Häcken’s champion coach follows with interest the debate surrounding Swedish football and the men’s national team’s decline in particular. His native Norway has failed to qualify for the WC and EC since 2000. The lack of success has created debate, which in turn has led to action.
Høgmo points out the problem of producing inside and outside backs of high international class as a common denominator for the neighboring countries.
– We are not developing as many defensive players as we would like, centre-backs, full-backs at a high international level. It has been a challenge in Norway for a long time and it is now also in Sweden, says Høgmo.
Swedish team captain Victor Nilsson Lindelöf plays for Manchester United, but it is not full of Swedish defenders at that level and the back line has been the national captain’s main concern in many games now. Photo: Morgan Hancock/TT
In the late 1990s both of Manchester United’s centre-backs were Norwegians in the form of Henning Berg and Ronny Johnsen, while Stig Inge Bjørnebye held the post in Liverpool. Swedish WC and EC successes have often been synonymous with a strong central back pair.
Although Sweden today has Manchester United’s centre-back in Victor Nilsson Lindelöf, the four-back line has been Janne Andersson’s main concern since Andreas Granqvist left. Last autumn, the Swedish national team captain in DN called for a debate about the centre-back problem.
Høgmo sees two important reasons for the lack: playing on artificial grass and that the training of the defensive game in one’s own penalty area has been prioritized down.
– Artificial grass makes it a slightly different way to defend yourself, there won’t be so much duel play. I also see a tendency to prioritize attacking play over one-on-one play and how to defend yourself in your own penalty area. In Norway, in youth football, we have gone in and looked at how we can improve the game in both penalty areas. This is a job that must be done in each individual club, but it is also important that the association responsible for all national teams is aware of the currents, says Høgmo.
As sports director at the Norwegian Football Association in 2007–08, he was responsible for a series of measures to develop methods that would put Norwegian football on the right course. Among other things, he was involved in and initiated, together with Norsk topfotball (the equivalent of Swedish elite football), an institution to develop elite football, and also a football-specific medical unit.
Per Mathias Høgmo has hope for the future of Norwegian football on the men’s side. The U21 team is currently playing the EC. Photo: Vinny Orlando/TT
Although the championships for the Norwegian men’s national team have not been held for over 20 years, Høgmo sees signs that the long-term work is bearing fruit, especially on the youth side. Unlike Sweden, Norway has qualified for this summer’s European Championships for both U21 and U19.
Today, 90 million of the money that Norwegian football earns from media rights goes directly to the clubs and mainly to their academy activities.
– I see that you do a lot of this in Sweden as well and I think you have the same challenges as in Norway, but we were forced to start this work earlier because we had a pole out and missed so many championships while Sweden has managed to qualify for several, says Høgmo.
He is convinced that both countries, even if the international competition has intensified, can participate and compete with the best.
– It is much more difficult to qualify for the championships today, both on the women’s and men’s side, but I remember when we in Norway said that we would never be able to produce the world’s best footballer. Today we have two of the Premier League’s best players in Erling Haaland and Martin Ødegaard. It is very much a mental issue, says Høgmo.
Read more: What happened to the Swedish centre-backs?
2023-07-12 06:04:05
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