shout. The scary characters speak against Sweden.
This does not worry Stena Blacksteinius, who sees opportunities for Sweden to become more efficient.
– When the matches open up a little more, I think we improve and grow from it, says the striker.
Four games are played, a certain direction to read.
Sweden has placed itself at the top of many statistical groups. So did England. Pretty much regardless of the parameter before Sweden.
And when you compare the team’s offensive numbers, it’s a clear advantage for England.
For example, England scored sixteen goals against Sweden’s nine. English players create more chances (twelve against ten) and make more successful passes than Sweden.
In other words, they preferred the England team before the semi-finals. Having said that: Stina Blackstenius is open to change and believes the numbers will change.
The effectiveness can certainly be questioned. It’s hard when you’re in matches like this and with such a feeling that the ball doesn’t really want to go in. Then we probably wouldn’t have that many endings on the targets. I think it would be important to just try to get the ball on goal really, to play on the rebounds and things like that as well. These parts will be important, says Stena Blacksteinius.
Does this type of opponent suit you better than teams with lower defenses like Belgium and what we saw in the World Cup qualifiers where you created a lot but got questioned for their ineffectiveness?
– I hope that. I think, as you say, we’ve played against teams in the past who were less defensive and maybe in those games where we’ve had a harder time we didn’t create chances but the efficiency to get to those really great goals and chances to score on them. There will be plenty of halves that can still be considered good opportunities.
I think we have the strength to be able to play against good teams as there are more spaces for us as players to work on. When the games open up a little more, I think we get better and grow from it. Having said that, it will take incredible effort both in the defensive game and in the offensive game to be able to get those surfaces, but we have strength there as a team to be good against better opposition.