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It’s one thing to win right after a manager change.
What IFK Gothenburg should take home above all is that they won because the players followed Roland Nilsson’s match plan to the letter.
A team that works together to win games has good chances to keep winning.
As you know, it’s been a bit like that with that before at Blåvitt. For almost three years, the focus was primarily on more than just winning soccer games.
It was called a process to develop the passing game, which would automatically lead to success. But that is not how football works. He is deceiving his followers.
The consequence? He ended up playing a particularly important role whether Blåvitt won, lost or crossed. Step by step, the winning culture was dismantled. The image of the lawsuit was reduced.
Ultimately, the board reacted to the destructive development and the club director acted.
Conditions to win
The first step in breaking the negative spiral was to fire the coach. Then the sports director who put together the team had to step aside.
The next step was to hire an old winner with slightly gray hair. A coach he’s been with before, both up and down. There is no guarantee of success, but with Roland Nilsson, Blåvitt has at least given himself the conditions to start winning.
First test: Falkenberg away, a rainy lawn and a jumbo table with an even greater need for points. IFK Gothenburg’s second game after Poya Asbaghi’s sacking, Roland Nilsson’s first, was a match not to be missed.
Lose no option
The gain was urgent, the cross was acceptable, the loss had no alternative.
Roland Nilsson’s first concrete play was a 4–2–3–1 eleven with Alexander Farnerud, 36, ranked ninth, Pontus Wernbloom, 34, and Tobias Sana, 31, right.
In the television interview before the match, “Rolle” spoke of Blåvitt having to become “more compact and work together”. A clear sign that the new and old Blåvitt will be built from behind and will use the power of the collective.
To achieve that effect, Nilsson sacrificed the threat of deep lead. A lot can be said about Farnerud and Wernbloom, but they are not agile runners with much of an advantage.
Instead, Blåvitt searched the edges and then filled with people in the penalty area. Nilsson’s match plan was carefully followed and the balls rose faster than they had before, before the opponent had time to fully assemble.
Go slow, but …
Two slow forwards like Farnerud and Wernbloom are of course comfortable to defend themselves when it comes to deep advantage play, but when it comes to fights and second balls around the penalty area, Falkenberg made it more difficult, despite a line of five defenders.
After 23 minutes, Roland Nilsson’s strategy involved concentrating on the flanks for their attacks. The new and very good left-back Yahya Kalley, 19, took the ball, put a quick ascent to the penalty area, Wernbloom took the fight, the ball fell in front of Farnerud and when situations arise Farnerud is always skilled: a winger controlled out of reach of FFF- goalkeeper Viktor Noring.
It wasn’t a dream goal, it didn’t have the highest football class, but for Blåvitt here and there it didn’t matter. The most important thing was that the players followed the agreed method and that the selection of the starting eleven of “Roles” was where they should be.
Played according to your resources
This is how a team finally takes the necessary points: following what has been decided. Submit to the collective. Succeed with the simple. Do not bother unnecessarily in a difficult situation. Do not demand more from players than they can handle.
In short: play based on resources. Which is contrary to what IFK Gothenburg has been doing in recent years, and which has put them in an uphill battle.
Once IFK Gothenburg increased forward speed in the passing game through back runs, while Farnerud and Wernbloom always made sure to offer a presence in the penalty area, the attacks immediately became much more toxic than before.
And when right-back Alexander Jallow sped up and lifted the ball, it wasn’t just a coincidence that Anton Wede sent it into his own goal, he was stressed because he knew there were Blue and White players in front of and behind him.
Focus on defense
3-0 before the break would have killed the game, but Sana missed a penalty, and instead Falkenberg had a full half to catch up. In the wet at Falcon Alkoholfri Arena, they created decent pressure and a couple of decent chances.
But it was against a unified defense, a very compact and close Blåvitt that for the first time in almost three years put the defense in the first room one hundred percent. We are talking about a team that has previously conceded the first goal in 13 of 18 games. Now they did not lose any goals.
When the 90 minutes were played, it was 3-0 after (the mentally unbreakable) Sana scored on her second penalty attempt. IFK Gothenburg has gone from playing entertaining football with constant point losses to playing a bit more boring but taking three points.
The Roland Nilsson effect cannot be expressed more clearly. Will it take the rhythm away from FCK on Thursday? “Role”, if anyone, knows how to win in Europe with IFK Gothenburg.
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