“Be honest and say that”

Olof Mellberg turned down the Swedish national football team.
Now TV4’s Olof Lundh points out who he thinks can be the next national team captain.
– It is clear that it is a problem, says Lundh in Fotbollsmorgon.

For months there has been great speculation and writing about who will be Sweden’s next national team captain on the men’s side. Janne Andersson left the job after Sweden failed to qualify for the European Championship, and after that an intense coaching hunt has begun, and many had expected it to be over by now.

Great criticism

Olof Mellberg was rumored for a long time to accept the job, after a successful stay in Brommapojkarna. But on Monday came the shock news that Mellberg had turned down the job, as the negotiations between him and the union had completely stalled. Olof Lundh, who watched the national team closely for many years as an expert and profile on the Football Channel and TV4, now believes that the association is in a difficult position.

Information claims that the association has met with many potential association captain candidates, but that nothing has worked out so far. And it may all have to do with the fact that those in charge are completely new to it.

– I think it is clear that it affects the trust in how you recruit coaches, and there you have to be honest and say that Andrea Möllerberg, who is the new general secretary, Kim Källström, who is the new football manager, and Stefan Pettersson, who was the national team manager for a few years , has never recruited coaches. It’s clear that if you do that and don’t manage to tie the knot, it affects how you look at this, says Lundh in P4 Skaraborg, and continues:

– It is also a reflection of the fact that it is not very attractive right now to take the men’s national team, in a financially pressured football association, which may not offer the same compensation. If you can then get different salaries and other conditions for other jobs, then maybe you would rather take it.

Selects the next national team captain

Who the union will turn to now, after receiving a refusal from Mellberg and when another candidate, Tony Gustafsson, does not seem to be able to be released from his contract, is unclear. But Olof Lundh raises one of Sweden’s greatest ever players as a candidate.

– If you think that the association wants to keep this combination of an old big player, is it Henrik Larsson? Or is it Fredrik Ljungberg? Is it that type? For me, Ljungberg has too little coaching experience, and then you can say that Henrik Larsson has not achieved results. I still think that Olof Mellberg achieved results both times in BP, says Lundh, who compares him to Tommy Svensson before he took over the national team in the 90s.

Henrik Larsson has previously been the head coach of Falkenberg and Helsingborg, at the same time as an assistant coach at the big club Barcelona.

– Henrik Larsson has not achieved quite the same results as I think Mellberg has achieved. But is it Henrik Larsson perhaps?, says Lundh.

Lundh also believes that Henrik Larsson should not care that Mellberg has been busy working.

– That is the risk the association has lived with when you went out like that, and met everyone, as it felt like. But when there are so many nos, it’s clear that it’s a problem, but if you’re keen to work with the national team, then you have to give it a shot.