Per Bohmann earned five points from Hammarby-Varberg at Tele2 Arena.
1. Jock Pearson – Car Salesman
The fan match programme, made by devoted fans of the grassroots movement, is always worth a browse, not least for aspiring opponent scouts.
I related to the interview with Joakim Persson because it pointed out one of his peculiarities. Coach Varberg has a habit of taking a lot of things when he wants to strengthen his players. I understand it’s because Hellenists live in a constant media shadow and Pearson likes to talk about his car salesman when the opportunity arises.
On the match programme, he said the following about midfielder Luke le Roux (“I’ve never seen anyone close to his ability in Allsvenskan in his position. At a bigger club he would have had a fortune of 30-40 million. The player completed with the grace of God”, filled with striker Robin Simovic (“in a good mood, has a stage”) and ended with a few words about defender Tobias Carlsson (“one of the best players ever in his position at Allsvenskan”).
2. Brutal superiority, Bagen!
If Varberg was to score any points against Hammarby, the three starting players were required to abide by the coach’s instructions.
But this kind of soft, explosive rhetoric rarely holds up when exposed to harsh reality. Not if the class differences between the two groups are substantial in the first place. Because Baggen showed brutal superiority from the first second.
On artificial grass, chubby, old Varberg does not even come close to his opponents. You can not sit in respect. Chase the shadows. Hammarby came from fifth in a row without a win and wanted to calm down. The ball was moved between players at a high-speed sci-fi pace, the complex gameplay flashed and the pressure was enormous.
Twenty minutes later, Bagen scored two goals and it was exactly the right man who pulled the strings.
3. Sarah is the best in everything
Soul twins Darijan Pojanić are playing on the same wavelength, but there is no doubting who has been Hammarby’s most important offensive weapon during the season. It’s just a rabble of stats. Naher Basara has scored the most goals and most assists and is the decisive player in all creative fields. He creates the most chances, takes the most shots and makes the most assists. The guy has been absolutely superior and shows round after round that quick thoughts can be as decisive as quick feet. Without Sarah, Hammarby would not have been defeated in the Battle of Gold.
The 31-year-old has burned an unusual amount against Häcken and Norrköping, but should be allowed to do so on occasion. The main thing is that he always gets into many situations. Against Varberg, he first scored 1-0 on the fine chips of Gustav Ludwigson and then played Joel Nelson in the winger’s first goal of the season.
Martí Cifuentes should be highly praised for his audacity to pick Besara on the snow from Örebro – no one can know for sure he still has that height – and to build his attack around him.
4. Varberg’s Inevitable Downfall
In the break, Bessara said what everyone was thinking.
We will go for four goals, five goals and six goals.
By then, Darijan Boyanic had already slumped and danced and licked his way forward to make it 3-0. Besara hit the post immediately after the break and Bojanic hit the rebound. 4-0 after 47 minutes.
Varberg had given up from the start. If your team consists of eleven lower level players, you should be better or at least play evenly collectively. Instead, they chose the path of humiliation. It was as if they had removed this game.
The away team was inept defensively, but thanks to some false attacking joy, he was still creating some attackers through counter-attacks and set-pieces. They indulged in a fear unusual for Farberg, which resulted in a few scoring opportunities on the way to the inevitable downfall. Thus, Oliver Alfonsi was able to push back 1-4 after a tepid attempt by Andre Bouman.
After that, the match was mostly played, but Gibbie Andersen’s closing 5-1 goal is not to be underestimated. Because thanks to that, Hammarby now has the best goal difference in the series.
5. Didn’t want to start spending on SM gold – yet
Five games left to play. Five points behind Hacken.
Pagen is clearly a perfect fit. But it’s not wins like this that will convince me that Hammarby can actually win SM gold. Smash home wins over teams like Varberg, and going forward, Sirius, I’ve always considered Hammarby to take over.
In the Belizean countryside, the chaff separates from the wheat. In recent years, Bajen has had a very difficult time asserting himself on the windswept Strandvallen, and it is best to wait for that outcome before we start spending money on Bajen’s potential gold opportunities.
For which herbal version of Hammarby can we see Mjällby?
The team that defended a strong and mature away effort against IFK Göteborg, AIK and Malmö FF or the gang that leaned against Kalmar and Värnamo?