The center back was behind the change
DALLAS. Viktor Gyökeres wanted to play like Cristiano Ronaldo and Leo Messi.
Then Olof Mellberg turned him into a striker.
– It took some time and required some persuasion, says the SVT expert about the shooting king
Viktor Gyökeres made his debut for Brommapojkarna in autumn 2015 as a 17-year-old.
The following season, Olof Mellberg took over BP, who had fallen into division one.
It was the old centre-back who turned Gyökeres into a pure striker.
– He was a left winger like many others. Everyone would play wide out on the edge like Ronaldo and Messi in those days, dribble in and put it in the far cross, says Mellberg, who until today was on site at the WC as SVT’s expert.
– We turned him into a pure striker. It took some time and required some persuasion. But it turned out very well and we saw that early on. He is very direct in his game and physical, so it felt logical. He goes straight to the mark.
Trained several in the WC squad
Mellberg says that Gyökeres had a minor breakthrough in their first season together in Division One which BP was only down and turned in 2016.
How did you persuade Viktor to become a striker?
– Persuasion is done by putting him in that position and it goes quite well. It’s the best (smile). Try your way. We played a lot of different ways back then. There were new formations every week.
But it took a turn pretty quickly?
– Yes, but we worked a lot for two years, a lot with his target game in the air where there was a great potential for improvement, but also the game in the last third, runs and finishes.
Mellberg was interim sporting director in 2017 after Robert Björknesjö left.
– It was actually me who sold him to Brighton. We also had negotiations with Nordsjälland, which was the closest.
Did you already see then that this is something special?
– Yes, you did, physically but also mentally. He was completely fearless, says Mellberg and continues:
– Viktor is an incredibly good person and a wonderful character. It’s fun to see them all here (at the WC). I’ve had many of them, says Mellberg and, in addition to Gyökeres, lists Carl Starfelt, Hjalmar Ekdal, Jesper Karlström and Lucas Bergvall.
Could have led Sweden in the WC
Mellberg refused to become the national team captain when Janne Andersson quit and then the assignment went to Jon Dahl Tomasson instead.
It could have been you who was the national team captain now – do you think like that sometimes?
– Yes, I do that sometimes.
Do you regret it?
– Well, I don’t know… it turned out very well as it turned out in the end. I think Potter is clever, or he apparently is.
Yes, but it took quite a long time as it was almost two years with Tomasson at first?
– Yes, but in the end the result was fantastic in every way. We qualified here and we had a total U-turn in the way we played football before that. It was something that many people asked for, not least you in the media and people around. You were tired after a period with the same type of football. Then you tried something new and in the end you managed to qualify for the WC and now you stand here with Potter, who was completely unavailable and probably impossible to get then. So all in all, so far it’s a good outcome.
But you would have liked to lead Sweden here at the WC?
– Yes, but I think all the coaches would say that when things got going here. It’s fantastic, says the 48-year-old.
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