Erik Hamren may finally have solved the dilemma of how best to integrate Zlatan Ibrahimovic into the Sweden team
This article is part of the Guardian's Euro 2012 Experts' Network, a co-operation between 16 of the best media organisations from the countries who have qualified for the finals in Poland and Ukraine. guardian.co.uk is running previews from two countries each day in the run-up to the tournament kicking off on 8 June.
For 13 years Lars Lagerback was part of the management that took Sweden to three European Championships (2000, 2004 and 2008) and two World Cups (2002 and 2006) but, after losing out to Denmark in the fight to reach South Africa in 2010, his era was over.
The reign of Lagerback was based more on hard work rather than creative patterns of play, where it was important not to take too many risks and instead capitalise on any mistakes by the opposition.
In the qualifying phase for the tournament in Holland and Belgium he and his partner, Tommy Soderberg, used the ex-Celtic defender Johan Mjallby as the attacking midfielder, backed by defensive midfielders such as Stefan Schwarz and Hakan Mild.
It was 4-1-3-2 that ruled and one of the attackers had to work a lot to defend, and even though it was not always exciting to watch, it was successful in qualifiers. In three out of five tournaments Sweden also managed to get out of the group stage, but always ended up going home after that, and Lagerback is remembered as a solid coach whose teams lacked sparkle and excitement. And he won no medals of course.
When Erik Hamren took over as the new manager of Sweden in 2009 he spoke of an attacking and more creative style and his aim was to win games and to try to have a more positive approach. That persuaded the veteran midfielder Anders Svensson to continue in the national team, and maybe others as well.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic did not play for Sweden during Hamren's first eight months in charge but it transpired that the Milan forward liked what he heard when he met the new coach in 2010. Not only had Hamren promised a medal at Euro 2012, the captain's armband, and a free role in the team, he also promised Ibrahimovic that Sweden would try to play an expansive type of football.
Hamren settled for a 4-2-3-1 with Ibrahimovic as the lone attacker, and held on to that throughout the qualifiers, although there was a little of a more traditional 4-4-2 in the last game against Holland, a 3-2 win which sealed Sweden's place in Poland and Ukraine. The manager likes the midfield to be crowded and the full-backs to move forward together with one of the central defenders, who very often are supposed to be one of the "playmakers".
The team made an excellent start in the qualifiers by beating Hungary and San Marino at home. Everyone loved the "new" national team and many believed in a fresh dawn when Sweden went to Amsterdam to play against Holland. Both Hamren and the players spoke about winning against a side then ranked No2 in the world.
The 90 minutes that followed in the Amsterdam Arena was like an ice bath. Holland ran Sweden ragged, beating them 4-1 and it could have been a lot more – the new dawn seemed to be a false one.
During 2011 Sweden both impressed – as in the 5-0 win against Finland in Solna and in the 3-2 victory over Holland – and disappointed, with a loss against Hungary in Budapest and unconvincing victories in Moldova, San Marino and Finland.
The big discussion in Sweden during the autumn was about Ibrahimovic. Was the national team better with or without him? After Sweden beat Holland without their captain and superstar the discussion started to pick up speed, and two poor performances from the Milan striker in the friendlies in November ensured that the question marks remained.
Something had to be done and in February in Zagreb Hamren finally did what some experts had been advocating for a long time. Against Croatia, he put Ibrahimovic as the playmaker and had Johan Elmander leading the line.
Sweden won 3-1 and the performance of both the Ibrahimovic and the team gave new hope. Is the enigma of the 30-year-old in the national team finally solved? The Swedes hope so. The Milan player now sees more of the ball and can act as a playmaker, and it would be a surprise if Sweden do not start in this fashion against Ukraine.
Erik Hamren used 24 players in the qualifiers and it is fairly easy to predict the team. In goal he has Andreas Isaksson with Johan Wiland as backup, but only an injury will stop Isaksson from playing. Mikael Lustig has been the preferred right-back but a lack of playing time for the 25-year-old at Celtic made Hamren try Andreas Granqvist against Croatia. Sebastian Larsson is another possibility because Hamren has only one specialist right-back in his squad.
For most of the qualifiers Olof Mellberg and Daniel Majstorovic played together in central defence with Granqvist standing in at times. But now Majstorovic is out of Euro 2012 with a serious knee injury sustained in February and Granqvist, Mikael Antonsson, and Jonas Olsson are now in a race to play next to Mellberg.
Blackburn's Martin Olsson is the current first-choice left-back but this has been a problem position for Hamren, with both Behrang Safari and Oscar Wendt being dropped during the qualifiers after terrible performances.
Hamren started the qualifying campaign with Pontus Wernbloom and Anders Svensson as the two defensive midfielders but the former lost his place after the Holland debacle and never returned to the starting lineup. The latter has been in and out of the team, and has played alongside both Kim Kallstrom and Rasmus Elm.
Apart from Sebastian Larsson, who started qualifying as a substitute but is now preferred as the right midfielder, Sweden lack natural wingers in form – Emir Bajrami has had a tough year at Twente and Christian Wilhelmsson has been playing in Qatar for six months.
That is why both Johan Elmander and Ola Toivonen have been used on either wing as well as Elm, who can play on the right with Larsson switching to the left. The former Sunderland forward Tobias Hysen is another alternative on the left side.
During qualifying both Ola Toivonen and Johan Elmander have also been used in the No10 role, and they are possible alternatives to start there if Ibrahimovic does not get to play there. All three are players that Hamren wants to have on the pitch and Elmander has played in four different positions recently; Toivonen three.
The position of the sole striker was Ibrahimovic's for the most of the qualifying campaign but after the test in Zagreb, Elmander is now the favourite with Hysen and Markus Rosenberg the alternatives.
Hamren is likely to pick the players he prefers and trusts and move them around rather than using players he does not rate. Take Elmander for example. Hamren used to coach him at Orgryte 12 years ago and tries to get him into the team in whatever position.
It is pretty much the same with Toivonen, who Hamren also has a long association with, having seen him as a child prospect at Degerfors and having tried to sign him when at Alborg in Denmark. Lustig is another one. He played for Hamren at Rosenborg and is the player who has had the most minutes on the pitch during Hamren's time in charge.
Who is the player who is going to surprise everyone at the Euros?
He was not a success until his last campaign at Bolton, and he had one huge season in Toulouse, but Johan Elmander has never caught the headlines on the big stage. But in Ukraine people will be surprised by his huge work-rate in attack and he can score and create chances as well.
Who is the player who is going to disappoint the most?
It is hard to say, because the weak players will hardly get to play, but Ibrahimovic has it coming since expectations are so high, and anything but world class will be disappointing.
What is the realistic aim for your team at the Euros?
The two most recent times Sweden have gone to a championship with a new coach it has ended in failure. Olle Nordin led Sweden to three 2-1 defeats in Italy in 1990 and the loss to Costa Rica is still a scar. In 2000, Soderberg and Lagerback saw their team fail against Belgium and Italy and also take part in the game that was classed as the worst of the tournament – the goalless draw against Turkey. So Hamren has something to prove when he takes his team to Ukraine to play the co-hosts, as well as England and France. To advance from that group would be great, and everyone would be pretty happy, and that is a realistic aim for his team.
Olof Lundh, is the editor in chief at fotbollskanalen.se
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