Malmo�s return to rearing their own talent pays off

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GIVEN that Sweden has one of the most developed welfare states in the world and prides itself on its socialists principles, it is perhaps not surprising that success on the football front has been shared fairly equally in recent years as well.

 

There have been nine different champions of the Allsvenskan, the Swedish top division, in the past 12 years. At the start of each season there is no outright favourite, no team widely tipped to walk away with it. Not since IFK Gothenburg won four titles in a row in the 1990s has a team dominated the championship. Now itââ?¬â?¢s accessible to all ââ?¬â?? a bit like their fabled health and education systems.

 

With little discernible difference between the top half-dozen clubs, anyone willing to stick their neck out and declare one to be superior to the rest could surely expect to attract a degree of criticism and calls to explain themselves. And so it was a year ago when Offside, the respected Swedish football magazine, declared Malmo FF the greatest Swedish club of all time.

 

Malmo, the magazine felt, had the lot: the most victories in both the league championship and the Swedish cup, success in Europe, including an appearance in the 1979 European Cup final, a loyal fanbase, and a tradition of producing young players, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Malmo born and raised.

 

The backlash was fairly ferocious, especially from peeved Gothenburg fans, but Offside stuck to their guns. Granted, there was undoubtedly a touch of sentiment attached to the decision, given the article coincided with Malmo�s centenary celebrations, but even now there are no regrets.

 

ââ?¬Å?That article attracted a lot of controversy throughout Sweden and there were a lot of angry Gothenburg supporters,ââ?¬Â Henrik Ysten, editor of Offside, told Herald Sport. ââ?¬Å?They told us we had made a wrong decision. One of our writers is fond of statistics and he explored a lot of different areas, including success on the pitch, each clubââ?¬â?¢s economic state, supporter base, traditions and other things. When we added everything up, Malmo came out on top.ââ?¬Â

 

There is a feeling among their rivals, however, that Malmo is a club clinging to its once proud past, with talk of 1979 and Zlatan a convenient smokescreen to hide recent shortcomings. Last year�s title win was their first in six years, while, surprisingly, they have not won the Swedish Cup since 1989.

 

ââ?¬Å?Itââ?¬â?¢s true, Malmo have been one of the biggest disappointments year after year this century,ââ?¬Â Ysten confirmed. ââ?¬Å?There has been a lot of criticism of their coaches and players in recent times, and the organisation was also blamed, too, for sacking some coaches too quickly.

 

ââ?¬Å?Before they won the championship last year it was not a good time to be a Malmo player. The supporters were really mad at them and there is no doubt the team underachieved for many of those seasons. It was a rough time for them and they failed in many respects.ââ?¬Â

 

Malmo is the third biggest city in Sweden, behind Stockholm and Gothenburg, with a population of around 600,000. As the only top-flight club in the area, Malmo FF command near universal backing from a zealous fanbase. Ysten paints a picture of a club not afraid to indulge in nostalgia, something that makes them fairly unique in Sweden. Like Celtic�s famous Lisbon Lions, every member of Malmo�s European Cup final squad hailed from the surrounding Scania province and many of them are still employed at the club in a number of different roles.

 

ââ?¬Å?In Malmo they are proud of their history and they speak about it a lot,ââ?¬Â explained Ysten. ââ?¬Å?That makes them different from other Swedish clubs as the rest donââ?¬â?¢t really cling on to their past or mention their heroic achievements too often. Last year, in the first game in their new stadium, Malmo asked all the members of the team that reached the European Cup final to be there and Bo Larsson, who is still seen as a big Malmo hero, arrived with the match-ball to start the first game. That shows how much tradition means to them.ââ?¬Â

 

The sale of Ibrahimovic to Ajax for �£7m in 2001 inadvertently brought the Malmo conveyor belt of young talent temporarily shuddering to a halt. Cash-rich for the first time in a while, the management team elected to ignore their youth department and instead invested heavily in the transfer market, buying an abundance of players from their Swedish rivals. It proved to be a short-lived policy. Money gone, the Malmo hierarchy returned to rearing their own and last yearâ��s championship success was achieved with one of the youngest teams in the league.

 

ââ?¬Å?Malmo have a proud history of producing young players who go on to play for the Swedish national team,ââ?¬Â said Ysten. ââ?¬Å?Last year they won the league with a lot of players around 20 years of age.ââ?¬Â

 

Rangers will discover tomorrow night just how good this current Malmo team is when they meet in the first leg of their Champions League qualifier at Ibrox. Interest in Sweden will be high, although there is scant pressure on Malmo to succeed. ââ?¬Å?There is little expectation on Swedish teams when they go into Europe these days,ââ?¬Â added Ysten. ââ?¬Å?Over the past 10 years or so they have shown themselves to be too small for Europe. Nobody expects Malmo to go through against Glasgow Rangers, but the hope is always there.ââ?¬Â

 

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