Benjamin Nygren’s Celtic career has started off well.
Hopefully, Nygren’s morale has not suffered as a result of the versatile forward’s forgettable international window in October.
It’s World Cup qualifiers galore across the football world, as teams race to secure the ultimate golden ticket to America, Canada, and Mexico next summer.
But Sweden may be sitting at home for the second World Cup in a row because things have gotten worse over the last week, and Nygren has had to watch it all from the sideline.
Benjamin Nygren watches on as Sweden’s aspirations for the 2026 World Cup are practically dead.
Sweden’s coach is Jon Dahl Tomasson, and he has made some questionable decisions, such as leaving Nygren on the bench in recent defeats to Kosovo and Switzerland.
Not only did Sweden fail to score in those games, but Nygren was never deployed despite scoring two goals on the international stage in six games, as Newcastle United’s high-profile winger Anthony Elanga only played 45 minutes.
These were simply nasty calls at the Celtic player, but they are perplexing given how poorly Sweden is performing, with their top striker, Alexander Isak, even criticising the tactics.
Alexander Isak criticises Sweden’s methods.
Sweden fielded a back three against Kosovo on Monday, with two forwards up front: Isak and Arsenal’s Viktor Gyokeres.
Despite having such offensive potency, Sweden not only failed to score this week, but has only two goals in four World Cup qualifiers – one of which came in a single match, leaving them at the bottom of their group with one point.
That’s why you have to question about Nygren’s treatment, given that Isak wasn’t afraid to criticise his manager’s tactics.
“It’s terribly terrible,” Isak stated, as reported by Telegrafi. “Shameful. I’m disappointed yet again. Everything is extremely awful.
“We are playing pretty poorly. The way we’re playing is not working. We are also doing extremely poorly individually.
“It’s a combination of everything.” The situation has deteriorated since the World Cup qualifications began; there has been no progress. It’s sad.”
xz
