PHOTO: Bildbyrån
It hit like a bomb today.
Janne Andersson leaves the Swedish national team – if Blågult misses the EC.
Now TV4 profiler Olof Lundh gives his honest view on the news.
On Monday, the news came as a real surprise anyway. Sweden’s national team captain Jan Andersson has been under a lot of pressure and questioned after the latest loss against Austria.
Janne leaves
Now the Swedish Football Association announces that Janne will leave the role of national team captain as early as this autumn if Sweden fails to make it to European Championship 2024. The chance of succeeding in reaching next summer’s European Championship tournament is already extremely minimal, although the possibility still exists.
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Andersson’s current contract extends to European Championship 2024, but if Sweden is still not there, he can leave the assignment early. Now TV4 profiler Olof Lundh gives his first words about the news for Janne.
– It is expected that he will step down if Sweden does not reach the EC. It would be difficult to continue with him with two straight missed championships and relegation to the Nations League’s C division, says Lundh to Fotbollskanalen and continues:
– The closing years were not as good as the first years were with Janne. After all, he took the men’s national team to the best finish since the World Cup bronze in 1994 (in Russia World Cup 2018) with a squad that few even thought would reach the World Cup. Unfortunately, the player material didn’t really suit Janne’s philosophy after that and the setbacks that followed were a sad end to his time as national team captain.
Lundh’s favorite
Janne Andersson got off to a great start as the Swedish national team captain by reaching the quarter-finals of the World Cup 2018. But since then, the national team’s form curve has pointed straight down and it was a passport in the European Championship 2020 against Ukraine, then Blue and Yellow missed the World Cup 2022.
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Add to that the fact that the Nations League game has been far below expectations and that European Championship 2024 is almost done. Lundh thinks it is right that the association acts now and gives this notice, after a lot of criticism towards both Janne and the national team management.
– It is absolutely right, in order not to create even more pressure on the association and Janne Andersson, that you communicate what applies when it looks like Sweden will miss the EC. This is reminiscent of when Lasse Lagerbäck retired in the middle of the qualifiers for the World Cup in South Africa but finished the race. Then the association could look for a new association captain at the same time, he tells the football site.
The big question then is who will take over from Janne Andersson as Swedish national team captain. And there, Olof Lundh already has a given favourite.
– I have always wanted Jonas Thern in some constellation together with someone who has the coaching license. I have mentioned names like Olof Mellberg and Henrik Larsson, but above all I want Thern close to the national team in some way. The association should call him, he says in the interview.
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