Lars Lagerbäck
Lars Edvin "Lasse" Lagerbäck (born 16 July 1948 in Katrineholm, Sweden) is a Swedish football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of the Nigerian Super Eagles.
He is best known as the former manager of the Sweden National Team. [1] He managed the Swedish National Team from 1998 until 2009 leading Sweden in five consecutive championships. He resigned as manager in 2009 after Sweden's failure to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Contents:
1. Career
2. Managing Career
3. References
4. External links
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lars Edvin Lagerbäck | ||
| Date of birth | 16 July 1948 (age 61) | ||
| Place of birth | Katrineholm, Sweden | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1960-1969 | Alby FF | ||
| 1970-1974 | Gimonäs CK | ||
| Teams managed | |||
| 1977-1982 | Kilafors IF | ||
| 1983-1985 | Arbrå BK | ||
| 1987-1989 | Hudiksvalls ABK | ||
| 1990-1995 | Sweden U21 | ||
| 1996-1997 | Sweden B | ||
| 1998-1999 | Sweden (assistant) | ||
| 2000-2009 | Sweden | ||
| 2010- | Nigeria | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). | |||
1. Career
As youth, Lagerbäck played for Alby FF. When he was 13 years-old, he began playing for their P16 team. In 1970, he left and moved to Gimonäs CK under the guidance of Calle Lindelöf. [2] He continued to play there until 1974. [3] In 1974, he attended Gynastik and Idrottshögskolan (GIH), where he was a classmate of current assistant coach Roland Andersson.
2. Managing Career
2. 1. Club
In 1977, he was called up to the senior team. It was former teammate Kjell Pettersson that recommended him to Kilafors. He coached the Division IV team until 1982. In 1983, he moved to Arbrå IK until 1985. In 1987, he takes over Hudiksvall ABK but leaves by 1989. [4]
2. 2. Sweden
In 1990, Lagerbäck takes a job with the Swedish Football Association. He began to coach the junior levels which included Fredrik Ljungberg. He helped Tommy Svensson and Tord Grip with Swedish National Team. [5]
In 1996, Lagerbäck takes over Sweden B national team, until 1997. In 1998, Tommy Söderberg takes him on as assistant coach for the Swedish National Team. In 2000, he is promoted to dual-coach, a responsibility he would share with Söderberg until 2004. [6] Under his guidance, the Swedish National Team qualified for the Euro 2000 but lost in the group stages.
In 2002, he led Sweden to the World Cup where Sweden was in 'group death'. Sweden lost against Senegal. In 2004, Sweden qualified for their third straight championship. In the Euro 2004, Sweden made it to the quarter-finals where they lost against Holland. [7] That same year, Tommy Söderberg left the Swedish National Team to coach the U21 Team.
After the departure of Söderberg, Lagerbäck appointed Roland Andersson as assistant coach. In 2006, Lagerback took Sweden to their fourth consecutive championship, the first time in Swedish history. He led Sweden to the 2006 World Cup, losing against Germany 2-0 in the knockout stage. [8] Under Lagerbäck, Sweden also qualified for UEFA Euro 2008, however they were eliminated in the group stage after losing 2-0 against Russia. The team's early dismissal from the tournament led sport columnists to ask Lagerbäck to be sacked.. [9] Despite this, he signed an extension, which would keep him until the end of the 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign. After Sweden's unsuccessful qualification campaign for this summer's World Cup in South Africa, Lagerbäck resigned. [10] .
2. 3. Nigeria
On 26 February, 2010, he signed a 5 month (renewable) contract that would see him lead Nigeria to the 2010 FIFA World Cup Finals in South Africa. [11]
Strengths: Lagerback earned a good reputation during his time in charge of Sweden, creating a well-drilled, hard-working team that was capable of securing results against sides with superior squads. It is understood that he was given the post after impressing the interview panel with his in-depth knowledge of Nigerian football, suggesting he is as well equipped to deal with the limited preparation time as could be hoped from a foreign candidate arriving a matter of months before the tournament.
Weaknesses: In 2007, Lagerback told the official FIFA website: "Certainly, I believe in continuity, and I think that national teams benefit from it every bit as much as clubs - if not more. After all, we don't work with our players every day like club coaches do, so it's vital to know those players inside-out, and it's only after some time you can achieve that." Although he has clearly done his research, Lagerback has very little time to get to know the players and he will struggle to experiment with tactics should his initial plans fail to succeed. The fact that his contract could well expire after the World Cup also does little to help promote a sense of stability about the side, plus in a country that expects a lot from its team, his conservative brand of football may fail to garner support.
Career high: Sweden were at their best under Lagerback during Euro 2004, when they thrashed Bulgaria 5-0 in their opening match before qualifying for the knockout stage at the expense of Italy, only exiting when they were beaten by Netherlands on penalties in the second round.
Career low: Having reached five successive tournaments in his time with Sweden, he will have been deeply disappointed at the failure to qualify for this year's World Cup, particularly as Scandinavian rivals Denmark topped the group.
Tactics: With Sweden, Lagerback favoured the 4-1-3-2 formation, with one defensive midfielder and three attacking midfielders, using the full backs to supply the width and he could well adopt a similar system in his new role. There is an issue with the lack of creative talent at present, but Lagerback made Sweden a very solid, hard-to-beat side and, given the constant changes and lack of discipline during Shaibu Amodu's recent spell, his approach should be of real benefit.
Quotes: "From what I have seen in Nigerian players, they have good individual skills and I know that the team needs to be organised - it needs to be disciplined - but, for me as a coach, I think the individual skills can do really well in the World Cup."
Trivia: Lagerback is often called 'Lasse', a common nickname for Swedes named Lars.
WC prediction: Lagerback has been set a target of reaching the semi-finals, but he is experienced enough to know that is very ambitious indeed. In a group with Argentina, Greece and South Korea, they have every chance of making it to the second round, but they will have to adapt to their new coach's methods quickly if they are to make any impression on the tournament.
