Perhaps Blågult’s most important player is the best midfielder for the second year in a row.
For Sportbladet, Emil Forsberg spoke about the difficulty of the national team’s year, the change of playing system and how close he is to his departure from RB Leipzig this summer.
– The situation was not ideal and the club knew about it, says the star.
A loss in the WC playoffs against Poland and relegation to Division C of the Nations League after four consecutive losses. It was a difficult year for the Swedish national team.
Despite this, Emil Forsberg constantly maintained a high level and was one of Blågult’s best players. Just look at the additional Sportbladet rating. In seven out of nine matches, the 31-year-old has scored a goal 
(Rated Good) With his four goals in ten caps, he was the top scorer for the national team.
Now he has also been named the best midfielder for the second year in a row.
– I feel that I have been performing at a high level for a long time, especially in the national team. It’s evidence of that and it’s something I’m very happy and proud of. It’s always been fun getting out there, Forsberg says, and I’ve grown up and been a better player in general.
What makes the 31-year-old from Sundsvall soar in the national team, he says, is his self-confidence, and clear role.
– I have a good and clear role where I know what I have to do to make good matches. It doesn’t always go well, but I think I’ve grown to the level I’m at now and I want to build on that because there’s an important EC qualifier coming up after the new year.
Sweden will face Belgium, Azerbaijan, Austria and Estonia in the qualifiers. The first is world number four Belgium, who did not impress at the World Cup.
– It seemed very unsettling to them, if I may say so. They didn’t come together as a team at all and they didn’t feel in sync at all. Belgium is a world-class team with world-class players, but I thought they saw now that if you weren’t together as a team, a lot could go wrong. Forsberg says if we put in a good game where we all have to be at the maximum level, we have every chance in the world.
“We learned a lesson”
It was a remarkable year in many ways for the national team. Injuries and fractures replaced each other and before the Nations League, Jan Andersson tried to change the playing system to 4-3-3. It didn’t quite go well and after two double losses Sweden took a step back and tested 4-4-2 just in time for the next meeting.
– There was a lot that happened. A lot of injuries, a lot of substitutions and people who couldn’t come. It didn’t get continuity and then it’s no wonder it’s not always good, says Forsberg, who believes the national team did the right thing, both when they changed the system of play – and changed it again.
– We wanted to make more use of our attacking players and play more attackingly, but you must not forget how many breaks we had and that we didn’t have any time to get everything. I still think it was fun that we tried and saw that maybe we should still stick to the 4-4-2 that made us so strong. I think you saw that in November, and it’s something that we have a lot of confidence in and that we know can drive us going forward.
Do you think 4-4-2 is the right way to go?
– Absolutely.
However, Forsberg was one of the players who wanted to change the game system from the start.
– I think we were all driving it. Which players are now seen stepping up with Diane, Alex, Jokin, and Elanga. But at the same time, we realized that as a team, it’s crucial that we stick together and be compact. We have to find ways to bring out the potential in each player anyway Jan and Peter are perfect there. We will find ways to solve it, I’m not worried about that. But even if the results aren’t good, we’ve learned a lesson, and maybe that’s a good thing, too.
Predictions about the World Cup have come true
If Forsberg himself was to settle in the national team, something was more disturbing in the club team. After the star played hard at the beginning of the season under coach Domenico Tedesco, agent Hasan Cetinkaya came out with a boot for the club. Recently, in September, the German media also wrote that Forsberg was just a crisis meeting away from leaving Leipzig.
It was obviously not the best there in August and the club knew that. But they assured me that I would stay and that things would change, and then I stayed.
The decision is not something he regrets. Leipzig sacked the coach and now occupies third place in the Bundesliga and will play the round of 16 in the Champions League against Manchester City.
Leipzig is my team and now we have a coach (Marco Rose).) Which is incredibly good for us and which has made us even better. We went like a train both in the Champions League and the League and the Cup. It brings everyone together and everyone feels involved, that’s the important thing.
Forsberg is in his eighth season and says he enjoys it “like a fish in water.” He knows his role in the team and the club continues to grow.
– When I was here for a year, the club was not what it is today and then it was looked at differently. But now I’m so glad I stayed. The club has grown into a really good, big club, where we nurture young players, sell them and operate in the right way. That’s why it’s fun to be here, Forsberg says and lists some recent examples.
– Now I have two friends in (Ibrahima) Konate and (Dayot) Upamecano who played in the World Cup final and I’ve been with them since they were younger so it’s interesting to see him. And (Joshko) Gvardiol, who was the best defender of the World Cup, but I already knew he was going to be, so it wasn’t strange. It’s great and it will be even better. Now the only question is how long we will keep it.
However, the Gold Cup in May is the highlight when the Midfielder of the Year sums up his year.
– It was the first time for the club and I got my first cup gold with Leipzig after 7.5 years. It was amazing.
What do you hope for next year?
– From a football point of view, it is flowing as well now. We’re in a really good flow with the club team and with the national team it’s going to be incredibly interesting with the World Cup qualifiers. I think everyone feels a great, great vengeance now that we are in the European Championship qualifiers. We really want to get to the European Commission in Germany and we are very hungry. So, the two results that we’ve been doing now in November were very important to us. I think it looks bright and we’ll build on what we had at the time.
Kosovar Aslani was named the best midfielder in the women’s team.
