be the fact that we have just been playing friendlies, but I don´t think that is such a great excuse. For the last two friendlies of 2011 we met Denmark and England (both away games) and we lost 2-0 and 1-0 respectively.

What that tells me is that there remain a lot of question marks before the group stage begins. For one thing we still don´t know what the midfield is going to look like. Is Rasmus Elm going to waltz in and take Svensson or Källströms place? Without injury or really bad runs of form from those two, I don´t foresee it happening. The injury thing is a constant worry moment though.

On the defending side of life, we are still short on right backs. Lustig isn´t even making the bench at Celtic and our other options are not impressing me all that much. Mellberg remains the rock he always has been, but how is Majstorovic form at the moment given he just came back from injury? Olsson and Olsson seem to be doing fine which is some relief.

Offensively there are also some worries. Sure Ibrahimovic has scored quite a number of goals so far this season, but at the same time he has looked really weak against stronger teams. I should add here that at the Euros, there are not going to be any weak teams. Elmander is playing well enough for Galatasaray, but he also is not the man we need to get the goals scored. Toivonen is doing his thing for PSV, but is also more sporadic than regular with his goal account. Then we have the others here and there in Europe who are doing so so. The only really bright spot at the moment is John Guidetti at Feyenoord Rotterdam. The kid is on fire. 14 goals in 13 games isn´t something to be laughed at. Hot damn, we haven´t had someone this hot since Ibrahimovic. Will he get a chance in the next friendly? I sure hope so.

Bajrami has been up and down and that is also worrying, because we need someone strong on the wings. Sebastian Larsson is also coming and going in spurts and only his dead ball skills are what mark him as a formidable foe in the premier league at the moment. The there is Christian Wilhelmsson who we can never really know about till he gets on the field and gets rolling: does he still have it, does he not, etc?

The Swedish FA is also busy choosing a new leader at the moment so there will be more on that when I feel like I can give an opinion. The league is also starting to get ready for their pre-season games in Spain and Turkey. Should be a lot of juicy stuff coming out of those camps. A lot of up and coming talents as well in the Swedish league that need to have an eye on them.

The next big day though is the friendly against Croatia in 25 days. More to come as I said.

Some names to keep an eye on this spring: Rasmus Elm, John Guidetti, Mikal Ishak, and Emir Bajrami

This is one of those few times in life where it feels so good to be wrong. I tipped 2-1 to the Netherlands before the game started and to be honest after such weak showings against Hungary, San Marino, and Finland I think I was justified in doing so. The thing is that we don´t often lose at home or at least not at home in Råsunda. The last time was against Denmark in the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers because one of our defenders thought it would be a great idea to back heel the ball to a Danish player. So given our track record at home, there was every reason to believe that it would be a close game and thus the tip for 2-1.

Things started good for Sweden. We got rid of Christian Wilhelmsson, who has probably seen his last international, and instead moved Larsson to the left and Elm up to the right wing. That meant that we didn´t have very much speed on the wings, but we had two wise young owls holding down the fort. Toivonen got the nod for the number 10 and Elmander as the classic 9. In hindsight this was a fantastic piece of work by Hamren that still had all the journalists up in arms before the game. The most common complaint was that he switched things up to much and didn´t give anyone the space to learn. Funny that it was exactly changes that were most desired and even begged for when Lars Lagerbäck was at the helm!

So to be honest we played a 4-4-1-1 against the Netherlands, who it should be noted really weren´t that up for a hard game seeing as they had already qualified and none of their available stars wanted to get injured. This tight formation didn´t leave much space for the Dutch to get their system going, though to be fair it was our tight play that kept out many chances.

The first big moment of the match was Bruma tugging on Johan Elmander´s jersey just outside the Dutch penalty area. The Turkish referee (who was atrocious) called a freekick and three Swedes lined up for it: Larsson, Elm, and Källström. Now I have seen them all do amazing free kicks in league games, but in a qualifier like this with all that pressure hanging over your shoulders, this kind of kick can make or break a whole nation. Källström took it and hung one over the wall and into the far right corner-untouchable for the Dutch keeper. 1-0 it was and I thought that maybe we do have a chance. Then less than ten minutes later Pieters drives a cross into the box and Olsson slips in front of Huntelaar who heads beautifully into goal. Oh well, I said to myself, this is the end. Still we limped to half time with a 1-1 scoreline knowing that Denmark had scored one against Portugal in their game.

The second half started much like the first: the Netherlands doing the driving and Sweden just along for the ride. Then came the 2-1 from Kuyt and my stream died right at that time. Play-off here we come! I refreshed the stream just in time to see Joris Mathijsen play with the ball with his hands in the Dutch area and Sebastian Larsson put away the resulting penalty (can´t say much about that one). Larsson putting it away like that made me think there might be some hope for this team, after all the penalties we´ve missed in the last decade (far too many). My stream went down again and about two minutes later when it started working again for a second, I thought they were showing some other game because the scoreboard read Sweden 3 Holland 2. So I opened a live blog and no I wasn´t dreaming we had taken the lead through another beautifully worked Elmander run that led to Toivonen blasting it into the back of the net.

The Dutch rallied though and created one corner after another. The thing was though that they just weren´t as interested in this game as we were. All we had to do was hold on for another 30 minutes and we were at the Euros. Denmark was leading 2-0 at this time in their game and if they scored one more then a tie here would do it.

Sweden held on though, with pure will and heart winning over talent, skill, and a team that was already thinking about next summer and not enjoying their stay in a cold Stockholm October. The pile up in the middle of the field when the referee called time says everything there is to say about this game. Råsunda was one big party and deservedly so. Incidentally, the Denmark game finished 2-1, so a tie with Holland would have meant only a play off spot at best. When you can win or tie to go through, always go for the win!

Ok that we won without Ibrahimovic, but how would we have done if he were in shape and playing for the team? The good news for Hamren is that he doesn´t have to think about that right now, but instead find two good friendlies for November so that we can start trying out various new players and strategies for next year. There is plenty of talent that has a chance of getting a ticket for the party next year, but the question remains who will actually take full advantage of the chances they do get? Ibra will have a whole season to get fit and show that he wants to lead the charge in the summer.

___________

I am hoping that players like Rasmus Jönsson, John Guidetti, and Ivo Pekalski start showing a maturity and skill beyond their years and demonstrate that they want to play next year.

___________

Suddenly the future is bright, the players willing, and I can only hope for a fantastic summer in Poland and Ukraine next year.

That brings us to the game tomorrow. On paper there is no way we are going to beat the Netherlands. It doesn´t even matter that they have four regulars missing in Sneijder, Stekelenburg, Heitinga, and Robben (not surprising that the glass man is missing). So are they going to show up and Stockholm and try to run out the clock and start preparing for next year? I doubt it. I think they will show up with a starting eleven full of hungry young guns looking to show the coach that they are ready to go for next year.

What about us then? Well we are without our captain who was banned for this match following Moisanders beautiful dive in the Finland game. So we start the whole thing without our one big star. The truth is that for a game like this, when things haven´t been working as they should up front and Ibrahimovic is out of form then it might just be better with the B squad we have.

For this game we should try to pack the middlefield and support our defenders at all times. The counter is the way to go for any kind of offensive moves and it won´t be wise in any way to lull ourselves into the notion that the Dutch are on holiday in Stockholm. The thing that speaks for us is that we don´t lose that often at home in Råsunda. Then again most of the statistics that say just that were with another kind of Sweden that could tango with the bigger nations precisely because we had a super-solid defense. Those days are gone, but I hope Hamren gets the boys to play low and try for the 1-0 win on a late counter. I don´t see it happening.

Swedens starting eleven for this is so hard to call that I am just going to admit that this is what I would like to see and that it might just as well be something radically different.

Isaksson

Lustig, Mellberg, Majstorovic, Olsson

Svensson, Källström

Larsson, Elm, Bajrami

Elmander

With this line-up we can have Svensson and Källström working hard going on defense and then cranking up the pace a bit when we can go for the counter. The question mark is how often are we going to have the ball.

Prediction: 2-1 for the Netherlands and we go to the play-offs to fight the unknown, knowing all along that a win against Hungary or at least a tie would have made sure we weren´t in this nightmare to begin with.

Roman Eremenko, the man of the match and worth whatever his Russian team payed for him, decided that he was going to take his time in the midfield and with his magical passing foot seek out his fellow attacking Finns. The first thing I kept thinking as I listened to the radio broadcast and watched the delayed “live” stream from Al Jazeera was why was no one pressuring him. Time and time again Sweden let him stroll into our half and pass at will. The only thing that kept it from being a 2-1 lead for Finland was that they don´t have good finishers. Pukki was good and he was working hard for that goal but it just didn´t come. At the end of the first half I breathed my first sigh of relief.

The second half got off to a roaring start when Lustig won back a ball deep in Finish territory, passed it to Larsson who sent it on to Ibrahimovic. Now Ibrahimovic looked bad the whole game. He didn´t run much, he didn´t pressure, and above all he didn´t seem to give a fuck that this was a must win game, but this once he was standing in the right place and blasted the shot on goal and the Finnish keeper blocked it with a beautiful save but couldn´t keep it under control and there was our new left back Martin Olsson to put it into the back of the net. Behrang Safari and Oscar Wendt must be scratching their heads and wondering how in the hell they are ever going to get their position back when Olsson did what he did.

The rest of the game was one Finnish half chance after another. Finally, with about fifteen minutes to go, they got one in off a corner but that was it. The Final score was 2-1 for Sweden and we are at least going to the play-off, which is what everyone had expected a year and a half ago. We have thus achieved the bare minimum. We didn´t do it in style though and to be honest the only players who get a decent grade are Olsson, Isaksson, and Larsson (but only for the goal and the assist). The rest of the match was jittery and there was plenty of arguing between the players, which is not something you want to see in an important game like this. Now I can go on and on and complain about a lot of stuff, but the fact is that it isn´t all that easy to win in Helsinki as many other teams have shown (most recently the Netherlands escaped with a 2-1 win here as well).

With this win we guaranteed ourselves the second place and the play off. That means that it won´t matter what Hungary and Finland do on Tuesday evening: they are out! Sweden on the other hand still have a chance to get the best second place finish and the automatic spot that that guarantees.  We “only” have to beat the Netherlands on Tuesday in Stockholm. The good news is this: the Netherlands have already won the group and therefore don´t have the motivation (but plenty of young guns looking to prove their worth) and we don´t have an out of shape Zlatan on our team (one yellow card too many and he will not be available on Tuesday). I love watching Zlatan play, but he is clearly out of shape at the moment or is lacking motivation and we need everyone at 100% for Tuesday. We need to go all in and raise the level of play by a lot. Can we do it? I am not so sure, but we damn well better try.

Oh and the whole Rasmus Elm is the future thing? He had a pretty rotten game and looked like he didn´t have a clue about what to do. Wouldn´t be surprised if he starts on the bench on Tuesday. I was really hoping he would prove himself this time, but he let a lot of us down. I will write a preview for the Netherlands game on Sunday night or Monday morning.

Sweden will appear in the following order:

Isaksson

Lustig, Majstorovic, Mellberg, Olsson

Elm, Källström

Larsson, Elmander, Wilhelmsson

Ibrahimovic

It’s the same basic 4-2-3-1 that we have been driving with the entirety of the 2012 campaign. The major difference, and this is pretty major, is that Anders Svensson otherwise the Swedish midfield motor is starting a game of this magnitude on the bench. You can call that a gamble if you want, but the form that Rasmus Elm has been in this fall suggests otherwise. Hamren has taken a lot of criticism for switching his starting lineups so often and will continue to do so today if we tie or lose. The strange thing is though that everyone whined about Lagerbäck not changing enough. We kind of need to decide on one of those two or find some sort of mix. Elm is being given a big chance to show he is the future-I really hope he takes advantage of it!

I am extremely worried about two things tonight. First the defense has been awful at times this year and while that has been the case when Mellberg has been absent, that should not be the case when he is present! Mellberg is the anchor of the back four and while he is no longer a captain in this team, he is still a godfather of sorts. I haven´t decided which is worse: his bark or his bite (I think both are equally horrible). With Mellberg anchoring the back four, hopefully it will bring the game of Majstorovic back up to what it was two years ago. Martin Olsson gets his second start of the 2012 qualifiers and it’s really up to him to write his name all over the left back role. God knows we could use someone with attitude who can run up and down the field; yet also keep the Finnish wingers at bay.

Ola Toivonen made the bench and I have to be honest and say that I think that is the right thing to do. When the going gets tough, Toivonen doesn´t necessarily get going and until he does, he can sit on the bench and let Elmander show him how to run. This brings us to the second thing that I am really worried about: Ibrahimovic attitude. It’s going to be rainy and cold and nothing like the glories he is used to experiencing in the San Siro, but that is no excuse. Tonight we need him to show world class and be the leader we expect him to be.

Sweden is a better team; there is no real doubt in my mind about that. It’s an away game though and in those kinds of events bad things often happen. It would be lovely if get on the scoreboard early and then seal the deal with some time to find our rhythm. This game has to be won. Sure we have one more game, but that doesn´t mean much since it’s the Netherlands. Win today and we have survived our group!

Still it’s in our hands and there are plenty of teams who wish they had it that way.

I am going to stay optimistic and predict 3-1 for Sweden.

Finland are a team that pack a punch though, or perhaps it would be better to say that they are a team that can pack a punch. Come Friday despite not having a chance in hell of making the Euros, they are going to do all they can to frustrate Swedens chances of making the 2012 party. First there is the humiliating 5-0 loss earlier this year at a sunny and warm Råsunda (the highlight of Swedish football this year) and then there is the fact that they are playing their old arch-rival. Sure our football rivalry is nothing like the one in ice hockey, but there is still the idea that beating a Sweden squad of this depth and talent at this point in time would be a major moral victory for the sporting nation as a whole. If we think of the Hungarians celebrating their 90^th minute goal a month ago as if it was the world cup final, then imagine what Helsinki Olympic Stadium would do in a similar situation.

Looking at the Sweden squad, there are some things that need to be addressed. We have a problem with our defensive line. Leftbacks Oscar Wendt and Behrang Safari have been dropped from the team and now Martin Olsson is going to be starting on Friday. Hamren did the right thing by cutting both Safari and Wendt in that neither of the two had showed cool heads and neither had impressed in important games thus far. The big question mark with a guy like Martin Olsson is how well he can defend. Sure he plays for Blackburn on a regular basis in that position, but at the same time its kind of a well known fact that he is better going forward then keeping his eye on the defensive side of life. We need a player who can do both. The same kind of critique can be leveled against Mikael Lustig over on the right side and while I am not overly impressed with him, there is no other option at the moment.

Daniel Majstorovic has also been performing under par for a while now and methinks that win or lose and “Maestro” has a bad game he is probably out of the starting line-up for a while. I like Maestro but liking a player for what they have done isn´t the same as backing them up when they are playing really bad. The good news for Maestro is that the king of the back four is back: our very own Viking (though his beard has been trimmed) Olof Mellberg. With Mellberg back, there is a feeling of a strong wall in the back and that will give our midfielders and strikers more confidence in knowing that they can go forward and try to win this one.

On the midfield side, it looks as if a good run of form has possibly propelled Rasmus Elm into the starting eleven. I am happy to see the young man finally taking the place that many of us have been waiting for him to step up to. If he can only come in on Friday and show who is boss then we are looking at some good times ahead for the national team. Johan Elmander is fit and therefore should get the start behind Ibrahimovic with Wilhelmsson and Larsson on the wings. There have been some questions of match fitness for Ibrahimovic, but I think he has ninety good minutes in him against Finland. As team captain and only super star, there is a lot riding on his shoulders in this game.

Predicted line-up:

Isaksson,

Lustig, Majstorovic, Mellberg, Olsson

Elm, Källström

Larsson, Elmander, Wilhelmsson

Ibrahimovic

We are going to play our usual 4-2-3-1 against a Finland whose coach Pateleinen has recently found some stability with a Christmas tree formation which looks something like 4-3-2-1. The striker in such a formation is only expected to be ready on the counter while the rest of team clogs the midfield. This is why a player like Olsson is so important as he can be the dealmaker or breaker when it comes to delivering some needed offensive runs on the left side.

We are supposed to beat Finland 8 times out of ten and only lose on an odd goal one of those two remaining. It’s going to be a tough one though and we will only win if we take our chances when we get them. There is going to be pushing and shoving and a lot of pinching and name calling, but these are professionals and it’s their job to deal with this kind of stuff. From the Finland side we need to watch out for Teemu Pukki the new Schalke striker who is always a headache for any back line. Truth be told though if we do our job, we should win this one.

Final prediction: 3-1 for Sweden and we at least make the playoffs, though anything less than a win is a catastrophe because the Netherlands aren´t going to be nice in Stockholm on Tuesday.

Andreas Isaksson, Johan Wiland

Mikael Lustig, Pierre Bengtsson, Andreas Granqvist, Daniel Majstorovic, Olof Mellberg, Jonas Olsson, Martin Olsson

Emir Bajrami, Christian Wilhelmsson, Rasmus Elm, Johan Elmander, Alexander Gerndt, Samuel Holmen, Tobias Hysen, Kim Källström, Sebastian Larsson, Anders Svensson, Ola Toivonen, Pontus Wernbloom, Zlatan Ibrahimovic

So these are the guys who are going to go toe to toe with the Finns. The big surprise of the day was that Hamren took the recent loss to Hungary as an opportunity to clean house in the ranks. Players with little playing time and who have not shown enough for the national team of late are being dropped. That means that Behrang Safari and Oscar Wendt (both bench warmers for now at their respective clubs) have been cut. The only interpretation possible for this move is that they have not shown enough to be worthy of the national team.

Pierre Bengtsson is in because he is a regular though unfortunately in a lesser league (FC Copenhagen) at left back and I don´t think its any stretch to say that he will also be warming the bench for the national team come the Finland game. Martin Olsson will be the starting left back in his second competitive game for Sweden. I really hope he is what we have been missing.

The other talk of the day besides the talk about Ibrahimovic (which I will get to in a bit here), has been about Majstorovic. The man has a place on the bench at Celtic and it doesn´t look like he is going to be getting all that much playing time in the near future. Enter Jonas Olsson then against Finland? I am not going to rule that out completely, he plays every game for WBA and gets consistently high ratings. Olsson and Mellberg together wouldn´t be a bad idea at all.

Ibrahimovic has been injured for what seems like almost a month now. Supposedly he is going to get playing time in the next two games for AC Milan. First he will play tonight against Plzen in the Champions League and then against Juventus in Serie A. I am not sure he will be entirely matchfit come the 7^th but I don´t have any better options to be honest.

Predicted starting eleven at this moment is:

Isaksson

Lustig, Olsson, Mellberg, Olsson,

Elm, Källström

Elmander, Toivonen, Wilhelmsson

Ibrahimovic

We have to win against Finland. There is no other way to get to the Euros!

Despite the various games that were stopped for fan violence and other various incidences, it has been a beauty of a season. Malmö even made it to the group stages of the Europa League which hadn´t happened to a Swedish club in over four years: its going to be fun to see if they can actually win some (maybe this Thursday in their first home game?).

There are of course still a few rounds to go, but that is mostly to decide who will get the last two Europe spots. My money is on AIK and Elfsborg, though to be honest neither team has done well in qualifiying the last couple of chances they have had. Its that classical problem of not adjusting the style of play for the international level mixed with the usual exodus of talent that follows winning teams in smaller leagues.

Congratulations to Helsingborg, you really deserved this after a marvelous season and I wish you all the best of luck next year when you try to make it to the Champions League.

__________

Today Erik Hamren is calling a press conference to select 23 players he will use for the remaining qualifiers of the Euro 2012 campaign. Many of the Swedish regulars are struggling for playing time at their respective clubs and that doesn´t bode well for the last two games. We have to first go to Helsinki and then a couple days later we take on the runner-up from the 2010 World Cup.

As we have played so poorly as of late, I don´t think we are going to make the Euros anymore. I know I am giving a pessimists viewpoint now (and up to that debacle in Budapest I believed we were on our way), but given the form from the previous two games, it will be hard to win in Helsinki and even harder to sink an already qualified Netherhlands who will bring a squad for try outs. Still a win in Helsinki would mean at least a play-off spot. Is that too much to ask for?

The two questions are: will Ibrahimovic be match fit in time and will there be any new names to make the squad? I wouldn´t mind seeing Ekstrand and Guidetti make it to the team (especially with Gerndt struggling in Holland). Update tomorrow!

The good news is we got the job done in San Marino. It wasn´t pretty though and while I did watch the second half, I couldn´t believe my eyes when I turned on the computer and saw on the liveticker that it was 0-0 after 50 minutes of play. It took us 63 minutes to score a goal against the worst team in the world. Last time I saw a team perform that bad was when we needed a Malteese defender´s knee to give us an own goal in a 1-0 away win that goes down in history as one of the most nerve-wracking games I have lived through.

Hamren reacted harshly to the poor performance against Hungary by throwing three players out of the starting line-up. In the Lagerbäckian era this type of action was unheard of and all the players who´d had a terrible game the previous match would be given another chance with the rationalization that well, you know, bad games happen and we had the some bad luck, etc. No, that kind of explanation wasn´t given by Hamren, instead he put Svensson and Larsson on the bench and made Wendt watch from the stands. Martin Olsson, Rasmus Elm, and Toivonen got the start. The only one who really showed he might be a man for the future at the moment is Rasmus Elm.

All of this brings us back to the Finland game. We. Have. To. Win. There is no other way. A bad day in Helsinki in one month and we can start booking our vacation plans for the summer of 2012, because we won´t be going to Poland and Ukraine. Hamren has got to find a plan that works, some players who are match fit (I am looking at you Ibrahimovic), and hope for the return of the Swedish Viking Olof Mellberg in the back four. If all this comes together (and to be honest all the Finns have to play for at the moment is their pride) then we win in Helsinki 1-0 or 2-1 and then we have at least made it to a play off. Ideal? Nope, not for a single second, but we gave away the hope of anything better when we let the Hungarians counter us to pieces.

The thing to take away from all of this is that match fitness and mentality are the two things we really need to work for the next month here and lets remember that I don´t think there is any chance in hell that Finland could beat Hungary in their last game on the 11^th. The whole team needs to step up, grab this by the horns, and win or forget Euro 2012.