Janne Andersson is under pressure as the national team captain.
Now Olof Lundh is launching proposals for replacements.
– It is a given to call him, says the TV4 profile.
The Swedish national football team is in a pitch-black period, and the loss to Austria on Tuesday night may have been devastating in the team’s pursuit of a European Championship place for next summer. After Austria took a point from Belgium at the weekend, the nation could make a huge move against Sweden with a win – and that’s exactly what happened.
Pressed national captain
And it was never really close to anything else. In terms of statistics, Austria crushed Sweden, and had it not been for a great Robin Olsen in goal, the numbers would have been significantly higher than 2-0. Sweden now, most likely, needs to win all five matches that remain to have a chance at European Championship games – and then Belgium also has to play away from home.
The results in competitive matches have gone against Sweden for a long time now, and Janne Andersson is under pressure. Many people now want to see a change of the national team captain, but last night both the national team management and the Blågula players went out and gave their full support to Andersson. But public opinion seems to have turned against Janne Andersson, and regardless of what happens, there is already talk of replacements, and successors to Janne Andersson.
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Olof Lundh’s proposal
In the podcast Fotbollskanalen on tour, TV4 profiler Olof Lundh talks about how the pendulum has swung around Andersson.
– You notice immediately, just look at social media and in the mailbox, there are many people who are a little tired of this era, quite simply. That it is over. It was fantastically good for a few years, but has gone very much worse in recent years. It is the case that as a coach you have to bear the ultimate responsibility, he says.
Lundh then starts talking about possible replacements, and when his colleague Martin Petersson says that the union must call Graham Potter, Lundh agrees, and believes that it is the best name for the union in the search for a replacement.
– Right now he lives on a Chelsea parachute, so he should be able to afford it. Graham Potter is a given. It is a given to check with him. Maybe he does!, says Lundh.
Graham Potter had his big breakthrough in his coaching career in Östersund, which he took all the way to the Europa League. After that, he was a smash hit in Brighton, which led to a move to Chelsea – but there he was fired during the season.
Olof Lundh is also launching other names as possible replacements, in the form of Malmö’s Henrik Rydström, and Djurgården’s Kim Bergstrand and Thomas Lagerlöf.
– There are some. Henrik Rydström feels a little too soon. Then it’s Kim and Thomas, but maybe it’s a bit wobbly now.
Lundh also mentions Jens Gustafsson, now club team coach in Poland, but notes that there is “no given name”.
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