In parallel with the men’s national team’s decline in recent years, several areas within Swedish football have begun to be questioned more and more. What is being done wrong? Some experts have suggested that we are about to be “run away” by our neighboring countries.
Many comparisons have been made with our neighbor to the west, Denmark, which has de facto overtaken Sweden in several measurable parameters. For example, results at club and national team level in international tournaments, playing time for players in Europe’s top leagues and player sales from the domestic top league.
Andreas Alm has been a coach in both the Allsvenskan and the Danish Superliga. The newly appointed IFK Norrköping coach thinks that far too many Swedish eyes are directed at what is being done in Denmark.
Instead of trying to imitate its neighbour, he believes that Swedish football should carve out its own path forward.
– It is stupid to continue writing letters of admiration to Danish football. It’s probably better to show some self-confidence, says Alm to Fotbollskanalen.
Too many fan letters written, you mean?
– What do you think?
A rhetorical counter-question.
Alm develops his thoughts:
– The only thing I know is that there has been a lot of talk about Danish football in Swedish football. I’m not naive, I see what advantages Danish football has with its system (no 51 percent rule, among other things) but I don’t think that justifies us being worse than them.
Why have we ended up there, to “admire” Danish football?
– It probably goes back several decades. We have always thought that the Danes are a little nicer and more fun than us. You can go there and drink beer on the street, here it is forbidden in public settings. So it sits there and all of a sudden we forget ourselves.
Has Swedish football lost its confidence?
– A little. It’s a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. We have it in us to complain. But in the past I think we have always stood up to our neighbors and tried to be better than them. Being the best in the Nordics today is enough for us to be pretty good internationally as well.
– Absolutely. Congratulations, Denmark. You have done well. But if we try to get better rather than imitate them, we end up at a new high level for Swedish football. We have always progressed in our own way with strong centre-backs, positional defense and so on. Whatever it (the Swedish way) is in the future, we will find our way there again. I am sure of that.
The IFK Norrköping coach reflects further on the debated 51 percent rule. Alm believes that it does not necessarily have to be an “obstacle” for Swedish clubs when it comes to the pursuit of success.
– Everyone knows that we are “outliers” in world football with the 51 percent rule, which means that we keep an arm’s length distance from VAR and so on. It is clear that we are unique in Swedish football in this way, says Alm.
– The equivalent on the other side (in Denmark) is that they have the opportunity to raise capital in a completely different way. But regardless of the advantages that system has, it does not justify that we should not be able to be better than them. There are many reasons for Swedish football to have good confidence in what we do.
IFK Norrköping will face Malmö FF in their Allsvenskan premiere later today, March 30.
FOOTNOTE: The interview was done during the Allsvenskan’s kick-off meeting on March 18.
