DALLAS. Lars Lagerbäck criticized the Swedish defence.
Now Graham Potter addresses his representative.
– Football looks easy from the outside, he says.
When Graham Potter sat down in front of about thirty Swedish journalists, he had to answer everything between heaven and earth. After 1-5 against the Netherlands, the lion’s share of questions naturally had a negative edge.
Among other things, Sportbladet took up Lars Lagerbäck’s views on the defensive game, which he expressed the other day.
– The problem is that Sweden cannot defend as a team. That is the absolute biggest problem. They are not really coordinated in the defensive game, said Lagerbäck and continued:
– They do not meet the basic requirements for a good defensive game. It often becomes a mixture of marking play and zone defense. That is the biggest problem. The players do not agree in different situations.
Does not go towards Lagerbäck
How do you view Lagerbäck’s analysis?
– Everyone is entitled to their views. That’s the funny thing about football, that everyone has an opinion. Football looks very easy from the outside because you can look at different things, talk about different systems and zone defenses and man/man marking and defensive plays.
Potter wants to nuance the picture.
– In the end, you are dealing with people. You have to try to convince them and get a group together, and try to understand how to deal with very difficult opponents.
At the same time, he clearly states that Lagerbäck is not wrong in his statements.
– It is not that I have put myself in a position where I can argue against him on that issue.
“You journalists want to talk…”
The Swedish national team captain received many questions about the Swedish defense and how it broke down against the Netherlands. Potter did not want to talk specifically about the formation and said that the big question is not whether Sweden will play a four-back line or a five-back line against Japan, but how the team defends itself as a collective.
– I know you journalists want to talk about the back line. It’s okay. But I’m more interested in other things. Where on the field should we defend? Where should we push? How compact is the team? Who is pushing? There can be four, five or six defending depending on what the opponent does. It’s more about the structure of the team.
Graham Potter is clear that he chose to play with a five-back line because the majority of defenders do so in their club teams.
– But we must not be too low, or too passive. We have some of the world’s best attacking players who thrive on large surfaces, which is suitable when you are lower in defence. So we can be low in the defensive game, but not for low and not for passive.
The national team
