Kristianstad. The greatest of all time is gone.
His pupils have shaped Swedish handball for decades.
But now a new generation of coaches are taking charge in the Handball League – with a different background.
The semi-finals in handball league It began with a minute’s silence in honor of the greatest Swedish handball captain of all time.
Bengt Johansson has nurtured an entire generation of Swedish handball coaches and leaders with his leadership style allowing players to participate in a way we’ve never seen before. I think of all his “disciples” who after some time playing and for many years were some of our most respected coaches in the world, such as Magnus Anderson (still), Ljubomir Frangis, Ola Lindgren and Staffan Olsson. Ten others became elite-level coaches and even captains of the national team. Others hold senior leadership positions in Swedish handball, such as Peter Gentzel, CEO of Swedish Elite Handball, and Stefan Lövgren, CEO of Handbollslandslaget AB.
For a while there was Bengan Boy wherever Sweden handball was directed.
Because the elite league coach did not play for the national team during Penjan, he would at least have his background in either Redbergslid or Drott (the main exceptions were probably Christian Anderson and Thomas Axner).
Detailed new generation
But on this sad day, when I sit down and watch a semi-final in the Kristianstad Arena with the other semi-final match in Partille on the screen, it amazes me that we have a new generation of coaches in the Handball League who have no background in Bengan Boys, RIK or Drut.
This generation has also been the most successful of the past two years: I think mainly of Michael Apelgren, Oscar Carlin, Henrik Signel and Patrick Valgren. But also Jesper Ostlund and Zoran Roganovic who did well for two consecutive years and with less funding (out of the first three). Then we have the Scandinavian imports Jonas Wille and Marc Uhd.
Next year, Tony Johansson and Anders Hallberg will join the Handball League.
Sure, Apelgren and Signell have been coaches for several years now, but they’re actually only doing their second season as head coaches in the Handball League.
The closest connection to Benjan in this generation is that Oscar Carlin is the son of Bear Carlin, longtime captain of the Bengan Boys.
Bengt Johansson has been praised, and always has been, for his warm, soft driving and team-building ability. But we shouldn’t underestimate his tactical knowledge, especially during his time at Drut and the beginning of his time as captain of the national team when Sweden maneuvered the Soviet Union and other handball with wits, combinations and counterattacks.
In contrast, we should not underestimate the skills of the new generation of coaches and their skills as team builders, but what distinguishes them is that they are, in the words of Oscar Carlin, “depend on the details”. From the outside, it’s probably clearer with Carlén, Apelgren and Fahlgren.
They are very tactically driven, internationally influenced (Spanish School!) and seem open to testing things out, perhaps a bit more than the previous generation (without pulling everyone over a ridge, neither with the ‘old’ nor the ‘new’).
Skövde is the gold favorite now
In the semi-finals, the battle of minds continues between Carlén and Apelgren, who have the greatest respect for each other’s different tactical moves during the match series.
Ystad failed to hit the first game ball at Partille and now has two.
Perhaps I think the residents of Skåne need to beat one another at home on Thursday for YIF to go to a Swedish final for the first time in 30 years. In a fifth and decisive match at Bartelli, Safhof has a clear advantage.
Thus, Thursday’s psychological match may be more important than Karleen Westad’s tactical match.
In the second semi-final, he finished. Skövde settled against Kristianstad already in the first half when he made it 8-0 in ten minutes.
It was a highly unexpected feat for Kristianstad, but Skovde is increasingly emerging as the gold favorite this year.
Skövde probably has the seven strongest players in the playoffs. In addition, each one of them seemed to have a figure cut-out. But you also have a width of nine meters that few can match now. When Skövde jumped 7-8 to 15-8, Matthias Hilt Jepsen and Jacques Thoren sat on the bench and instead Christian Svensson and Adam Ljungquist played the outside nine with Bjarne Valdemarsson in between.
The question is who will be the captain of the national team as the first coach of the new generation (if we ignore the fact that Roganovic is already in Montenegro). Jonas Willie? Michael Applegreen? Oscar Carlin? And where – Sweden or Norway?
Neither club manager Jesper Larsson nor coach Jonas Willey were satisfied with the way Kristianstad’s outing went, with it cleared at home in front of 4,343 spectators. But getting out in the semi-finals is not a miscalculation from any of them’s point of view.
They both say that next year you should be a gold candidate.