Nils Zätterström linked

All advertisments are hidden for logged in members, why not log in/register?


Tarqs said:
That was more my point, Benie never got a fair roll of the dice imo. Little experience and thrown straight in as you said. I didn't even think he looked that bad, certainly no worse than some of the other guff we had.
Click to expand...
Totally agree on this.

I would actually argue that you can have a world-class player but if you don't put him in an environment (on and off the pitch) where he is allowed to be utilised to the maximum they will look poor. That's why it's important to know what type of player you are buying and how you plan to use him. I feel we did not have that with Benié, hence, such investments are a clear sign on a discrepancy and a non-alignment between recruitment/scouts and the coaching team. I am pretty sure that he was never pinpointed or wanted by Hecky. Being surprised by the outcome nor that he is now apparently doing really well and is worth big money cant really come as a surprise so anyone.
 
forte said:
Totally agree on this.

I would actually argue that you can have a world-class player but if you don't put him in an environment (on and off the pitch) where he is allowed to be utilised to the maximum they will look poor. That's why it's important to know what type of player you are buying and how you plan to use him. I feel we did not have that with Benié, hence, such investments are a clear sign on a discrepancy and a non-alignment between recruitment/scouts and the coaching team. I am pretty sure that he was never pinpointed or wanted by Hecky. Being surprised by the outcome nor that he is now apparently doing really well and is worth big money cant really come as a surprise so anyone.
Click to expand...
To be honest, over the past 2/3 seasons, we appear to have bought players with no idea of how they fit into the current team, or how to tweak our team/tactics to fit them in.
 
Some comments from Malmö supporter’s on Nils time with them:

---

The reason to why Nils Zätterström hasn’t blossomed in our shirt can be attributed to the gamble on Ricardo Friedrich. The defensive uncertainty in the spring spread from Friedrich to the backline. Like others, I believe Zätterström wouldn’t have done poorly with someone like Berisha. He won’t be sold for a great sum now. He’ll be worth at least triple that in a year or two. Hopefully, we’ve secured a good percentage on any future sale.

I agree with those who think we should’ve loaned out Nisse instead. A loan to a team that often defends deep could’ve helped him develop in that specific area — dealing with low defensive play. A 20-year-old with big potential and a fairly long contract should be loaned out in order to come back and be a part of the starting eleven next year. As opposed to being sold. Good luck, Nisse!

———

I hope and believe that Sheffield might be the right place for Nisse to develop in the right direction. He needs to learn to use his physicality in duels. He has the speed and the ability to cover opponents, but he needs to become tougher in challenges. He can develop that in a physically tough league like the Championship. It could also sharpen his aerial game and passing under pressure. He has everything else to become a future national team player. Good luck, Nisse, and welcome back in the future!

———

I’m one of those who wanted to see Zätterström on the pitch much more than we did. I’m far from sure that it would’ve improved the team’s performance during the spring, but since I love seeing young players grow, I would’ve been willing to take that risk. For fairly natural reasons, coaches are a bit more risk-averse. The results with Nisse on the pitch we can only speculate about. Good luck, Nisse.

———

The problem, as I see it, was that after his strong performances last fall, Nisse didn’t get any playing time early this spring. Instead, we went with Ponne–Rösler. When Ponne got injured Nisse was thrown in but made some costly mistakes — which is natural for a young player without match sharpness.

I understand that HR (Henrik Rydström, manager) at that point chose to rely on others, and I understand that Nisse would’ve improved if he’d played more. I also get why DA (Daniel Anderson, Director of Football) in that situation considered a sale to bring in some money. But the issue is that when Ponne just got back from injury, we threw him in way too early instead of letting Nisse have a go. Had we rotated Nisse in alongside Ponne — or Rösler — maybe Ponne wouldn’t have gotten injured in the first place, and Nisse would’ve been ready to step up. At the same time, we might have lost continuity — like we did offensively — but I still think it’s a different matter, especially since we only had three center-backs, which should’ve provided plenty of chances to rotate.

He played 90 minutes against Värnamo, where he was at fault for the shot that Friedrich later fumbled, plus one more unnecessary situation. The next match was the horrendous 30 minutes against AIK at home — mentally, he clearly wasn’t there. He did very strange things, unlike anything we’ve seen from him before.

After that, he was benched for 3–4 matches, then got 90 minutes against GAIS as the central CB. The next one, 90 minutes against IFK Norrköping in his usual position, he looked solid again. But when Djuric was signed - no playing time. So I don’t quite agree with the idea that he basically didn’t play — to me, it’s clear he was benched due to performance, and that’s probably when HR requested a new CB. Going forward, it’s clear he won’t get playing time, but up until the Djuric signing, that wasn’t necessarily the case, in my view.

———

I really want us to invest in younger players, but we need to pick the right ones. Z, unfortunately, wasn’t the right player — something many have realized over the past year since his debut. A few goals and standout moments don’t change the fact that he made us worse. Ponne couldn’t save him, and that national team call-up was a gift from JDT (possibly even the debut making him eligible for England, depending on the regulations).

It’s quite possible that we told Nisse already in the spring or early summer that he wouldn’t get a chance at MFF — though I doubt it. But clearly, it has an impact when the agents are openly shopping for a new club. That sort of thing doesn’t exactly go unnoticed inside the club. Most likely, Hasan and Nisse were open about looking for other options. It’s not something you can really do in secret.

————

My opinion is that Zätterström’s limited playing time this year isn’t due to his abilities on the ball. In fact, Zätterström has everything you want in a center-back — tall, strong, and fast. Add to that he’s left-footed. It's a dream to have developed a player like that from the academy, with great potential. He fits well in a high defensive line and likes to press tight on opponents. Good in the air defensively. Can win long defensive runs against fast forwards.

————

Nils’ big weakness, in my opinion, is low-block defending. Both in terms of positioning and 1-vs-1 situations in tight spaces, where he’s surprisingly struggled with changes of direction. He can also come off as passive the closer to goal he defends. It’s sometimes too easy to create chances when he’s on the pitch in that phase of play.

This should be a relatively easy thing to correct. He has the physical traits you’d want. A more subjective observation is that Nils sometimes doesn’t seem to realize he’s a physical beast. He sometimes looks like a youth player in a grown man’s body. There’ve been signs of change, but then he’s acted naïvely in certain situations again.

I believe it’s only a matter of time before Nils learns to fully utilize his physical attributes. As a comparison — Bleon Kurtulus. He’s incredibly advanced for his age in the areas where Nils struggles. But Bleon lacks Nils’ physical tools. I don’t doubt that Rydström and the staff have worked on these areas with Nils. Rydström mentioned that Nils had a dip during preseason. And when he did get a chance, there were again defensive mistakes. You could certainly blame Rydström for not developing Zätterström. Or for not giving him more chances.

————

You could blame the technical team for not loaning him out last winter — since playing time is the best development environment. Should you really have a big talent as a backup center-back, where playing time depends on someone else being unavailable? A tough call, especially with the lack of CB alternatives last winter. In any case, I believe and hope that the penny will drop for Nils as he gains more experience and maturity.

I would’ve preferred that we loaned out Nils to get regular playing time. Next season he would’ve been 21, and his value — both on and off the pitch — could’ve been much higher than it is now. But maybe the player didn’t want that. If Nils wants to move on, then 37 million SEK for a player with decreasing minutes is a decent fee. The frustration lies in the untapped potential. It could’ve become so much more — both on the pitch and financially.

———

It’s been clear since spring that Rydström doesn’t believe in Nils. We’ve lined up with odd emergency solutions just to avoid putting him on the pitch. Obviously, Nils and his agent eventually reached a point where they had to accept it was time to move on.

I’m sure the English club see something I don’t, but 37 million SEK feels like an incredibly high transfer fee for what he’s shown so far. There are tons of 20-year-old defenders who’ve scored goals and made contributions in decisive Europa League playoffs, maybe haven’t started every match, but are in teams that won the league last year and made the cup final this year.

———

I think 37–40 million SEK for Zätterström is really good. Sure, he’s fast, but I find him quite clumsy and not very comfortable on the ball. Even if he’s had some good games, I’ve never really seen the greatness in him that others may have. But good for us, and fun for him. Hope he does well in England and proves he can become really good.
 
forte said:
Some comments from Malmö supporter’s on Nils time with them:

---

The reason to why Nils Zätterström hasn’t blossomed in our shirt can be attributed to the gamble on Ricardo Friedrich. The defensive uncertainty in the spring spread from Friedrich to the backline. Like others, I believe Zätterström wouldn’t have done poorly with someone like Berisha. He won’t be sold for a great sum now. He’ll be worth at least triple that in a year or two. Hopefully, we’ve secured a good percentage on any future sale.

I agree with those who think we should’ve loaned out Nisse instead. A loan to a team that often defends deep could’ve helped him develop in that specific area — dealing with low defensive play. A 20-year-old with big potential and a fairly long contract should be loaned out in order to come back and be a part of the starting eleven next year. As opposed to being sold. Good luck, Nisse!

———

I hope and believe that Sheffield might be the right place for Nisse to develop in the right direction. He needs to learn to use his physicality in duels. He has the speed and the ability to cover opponents, but he needs to become tougher in challenges. He can develop that in a physically tough league like the Championship. It could also sharpen his aerial game and passing under pressure. He has everything else to become a future national team player. Good luck, Nisse, and welcome back in the future!

———

I’m one of those who wanted to see Zätterström on the pitch much more than we did. I’m far from sure that it would’ve improved the team’s performance during the spring, but since I love seeing young players grow, I would’ve been willing to take that risk. For fairly natural reasons, coaches are a bit more risk-averse. The results with Nisse on the pitch we can only speculate about. Good luck, Nisse.

———

The problem, as I see it, was that after his strong performances last fall, Nisse didn’t get any playing time early this spring. Instead, we went with Ponne–Rösler. When Ponne got injured Nisse was thrown in but made some costly mistakes — which is natural for a young player without match sharpness.

I understand that HR (Henrik Rydström, manager) at that point chose to rely on others, and I understand that Nisse would’ve improved if he’d played more. I also get why DA (Daniel Anderson, Director of Football) in that situation considered a sale to bring in some money. But the issue is that when Ponne just got back from injury, we threw him in way too early instead of letting Nisse have a go. Had we rotated Nisse in alongside Ponne — or Rösler — maybe Ponne wouldn’t have gotten injured in the first place, and Nisse would’ve been ready to step up. At the same time, we might have lost continuity — like we did offensively — but I still think it’s a different matter, especially since we only had three center-backs, which should’ve provided plenty of chances to rotate.

He played 90 minutes against Värnamo, where he was at fault for the shot that Friedrich later fumbled, plus one more unnecessary situation. The next match was the horrendous 30 minutes against AIK at home — mentally, he clearly wasn’t there. He did very strange things, unlike anything we’ve seen from him before.

After that, he was benched for 3–4 matches, then got 90 minutes against GAIS as the central CB. The next one, 90 minutes against IFK Norrköping in his usual position, he looked solid again. But when Djuric was signed - no playing time. So I don’t quite agree with the idea that he basically didn’t play — to me, it’s clear he was benched due to performance, and that’s probably when HR requested a new CB. Going forward, it’s clear he won’t get playing time, but up until the Djuric signing, that wasn’t necessarily the case, in my view.

———

I really want us to invest in younger players, but we need to pick the right ones. Z, unfortunately, wasn’t the right player — something many have realized over the past year since his debut. A few goals and standout moments don’t change the fact that he made us worse. Ponne couldn’t save him, and that national team call-up was a gift from JDT (possibly even the debut making him eligible for England, depending on the regulations).

It’s quite possible that we told Nisse already in the spring or early summer that he wouldn’t get a chance at MFF — though I doubt it. But clearly, it has an impact when the agents are openly shopping for a new club. That sort of thing doesn’t exactly go unnoticed inside the club. Most likely, Hasan and Nisse were open about looking for other options. It’s not something you can really do in secret.

————

My opinion is that Zätterström’s limited playing time this year isn’t due to his abilities on the ball. In fact, Zätterström has everything you want in a center-back — tall, strong, and fast. Add to that he’s left-footed. It's a dream to have developed a player like that from the academy, with great potential. He fits well in a high defensive line and likes to press tight on opponents. Good in the air defensively. Can win long defensive runs against fast forwards.

————

Nils’ big weakness, in my opinion, is low-block defending. Both in terms of positioning and 1-vs-1 situations in tight spaces, where he’s surprisingly struggled with changes of direction. He can also come off as passive the closer to goal he defends. It’s sometimes too easy to create chances when he’s on the pitch in that phase of play.

This should be a relatively easy thing to correct. He has the physical traits you’d want. A more subjective observation is that Nils sometimes doesn’t seem to realize he’s a physical beast. He sometimes looks like a youth player in a grown man’s body. There’ve been signs of change, but then he’s acted naïvely in certain situations again.

I believe it’s only a matter of time before Nils learns to fully utilize his physical attributes. As a comparison — Bleon Kurtulus. He’s incredibly advanced for his age in the areas where Nils struggles. But Bleon lacks Nils’ physical tools. I don’t doubt that Rydström and the staff have worked on these areas with Nils. Rydström mentioned that Nils had a dip during preseason. And when he did get a chance, there were again defensive mistakes. You could certainly blame Rydström for not developing Zätterström. Or for not giving him more chances.

————

You could blame the technical team for not loaning him out last winter — since playing time is the best development environment. Should you really have a big talent as a backup center-back, where playing time depends on someone else being unavailable? A tough call, especially with the lack of CB alternatives last winter. In any case, I believe and hope that the penny will drop for Nils as he gains more experience and maturity.

I would’ve preferred that we loaned out Nils to get regular playing time. Next season he would’ve been 21, and his value — both on and off the pitch — could’ve been much higher than it is now. But maybe the player didn’t want that. If Nils wants to move on, then 37 million SEK for a player with decreasing minutes is a decent fee. The frustration lies in the untapped potential. It could’ve become so much more — both on the pitch and financially.

———

It’s been clear since spring that Rydström doesn’t believe in Nils. We’ve lined up with odd emergency solutions just to avoid putting him on the pitch. Obviously, Nils and his agent eventually reached a point where they had to accept it was time to move on.

I’m sure the English club see something I don’t, but 37 million SEK feels like an incredibly high transfer fee for what he’s shown so far. There are tons of 20-year-old defenders who’ve scored goals and made contributions in decisive Europa League playoffs, maybe haven’t started every match, but are in teams that won the league last year and made the cup final this year.

———

I think 37–40 million SEK for Zätterström is really good. Sure, he’s fast, but I find him quite clumsy and not very comfortable on the ball. Even if he’s had some good games, I’ve never really seen the greatness in him that others may have. But good for us, and fun for him. Hope he does well in England and proves he can become really good.
Click to expand...
we’ve done it again (if you think I only read the good reviews, I did)
 
Tarqs said:
To be honest, over the past 2/3 seasons, we appear to have bought players with no idea of how they fit into the current team, or how to tweak our team/tactics to fit them in.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the contrary to how Brighton and a few others are working. If the board or the technical team have a clear and outlined a long-term recruitment policy - both when it comes to players and managers, these type of crazy signings can be avoided to a bigger extent. To me it seems we have been a bit clueless for a very long time and basically just brought in players without a proper plan for them. I wouldn't be surprised it's agent driven as well - as opposed to actually mapping out players (near or far, young or experienced etc) that would fit with the club's strategy.

If there is a idea and consensus on how we should work to achieve results over time, we wouldn't have to start from scratch every time we sign a new manager who want's to get the players he need for his particular formation or way of playing. If there would be a solid long term plan the next manager would be hired on the basis of that. There will always be some differences but for the long term development of the club and the result, it's key to work within a strategy and changes of staff and players would be a lot more seamless than going from extremes... It takes time to implement these things but once we an idea that we firmly believe in we need to stick to it rather than taking decisions on the basis of short term results.
 
forte said:
Yeah, the contrary to how Brighton and a few others are working. If the board or the technical team have a clear and outlined a long-term recruitment policy - both when it comes to players and managers, these type of crazy signings can be avoided to a bigger extent. To me it seems we have been a bit clueless for a very long time and basically just brought in players without a proper plan for them. I wouldn't be surprised it's agent driven as well - as opposed to actually mapping out players (near or far, young or experienced etc) that would fit with the club's strategy.

If there is a idea and consensus on how we should work to achieve results over time, we wouldn't have to start from scratch every time we sign a new manager who want's to get the players he need for his particular formation or way of playing. If there would be a solid long term plan the next manager would be hired on the basis of that. There will always be some differences but for the long term development of the club and the result, it's key to work within a strategy and changes of staff and players would be a lot more seamless than going from extremes... It takes time to implement these things but once we an idea that we firmly believe in we need to stick to it rather than taking decisions on the basis of short term results.
Click to expand...
Helps that Brighton has RUSG that they basically use to either develop their players, or showcase them for instant profit.

We have nothing like that unfortunately.
 
forte said:
Some comments from Malmö supporter’s on Nils time with them:

---

The reason to why Nils Zätterström hasn’t blossomed in our shirt can be attributed to the gamble on Ricardo Friedrich. The defensive uncertainty in the spring spread from Friedrich to the backline. Like others, I believe Zätterström wouldn’t have done poorly with someone like Berisha. He won’t be sold for a great sum now. He’ll be worth at least triple that in a year or two. Hopefully, we’ve secured a good percentage on any future sale.

I agree with those who think we should’ve loaned out Nisse instead. A loan to a team that often defends deep could’ve helped him develop in that specific area — dealing with low defensive play. A 20-year-old with big potential and a fairly long contract should be loaned out in order to come back and be a part of the starting eleven next year. As opposed to being sold. Good luck, Nisse!

———

I hope and believe that Sheffield might be the right place for Nisse to develop in the right direction. He needs to learn to use his physicality in duels. He has the speed and the ability to cover opponents, but he needs to become tougher in challenges. He can develop that in a physically tough league like the Championship. It could also sharpen his aerial game and passing under pressure. He has everything else to become a future national team player. Good luck, Nisse, and welcome back in the future!

———

I’m one of those who wanted to see Zätterström on the pitch much more than we did. I’m far from sure that it would’ve improved the team’s performance during the spring, but since I love seeing young players grow, I would’ve been willing to take that risk. For fairly natural reasons, coaches are a bit more risk-averse. The results with Nisse on the pitch we can only speculate about. Good luck, Nisse.

———

The problem, as I see it, was that after his strong performances last fall, Nisse didn’t get any playing time early this spring. Instead, we went with Ponne–Rösler. When Ponne got injured Nisse was thrown in but made some costly mistakes — which is natural for a young player without match sharpness.

I understand that HR (Henrik Rydström, manager) at that point chose to rely on others, and I understand that Nisse would’ve improved if he’d played more. I also get why DA (Daniel Anderson, Director of Football) in that situation considered a sale to bring in some money. But the issue is that when Ponne just got back from injury, we threw him in way too early instead of letting Nisse have a go. Had we rotated Nisse in alongside Ponne — or Rösler — maybe Ponne wouldn’t have gotten injured in the first place, and Nisse would’ve been ready to step up. At the same time, we might have lost continuity — like we did offensively — but I still think it’s a different matter, especially since we only had three center-backs, which should’ve provided plenty of chances to rotate.

He played 90 minutes against Värnamo, where he was at fault for the shot that Friedrich later fumbled, plus one more unnecessary situation. The next match was the horrendous 30 minutes against AIK at home — mentally, he clearly wasn’t there. He did very strange things, unlike anything we’ve seen from him before.

After that, he was benched for 3–4 matches, then got 90 minutes against GAIS as the central CB. The next one, 90 minutes against IFK Norrköping in his usual position, he looked solid again. But when Djuric was signed - no playing time. So I don’t quite agree with the idea that he basically didn’t play — to me, it’s clear he was benched due to performance, and that’s probably when HR requested a new CB. Going forward, it’s clear he won’t get playing time, but up until the Djuric signing, that wasn’t necessarily the case, in my view.

———

I really want us to invest in younger players, but we need to pick the right ones. Z, unfortunately, wasn’t the right player — something many have realized over the past year since his debut. A few goals and standout moments don’t change the fact that he made us worse. Ponne couldn’t save him, and that national team call-up was a gift from JDT (possibly even the debut making him eligible for England, depending on the regulations).

It’s quite possible that we told Nisse already in the spring or early summer that he wouldn’t get a chance at MFF — though I doubt it. But clearly, it has an impact when the agents are openly shopping for a new club. That sort of thing doesn’t exactly go unnoticed inside the club. Most likely, Hasan and Nisse were open about looking for other options. It’s not something you can really do in secret.

————

My opinion is that Zätterström’s limited playing time this year isn’t due to his abilities on the ball. In fact, Zätterström has everything you want in a center-back — tall, strong, and fast. Add to that he’s left-footed. It's a dream to have developed a player like that from the academy, with great potential. He fits well in a high defensive line and likes to press tight on opponents. Good in the air defensively. Can win long defensive runs against fast forwards.

————

Nils’ big weakness, in my opinion, is low-block defending. Both in terms of positioning and 1-vs-1 situations in tight spaces, where he’s surprisingly struggled with changes of direction. He can also come off as passive the closer to goal he defends. It’s sometimes too easy to create chances when he’s on the pitch in that phase of play.

This should be a relatively easy thing to correct. He has the physical traits you’d want. A more subjective observation is that Nils sometimes doesn’t seem to realize he’s a physical beast. He sometimes looks like a youth player in a grown man’s body. There’ve been signs of change, but then he’s acted naïvely in certain situations again.

I believe it’s only a matter of time before Nils learns to fully utilize his physical attributes. As a comparison — Bleon Kurtulus. He’s incredibly advanced for his age in the areas where Nils struggles. But Bleon lacks Nils’ physical tools. I don’t doubt that Rydström and the staff have worked on these areas with Nils. Rydström mentioned that Nils had a dip during preseason. And when he did get a chance, there were again defensive mistakes. You could certainly blame Rydström for not developing Zätterström. Or for not giving him more chances.

————

You could blame the technical team for not loaning him out last winter — since playing time is the best development environment. Should you really have a big talent as a backup center-back, where playing time depends on someone else being unavailable? A tough call, especially with the lack of CB alternatives last winter. In any case, I believe and hope that the penny will drop for Nils as he gains more experience and maturity.

I would’ve preferred that we loaned out Nils to get regular playing time. Next season he would’ve been 21, and his value — both on and off the pitch — could’ve been much higher than it is now. But maybe the player didn’t want that. If Nils wants to move on, then 37 million SEK for a player with decreasing minutes is a decent fee. The frustration lies in the untapped potential. It could’ve become so much more — both on the pitch and financially.

———

It’s been clear since spring that Rydström doesn’t believe in Nils. We’ve lined up with odd emergency solutions just to avoid putting him on the pitch. Obviously, Nils and his agent eventually reached a point where they had to accept it was time to move on.

I’m sure the English club see something I don’t, but 37 million SEK feels like an incredibly high transfer fee for what he’s shown so far. There are tons of 20-year-old defenders who’ve scored goals and made contributions in decisive Europa League playoffs, maybe haven’t started every match, but are in teams that won the league last year and made the cup final this year.

———

I think 37–40 million SEK for Zätterström is really good. Sure, he’s fast, but I find him quite clumsy and not very comfortable on the ball. Even if he’s had some good games, I’ve never really seen the greatness in him that others may have. But good for us, and fun for him. Hope he does well in England and proves he can become really good.
Click to expand...

What on earth do you think you're doing?


In all seriousness the comments I have got seem to tell a similar tale. Definite potential but not good enough for their first team as of yet
 
Brownieblade said:
So basically he looked like the next ABBA, then struggled slightly and looked like Roxette, he then digressed more looking like Ace of base

But they still hope one day he will look like the AI ABBA
Click to expand...

You’ve very much got ABBA and Roxette the wrong way round there.
 

forte said:
Some comments from Malmö supporter’s on Nils time with them:

---

The reason to why Nils Zätterström hasn’t blossomed in our shirt can be attributed to the gamble on Ricardo Friedrich. The defensive uncertainty in the spring spread from Friedrich to the backline. Like others, I believe Zätterström wouldn’t have done poorly with someone like Berisha. He won’t be sold for a great sum now. He’ll be worth at least triple that in a year or two. Hopefully, we’ve secured a good percentage on any future sale.

I agree with those who think we should’ve loaned out Nisse instead. A loan to a team that often defends deep could’ve helped him develop in that specific area — dealing with low defensive play. A 20-year-old with big potential and a fairly long contract should be loaned out in order to come back and be a part of the starting eleven next year. As opposed to being sold. Good luck, Nisse!

———

I hope and believe that Sheffield might be the right place for Nisse to develop in the right direction. He needs to learn to use his physicality in duels. He has the speed and the ability to cover opponents, but he needs to become tougher in challenges. He can develop that in a physically tough league like the Championship. It could also sharpen his aerial game and passing under pressure. He has everything else to become a future national team player. Good luck, Nisse, and welcome back in the future!

———

I’m one of those who wanted to see Zätterström on the pitch much more than we did. I’m far from sure that it would’ve improved the team’s performance during the spring, but since I love seeing young players grow, I would’ve been willing to take that risk. For fairly natural reasons, coaches are a bit more risk-averse. The results with Nisse on the pitch we can only speculate about. Good luck, Nisse.

———

The problem, as I see it, was that after his strong performances last fall, Nisse didn’t get any playing time early this spring. Instead, we went with Ponne–Rösler. When Ponne got injured Nisse was thrown in but made some costly mistakes — which is natural for a young player without match sharpness.

I understand that HR (Henrik Rydström, manager) at that point chose to rely on others, and I understand that Nisse would’ve improved if he’d played more. I also get why DA (Daniel Anderson, Director of Football) in that situation considered a sale to bring in some money. But the issue is that when Ponne just got back from injury, we threw him in way too early instead of letting Nisse have a go. Had we rotated Nisse in alongside Ponne — or Rösler — maybe Ponne wouldn’t have gotten injured in the first place, and Nisse would’ve been ready to step up. At the same time, we might have lost continuity — like we did offensively — but I still think it’s a different matter, especially since we only had three center-backs, which should’ve provided plenty of chances to rotate.

He played 90 minutes against Värnamo, where he was at fault for the shot that Friedrich later fumbled, plus one more unnecessary situation. The next match was the horrendous 30 minutes against AIK at home — mentally, he clearly wasn’t there. He did very strange things, unlike anything we’ve seen from him before.

After that, he was benched for 3–4 matches, then got 90 minutes against GAIS as the central CB. The next one, 90 minutes against IFK Norrköping in his usual position, he looked solid again. But when Djuric was signed - no playing time. So I don’t quite agree with the idea that he basically didn’t play — to me, it’s clear he was benched due to performance, and that’s probably when HR requested a new CB. Going forward, it’s clear he won’t get playing time, but up until the Djuric signing, that wasn’t necessarily the case, in my view.

———

I really want us to invest in younger players, but we need to pick the right ones. Z, unfortunately, wasn’t the right player — something many have realized over the past year since his debut. A few goals and standout moments don’t change the fact that he made us worse. Ponne couldn’t save him, and that national team call-up was a gift from JDT (possibly even the debut making him eligible for England, depending on the regulations).

It’s quite possible that we told Nisse already in the spring or early summer that he wouldn’t get a chance at MFF — though I doubt it. But clearly, it has an impact when the agents are openly shopping for a new club. That sort of thing doesn’t exactly go unnoticed inside the club. Most likely, Hasan and Nisse were open about looking for other options. It’s not something you can really do in secret.

————

My opinion is that Zätterström’s limited playing time this year isn’t due to his abilities on the ball. In fact, Zätterström has everything you want in a center-back — tall, strong, and fast. Add to that he’s left-footed. It's a dream to have developed a player like that from the academy, with great potential. He fits well in a high defensive line and likes to press tight on opponents. Good in the air defensively. Can win long defensive runs against fast forwards.

————

Nils’ big weakness, in my opinion, is low-block defending. Both in terms of positioning and 1-vs-1 situations in tight spaces, where he’s surprisingly struggled with changes of direction. He can also come off as passive the closer to goal he defends. It’s sometimes too easy to create chances when he’s on the pitch in that phase of play.

This should be a relatively easy thing to correct. He has the physical traits you’d want. A more subjective observation is that Nils sometimes doesn’t seem to realize he’s a physical beast. He sometimes looks like a youth player in a grown man’s body. There’ve been signs of change, but then he’s acted naïvely in certain situations again.

I believe it’s only a matter of time before Nils learns to fully utilize his physical attributes. As a comparison — Bleon Kurtulus. He’s incredibly advanced for his age in the areas where Nils struggles. But Bleon lacks Nils’ physical tools. I don’t doubt that Rydström and the staff have worked on these areas with Nils. Rydström mentioned that Nils had a dip during preseason. And when he did get a chance, there were again defensive mistakes. You could certainly blame Rydström for not developing Zätterström. Or for not giving him more chances.

————

You could blame the technical team for not loaning him out last winter — since playing time is the best development environment. Should you really have a big talent as a backup center-back, where playing time depends on someone else being unavailable? A tough call, especially with the lack of CB alternatives last winter. In any case, I believe and hope that the penny will drop for Nils as he gains more experience and maturity.

I would’ve preferred that we loaned out Nils to get regular playing time. Next season he would’ve been 21, and his value — both on and off the pitch — could’ve been much higher than it is now. But maybe the player didn’t want that. If Nils wants to move on, then 37 million SEK for a player with decreasing minutes is a decent fee. The frustration lies in the untapped potential. It could’ve become so much more — both on the pitch and financially.

———

It’s been clear since spring that Rydström doesn’t believe in Nils. We’ve lined up with odd emergency solutions just to avoid putting him on the pitch. Obviously, Nils and his agent eventually reached a point where they had to accept it was time to move on.

I’m sure the English club see something I don’t, but 37 million SEK feels like an incredibly high transfer fee for what he’s shown so far. There are tons of 20-year-old defenders who’ve scored goals and made contributions in decisive Europa League playoffs, maybe haven’t started every match, but are in teams that won the league last year and made the cup final this year.

———

I think 37–40 million SEK for Zätterström is really good. Sure, he’s fast, but I find him quite clumsy and not very comfortable on the ball. Even if he’s had some good games, I’ve never really seen the greatness in him that others may have. But good for us, and fun for him. Hope he does well in England and proves he can become really good.
Click to expand...
Just shows you anyone can do it. Piece of piss, copying and pasting.

Roygbiv ain't all that, girlfriend. Mmmm, mmmmm.😉
 
Silent Blade said:
Brian Clough was always keen to look for a bargain in the lower echelons and and on a fateful night in August 1969, his assistant manager Peter Taylor went to watch Kevin Keegan playing for Scunthorpe against Southend.

In the book, With Clough by Taylor, the assistant manager explains that he didn’t think much of the player.

He said: “The player we’d gone to watch didn’t get a kick and his team lost 3-0. He was valued at just £15,000 but didn’t look worth it that night.

“He was too small, he didn’t know where to run or wait and he didn’t have the physique or experience for his job of playing up front on his own.

“I ought to have realised that his best position was striking from midfield or just behind the front runners; instead I crossed him off my list.

“Two years went by before I heard of him again. He had gone up in the world, fetching a £30,000 fee and joining Liverpool. His name was Kevin Keegan.”
Click to expand...
Not the first time Keegan was rejected for being a shortarse, happened with Donny too at the start of his career. It's a wonder anyone took a punt on him at all
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Rodley
Incoming? Gary O’Neil linked as Manager
6 7 8
Replies
216
Views
18K
SufcBilly
SufcBilly
idleurchin
Right Backs
Replies
7
Views
1K
CaptainMorgans
CaptainMorgans
EddieColquhoun
Incoming? Northern Ireland players
Replies
11
Views
1K
EddieColquhoun
EddieColquhoun
SouthStandGBlock
Josh Brownhill
2
Replies
37
Views
5K
brownblade
brownblade
YorkBlade
Transfer Rumour Round-Up 25/26
Replies
0
Views
531
YorkBlade
YorkBlade

All advertisments are hidden for logged in members, why not log in/register?

All advertisments are hidden for logged in members, why not log in/register?

Back
Top Bottom