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For the first time in the history of the men’s national team, Sweden has fired its managerThe departures come after a disappointing season at tournaments and non-renewal of contracts. But the Swedish FA has never, until now, felt the need to sack its head coach in the middle of a qualifying campaign.
John Dahl Tomasson is gone after overseeing an ongoing disaster. Sweden are bottom of Group B with one point from four matches and, barring miraculous results, they will not be in Group B 2026 world cup,
Last month, Sweden drew its first game 2-2 in Slovenia, despite twice giving up the lead. Still, it was a point on the board and the next group was Mino. They went to Kosovo, ranked 99th in the world, who repeatedly counterattacked behind Tomson’s sluggish back three. Sweden had 69 percent possession and lost 2–0.
No nerves yet, but now they really had to win or at least draw the next game against Group B favorites Switzerland in Stockholm. The Swiss dominated the ball and took lots of shots – but Sweden created the most clear-cut chances. alexander isaac Hit the post at the end of a flowing move, and then teed up Lucas Bergvall for a tap-in open goal, only to watch in horror as the Tottenham midfielder attempted to miskick the ball from six yards. At the other end, goalkeeper Robin Olsen fired a direct shot into his own goal and Sweden lost 2–0.
One point from three games, but at least the qualifying campaign could still be salvaged with a trip to Kosovo on Monday night. This will, ultimately, be a start on the road to the World Cup. Isak again starts with Arsenal in luxury front two Victor While captain Victor Lindelof returned to defence, the winners on the night were Kosova In a worryingly comfortable 1-0 win,
So Sweden is cooked and so is Tomasson. The FA’s director of football, Kim Kallstrom, said after the defeat: “After four games we have one point, so we need to step back and calmly think and analyze a bit.” Which is not a good sign in Swedish culture.
Tomson was rebuked in the media for first not using his options and then using the wrong options; To commit to a 3-5-2 that didn’t work; For a bizarre decision to conceal his starting lineup ahead of last night’s match with Kosovo so that his own players were left in the dark until less than two hours before kick-off.
This meant that Daniel Svensson, who usually played on the left wing for Borussia Dortmund, found himself playing in central midfield at short notice. Asked if he was surprised by his role, he said: “Well, a little bit. I know John thinks I can play a number of positions, but wingback is probably my first position where I play at the club. I know I can play. [in midfield] But it wasn’t what I expected starting out there.
Did he at least train there? “No, not directly.”
Tomson may regret small turning points like the ball going the wrong side of the post, a few individual errors, Bergvall’s foul. He tried to place the blame on the Swedish FA, suggesting that they were directed to play the type of attacking football implemented at Blackburn and Malmö, the implication being that they were told to prioritize style over substance. Swedish FA technical director Caroline Söblom denied this, Say Aftonbladet, “There has been no mandate that we should play ‘modern football’. Instead, we should play football that will win matches and hopefully take us to the World Cup.”
But while the Swedish media has focused on its Danish manager, social media has focused its criticism on the star player. Isak’s summer transfer game with Newcastle finally fired up liverpool move He wanted it so badly. But there is no doubt that it has impacted his national team’s World Cup qualifying campaign.
|
Team |
PLD |
w |
D |
l |
gf |
Sing |
difference in goals |
score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Switzerland |
4 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
9 |
10 |
|
Kosovo |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
-1 |
7 |
|
slovenia |
4 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
5 |
-3 |
3 |
|
sweden |
4 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
7 |
-5 |
1 |
After spending Newcastle’s entire preseason on the picket line, Isak completed his life-changing transfer to Liverpool for £125m on deadline day, so it’s safe to assume his mind wasn’t on eliminating Slovenia in the qualifiers four days later. Tomson decided to leave Isaac on the bench – It is a matter of great pleasure for Liverpool manager Arne Slot – And Slovenia got a point by scoring an equalizing goal in the 90th minute. A fully fit Isak would have been the best player on the pitch – and it’s not too hard to imagine him being a game-changer in a match with good margins.
Isak came off the bench in Kosovo a few days later and missed a big chance at the end of the game. The whole affair was a bit like Isaac’s circus; All the questions during the match were about Liverpool’s new striker – his fitness, his transfer saga, his side of the story. He said after the game, “Not everyone has the whole picture, but that’s for another day,” a quote that spread around the world. Meanwhile, his national team was working hard.
By the time this second international break arrived, Isak had started at least a few Premier League games for Liverpool. But when he joined the national team, Tomson was still not finding the same ferocious Isaac that Newcastle had enjoyed the previous season, still not having a full 90 minutes under his belt in mid-October, he had scored only one goal all season. On the contrary, as delighted Newcastle fans are pointing out, Nick Voltemed made Germany the winner Last night against Northern Ireland, his sixth goal in a productive season.
Sweden is no stranger to egoists. This is a national team that endured an often tortured relationship with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was so desperate for his goals and aura that managers and media treated it with melodrama. He retired and then announced that he was going to play in the tournament, and no one could stop him. Sweden arguably improved when Ibrahimovic finally left the stage before the 2018 World Cup, a team that was buoyed by the absence of its narcissistic leader.
But Ibrahimovic created memorable moments and plenty of goals, many of which were important. Isaac is a different character but he can be accused of being self-absorbed for at least one summer. He has yet to fully showcase his talents in a Sweden shirt, with just 12 competitive goals, and he hasn’t added to that tally in these two-and-a-bit games.
Isak can point to the poor performances of his teammates in recent weeks, such as error-prone goalkeepers Malmo’s veteran Olsen and Stoke City’s Victor Johansson. The three-man defense in front of them has been meek and messy in the goals they have conceded – five years on, Sweden still have not managed to replace the leadership of their warrior captain Andreas Granqvist.
Then there is Isak’s strike partner, Gyokres, who has been completely impotent in this qualifying campaign. He has only had two shots on target in four games, of which he has played every minute. Tomasson faced the classic problem of international football where talent is unevenly spread throughout the team. He has defenders and midfielders plying their trade in the middle reaches of Allsvenskan or the bottom of the Premier League, and yet he has two of the best number 9s in the world.
Tomasson’s solution was to combine these similar profiles together but this did not work. Isak has been half-hearted and Gyokres has been terrible. Add to this the injury to Dejan Kulusevski, who has not played at all this campaign, and it has left Sweden lacking the cutting edge needed to survive a very runaway group. Four games, 10 shots on target, two goals and one point. The first 48-nation World Cup is around the corner, and Sweden almost certainly won’t be in it.