2-2 away on Varberg is hardly a disaster for Djurgården.
But did the Blue Stripes really need to make so many changes to their starting lineup?
Djurgarden The 3-0 win at APOEL on Wednesday was one of the best efforts I’ve seen in the blue lines in many years. Not to mention the atmosphere at Tele2 Arena. It was electric.
Such pressure and this tension around Djurgården as it was then, and now throughout the club, it has been a long time since. There was hardly much hype around the club during the glory days of the early 2000s. And that says nothing about how well the club is doing at the moment.
Before Allsvenskan’s meeting with Varberg, the team looked like an unstoppable winning machine, with one leg in the group stage of the Europa Conference League. With weathering on SM gold. The club had already tried to go ahead with the match against Varberg, but was rejected by Svff.
Nobody wants that
The tough match has been grumbled in the past from Allsvenskan clubs. But playing Wednesday-Saturday-Tuesday, no one at Djurgården wanted to do that. Now it happened anyway, and as a result Kim Bergstrand and Thomas Lagerlöf chose to spin clockwise in the match against Varberg.
Six changes as five “bench players” were introduced from the start. And where goalkeeper Wedel-Zetterström changed hands against Vasyutin, he stood out the most. Although it was a close match at the moment, it seemed like maybe one or two changes were too much. And one might wonder if Djurgården has gained a bit of arrogance after his recent successes?
I mean, after the 3-0 win at APOEL, you wouldn’t have had to change the team that often, right? Not in a tough game as Farberg is far after all and when you have a three-goal lead to go into the second leg in Nicosia on Tuesday. This is an underestimation of the resistance. But it seemed so at first.
Got the match where they want
Varberg got the match exactly where they wanted it, and it was the first time Djurgården caused real pressure on the home side after 28 minutes. This says something about how hard the Blue Stripes were on Saturday afternoon. It was also very easy to admire Varberg. They played with efficiency and simplicity and managed to keep the away team away in the early stages. Philippe Cisse’s goal was not 1-0 after 11 minutes of fairness. Alexander Johansson 2-0 after 39 minutes was really great.
In between, Djurgården only thanked referee Victor Wolff for allowing Hambus Wendel to stay on the field after receiving a yellow kick for Nigel de Jong just under 20 minutes later. Obviously Vendel would have received a red card there.
Instead, it was the aforementioned Sisi who received a red card after his second yellow card, which meant that Djurgården had to play with another man for 42 minutes. Giving the most brilliant Swedish team at the moment this opportunity is not necessary. It was also expensive. Great substitute Besar Sapovic made the score 2-1. 2–2 came in overtime via Harris Radetenak.
no disaster
Thus Djurgården saved a point. And one point a short distance away against Varberg is clearly not a disaster for Djurgorden. But it’s impossible to get away from thinking what Djurgården would have achieved if he hadn’t rotated as much.
If they start with Edvardsen from the start, with Mange Eriksson from the start or Radetinac at eleven. It’s easy to be aware of hindsight, but it seemed like too many changes against Varberg.
The Varberg players were clearly disappointed after that. At the same time, they should move away from the match with their heads held high. They put in a very good effort and as it looks now, I hardly think the team needs to worry about leaving Allsvenskan in 2022. The team is much better than its lower rivals.
