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100 up for Anders....


david in sweden
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Anders had excellent technical ability and played well when the team was going well! He struggled somewhat when we needed to roll our collective sleeves up and battle to get a result. He certainly wasn't the first nor the last to have that problem. Overall, for what we paid for him, I would say he was a good signing for us but disappointingly never reached the heights he seem to, playing for his national team.

 

BTW Congrats on the 100 caps Anders, which is some achievement, whichever nation you represent.

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Svensson had one problem he shared with many signings at the time, which was being played out of position and in fits and starts. He was better than he was allowed to show. His competitior for a place in the Swedish national team is Kim Kallstrom, who I think is even sharper as a creative player. He plays in France and I haven't heard any rumours of him coming in this direction. On the other hand, would he like to?

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I know this is random, but Dean Hammond runs exactly the same as Anders Svensson.

 

Next time you see Hammond play, have a look and you'll see what I mean.

 

I said that on another thread already, but it's good to see that others have noticed it as well ! If he turns out as good as Anders I will be very happy ! (Don't think he's got much chance of 1 England cap though, let alone 100) !

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Anders Svensson about to win his 100th cap for Sweden.

see complete story (for those interested) on Overseas Saints site.

Seems to me to be a sad indictment of the quality of Swedish football if Anders gets to 100 caps. Overrated non-performer for Saints IMHO. Still good luck to him, always seemed like a nice guy.

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Seems to me to be a sad indictment of the quality of Swedish football if Anders gets to 100 caps. Overrated non-performer for Saints IMHO. Still good luck to him, always seemed like a nice guy.

 

Mmmm! A team England haven't beaten for about 30 years I believe.

Correction 40 years!!

Edited by krissyboy31
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Seems to me to be a sad indictment of the quality of Swedish football if Anders gets to 100 caps. Overrated non-performer for Saints IMHO. Still good luck to him, always seemed like a nice guy.

 

Don't agree, Sweden have done well in international football, and have produced some fantastic players in the last 10 years alone. To get 100 caps for any Country is a great achievement and I am pleased for Anders. If only Saints still had him in midfield.

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I think he was criminally under-used at Saints. His best position, like Lallana's, is as an attacking midfielder, behind a front two. For the vast majority of his games Anders was stuck out on the right wing.

 

He was (is?) a very skillful player on the ball and if he ahd been utilised correctly we would all be singing his praises (instead of just half of us).

 

Congratulation Anders on picking up your 100th cap!

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I think he was criminally under-used at Saints. His best position, like Lallana's, is as an attacking midfielder, behind a front two. For the vast majority of his games Anders was stuck out on the right wing.

 

He was (is?) a very skillful player on the ball and if he ahd been utilised correctly we would all be singing his praises (instead of just half of us).

Congratulation Anders on picking up your 100th cap!

 

 

 

my thought EXACTLY ! .. Minsk.

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Another Morgan Schneiderlin.

 

Has the ability, but never stamped his authority on games.

 

Have you never considered that it might be the club that doesn't suit the players rather than the players not being up to the job.

There have been far far too many cases of players declining into mediocrity for it to be just a random thing.

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Have you never considered that it might be the club that doesn't suit the players rather than the players not being up to the job.

There have been far far too many cases of players declining into mediocrity for it to be just a random thing.

 

I'd settle for a player who looked a little 'mediocre' in a team in the top 6 of the Premier League and FA Cup finalists.

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I think he was criminally under-used at Saints. His best position, like Lallana's, is as an attacking midfielder, behind a front two. For the vast majority of his games Anders was stuck out on the right wing.

 

He was (is?) a very skillful player on the ball and if he ahd been utilised correctly we would all be singing his praises (instead of just half of us).

 

Congratulation Anders on picking up your 100th cap!

 

Spot on

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Have you never considered that it might be the club that doesn't suit the players rather than the players not being up to the job.

 

 

I think that this is a good example in that Anders plays best in the role he has " in the hole " behind the strikers. None of the managers (after Stuart Gray who signed him) ever did that, and in consequence he was overly criticised (especially by Strachan ) for not pulling his weight in midfield.

 

It was a similar situation with the later signing of Michael Nilsson.

Saints " spotted " him in a Euro tournement where he distinguished himself by marking out two different wingers in Swedens qual. matches. However, that was purely because in an acute injury crisis with two regular full backs injured, the right-sided Nilsson was forced to play at left back ( by coach Lagerbäck.) the fact that he did OK then -was a pure fluke.

He really isn't a natural full-back never occured to Saints when they bought him, and he was a great disappointment at full back for us.

 

 

What would people say if Capello wanted Frank Lampard to play at left back ?

(Nilsson is no Lampard - but his best games were as an attacking midfielder.)

Edited by david in sweden
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Another Rudi Skacel. I believe Anders Svensson and Rudi Skacel did put in some good performance for Saints but perhaps is never as good as when they play for the national team. But still Anders Svensson scored more goals then Oakley, Delap, etc while Skacel got more assist than Surman, Dyer, Idiakez in the play-off season. That tell you they are the best we have got to a certain degree.

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Another Rudi Skacel. I believe Anders Svensson and Rudi Skacel did put in some good performance for Saints but perhaps is never as good as when they play for the national team. But still Anders Svensson scored more goals then Oakley, Delap, etc while Skacel got more assist than Surman, Dyer, Idiakez in the play-off season. That tell you they are the best we have got to a certain degree.

 

 

 

It still remains the problem that no matter WHO you buy - if you don't play him in HIS best position - then he won't perform at his best.

Putting SOMEONE in another shirt because a team has injury problems /or / inadequacies may solve a selection problem but don't blame the player if he doesn't look good. Of course some players are versatile. Years ago we used the term " utility player " which really meant you could put them almost anywhere and they'd DAJFU. Fans tended to disown them because it looks like they had to change position in order to get in the team.

 

Many times we were very glad we had players who could do just that.

IMHO; players like Jimmy Gabriel, David Peach and Nick Holmes were outstanding because they could change - not everyone can. Those players you/we have mentioned were outstanding in their chosen role but often disappointed when played elsewhere by a desperate manager .

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IMHO I think he would have had a terrific career playing in Spain, Germany or Italy - anywhere where he would have had that little bit more time on the ball. I wouldn't know if he regretted coming to Saints, but I don't think our style of play (relatively direct with high tempo/pressing) suited him. That's just one of those things.

 

He was a good servant to Saints and for £750k we shouldn't grumble. My fave moment was in the 4-0 Spurs game where he ran 50-60 yards before firing past Kasey Keller - happy days!

 

A lot of people are very dismissive about Sweden; God knows why. Their international record is actually very good. For him to get 100 caps for them shows exactly how highly rated he is. So well done to him.

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IMHO I think he would have had a terrific career playing in Spain, Germany or Italy - anywhere where he would have had that little bit more time on the ball. I wouldn't know if he regretted coming to Saints, but I don't think our style of play (relatively direct with high tempo/pressing) suited him. That's just one of those things.

He was a good servant to Saints and for £750k we shouldn't grumble. My fave moment was in the 4-0 Spurs game where he ran 50-60 yards before firing past Kasey Keller - happy days!

A lot of people are very dismissive about Sweden; God knows why. Their international record is actually very good. For him to get 100 caps for them shows exactly how highly rated he is. So well done to him.

 

Actually Anders has been quoted as saying how much he admired Barcelona and Real Madrid. He stopped short of saying that he would like to play there - - but it's obvious the style of play he likes.

One of my few gripes against WGS was that he didn't give Anders a prolonged run in the positon where he is best suited...." in the hole " behind the strikers. Anyway it's all water under the bridge now, but if Sweden qualify for the World Cup and he continues to play ..he'll likely finish up the second /third most-capped player in Swedish football history ..he need to get to 118...and he might well do it .

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As I posted in the other Svensson thread on the international forum, Svensson is hardly a player that can only be used behind the strikers. For the last 50 or so caps he's gotten for Sweden is has been the holding midfielder. Yes, he can also play closer to the strikers and does so for Elfsborg but he is actually quite a versatile central midfielder. The problem for Svensson at Saints was that WGS was very reluctant to break up the combination of Delap and Oakley and the fact that he isn't a tackling player.

 

A a result he was played on the wing quite often which is not his ideal position since he lacks speed. A shame really since I think he's a better player then both Oakley and Delap (although those two have better thrown-ins;)).

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