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The corona pandemic has had major consequences for top-level world football. The match schedule for clubs and national teams has been further narrowed, and the break between last season and the current one has been short for many international teams.
In two games this fall, the Swedish men’s team played three games. One training match and two competition matches (in the Nations League). In the future, the World Cup qualifiers await and then Blågult can play three competitive matches during his collections, depending on the draw.
Sweden’s national team captain Janne Andersson is clear that he wants to avoid a group involving three competitive matches during a meeting, and that he does not like the situation as it is now.
– I don’t like to play three games during a collection, in general. There will be very little time to prepare just for training. You have to do things on the field with the players, go through things. It is not possible to speak simply theoretically. It hits us a little harder than many others. If you look at France and Portugal, they have a larger team than ours, Andersson says at a digital press conference.
He continues:
– I think instinctively he does not like to play three competitive games. Also, players will be quite exhausted in collections and will need some recovery both mentally and physically after playing a lot for their club team. So this with three games I think is totally reprehensible, from our perspective in terms of preparing ourselves in the best way.
Andersson explains that he has told the Swedish Football Association internally what he thinks about it.
– When we have internal reasoning, I present what I think about different things, of course.
– Basically, there is an economic side that does it like this and it costs me to turn it on. Because I have no financial responsibility. But based on a sports car perspective, this is totally reprehensible. So I have respect for the fact that the factors that I’m not involved in affect.
Andersson also calls a scenario with three competitive matches during the same collection “total insanity” and admits that the situation around midfielder Victor Nilsson Lindelöf, who suffers from back problems, is worrying.
– Victor would have finished a game before this collection, but otherwise, he basically plays on Sundays, Wednesdays, Saturdays, Tuesdays, etc., as long as he wants. And now he barely had permission between the stations.
– That there are no more players with more injuries… it surprises me. It also amazes me that there hasn’t been more discussion and reasoning about it from a sports and medical perspective. This is extremely difficult for gamers. And it’s not that they play against bad teams. These are very tough games all the time.
The league captain continues:
– I really hope Victor can get his back in order. Injured players … not fun. If he has a chance to make a full recovery, we will see that in the future.
The former Allsvenskan coach also says he was “terrified” of sending players to national team meetings if he was still the club’s team coach.
– Basically, there is an economy that rules. There are TV deals and other things. You must not ignore that. And if I look a little beyond sports, we, as a national federation, are interested in having the best possible economy. The money that enters the union does not go to the salaries of the players, but to the movement. This is important money for Swedish football. You cannot ignore that.
– But those of us who work with sports parts must, of course, express what we think about sports issues. I see that the players end up a bit in a tight spot depending on the financial parts. I think it’s unfortunate.
It concludes:
– I hope that things will normalize, that there may be two games during one match and that the club’s teams do not play as close as they have now.
The last meeting of national teams, which ended last week, was decided by the Swedish Nations League group. The 4-2 loss to France on the road led to Blågult being relegated to the B division of the tournament.
On December 7, the qualifying group for the World Cup will be drawn.
