Ultimate Coaching Challenge – Sweden’s WFC2020 Squad without Players from WFC2018 (is it Possible?) | PRO

In this article, YOU are going to take the role of Sweden’s national team coach in making the Swedish national squad for the coming WFC2020.

“Ah, easy”, I hear you say. “We just pick Alexander Galante Carlström, pair him with Kim Nilsson and Emil Johansson, maybe add Alexander Rudd somewhere and we’ll have a squad that makes the opposing players screaming for their dear mothers.”

But then we hear the terrible news…

Aliens have abducted all the players from the national team of Sweden who played during WFC2018 (don’t worry, they are fine and will be returned after the article).

No Rasmus Enström, no Galante magic, no Robin Nilsbert sweeper shots.

Now we have ourselves a CHALLENGE.

Is it possible to make a team that can potentially take revenge on Finland and take the gold medal? Without any of the superstars?

Let’s find out!

Fun mini-game: we’ll start with a picture of every player followed by an introduction. Can you guess the players from the pictures? Then you’re a real floorball expert!

And let’s make this interactive! After all, I’m just the advisor and YOU’RE the head coach 😉

What I’m doing are merely suggestions, it’s up to you to agree with them.

After reading the article, I need your input. Did I miss a player? Is there a player that doesn’t deserve his place in this mighty squad? Who’d you swap him with? Let me know in the comments or on our socials!

Time to start!

Goalkeepers

We will start with the goalkeepers.

The first choice is Viktor Klinsten (31 years old) and – let’s be honest – it’s quite an easy choice. This is the experienced goalie from Storvreta IBK and played at the World Games 2017 as well as two World Floorball Championships (2012, 2010). He was a huge part in Storvreta´s SSL winning team last season. Armed with experience from many important matches (SSL finals, WFCs) this is our definite first pick. Just missed the boat at WFC2018 but this time we won’t let him slip.

The second goalkeeper to keep Sweden’s goal empty is 28-year-old Jonathan Edling from Helsingborg. He already appeared in the net for the national team a couple of times but is still waiting for a major event nomination.

However, given current form we should also consider Jon Hedlund who is playing a strong season for Pixbo and can combine this with national team experience.

The first line

The first line consists of our more experienced players.

There is a lot of experience in the above picture but the player we’re looking for is not Hannes Öhman (the assistant coach on the left) nor Jimmie Petterson.

It’s the player in the middle.

Henrik Stenberg, the 30-year-old forward, who scored the game-winning goal in the final game of the WFC 2014, participant in 4 World Floorball Championships (last one in 2016), would be the choice for the right forward in the first line. This season Stenberg scored 29 points (in 25 matches) for Storvreta in the SSL.

Gustav Fritzell (26 years old) would be on the left side of this offensive line. And we couldn’t be happier with this pick as he is the #1 top point scorer in the SSL so far (and has gone through impressive developments since he almost made it into the WFC2018 squad.

Even more, we would be incredibly surprised if we don’t see this player make it to the actual squad of Sweden at WFC2020. The forward from Pixbo Wallenstam has never been to the World Championships, although he has experience from WFCQ in 2018 and 2020, the World University Championship in 2016 and even EFT experience from 2017-2019. As of February 2020, he scored 36+29 points (in 25 matches) in the SSL for Pixbo.

The center for the first line is where we place Sebastian Palmqvist (26 years old). He has never been to the Men´s WFC but has some experience in the national team from the WFCQ (2016, 2018) and the EuroFloorball Tour (2018), Palmqvist is also a U19 world champion from 2013. In the past season of SSL, the center from Mullsjö scored 12+29 in 31 matches. This season he scored 33 points after 22 matches.

On the left side of the defense, we find Jens Milesson. Milesson has always played a big role in Pixbo’s squad, both defensively as offensively. Time to give the 29-year-old a chance to play in the national team… Another chance, we should say. In 2016 he was on the national team’s radar for a while (WFCQ, University WFC, Finland-Sweden Challenge) but missed the boat and his international break-through.

On the other side of the first line defense would be Viktor Nystedt. This 23-year-old defender plays a huge part in Dalen´s defense and is definitely a player to watch in the coming years. He played in the U19 of Sweden in 2015 but remained relatively silent in the years that followed. His spot in the WFCQ squad of Sweden came to a surprise to many but considering his bigger role in Dalen due to his opening-creating movement and passes, it made sense.

The second line

Two players from Falun are part of this potential second line.

[ppp_non_patron_only]As much as we love floorball, we dedicate a lot of time and money to the FloorballToday project (more info here). That's why we ask you for a small monthly donation. By clicking the button below you can become one of our supporters and read the rest of the article. Thanks a lot! Already a patron? Then here is where you can login. [/ppp_non_patron_only][ppp_patron_only level="6" silent="no"][ppp_patron_only level=”6″ silent=”no”]

Omar Aldeeb never had his debut in the national team. He was in the nomination for WFCQ in 2018 but had to cancel due to an injury. Falun´s quick forward, who just turned 24 this month, had a strong season again in the SSL, scoring 31+38 in 32 matches.

The second forward in this line, Malte Lundmark, is also from Falun. Despite his young age, he has already tons of experience playing for Sweden. If things go his way, he is on his way to becoming the world’s next floorball superstar. The player from 2001 accumulated 32 points in 24 games this season.

With relatively young players in this line, it’s time to add our first “veteran”. The center of this line would be Linus Nordgren. This 30-year-old experienced player from Helsingborg was already at two World Floorball Championships (2012, 2016) and many other national team games. His season in Helsingborg is going well as he scored 45 points in 24 matches ranking him 10th as of February 2020.

Oskar Malmgren could be the choice for the 2nd line defense. The young defender from Mullsjö had his men´s national team in 2016 during the EFT but also has a silver medal from the U19 WFC in 2017. This year in the SSL, the 21-year-old scored a solid 12 in 25 matches.

Our right defender is Växjö’s tall defender Johan Roos (29 years old). With his 1.95m there are few players who will be taller than him in the field. Roos played for the Swedish national team during the EFT (2015, 2016) and the Finland-Sweden Challenge (2014) and will bring the experience this line needs. With 10 points this season so far he may not be the top scorer but that’s not why we have him in this line.

The third line

The third line is a little younger.

Mainly because of only 18 years old Filip Eriksson from Sirius. The young forward is awaiting his men´s national team debut, but already has a silver medal from U19 WFC in 2019. He had a wonderful season in the SSL last year, scoring an amazing 66 points (36+30) in 32 matches, which brought him to 7th place in scoring among all of the players. This year he still impresses with 34 points after 21 matches.

Another forward in this line would be Eriksson´s teammate from Sirius Jakob Drews. He had his best season so far this year finishing also with 66 points for 43 goals (2nd best in the SSL, behind Galante Carlström) and 23 assists in 31 matches. The 28-year-old never got the chance in the national team, only in his junior years. Fair to say, he never was this productive with the absolute peak during the previous season.

A bit older player in this line is the center, Niklas Winroth, who plays a crucial role for Storvreta. The hard-working all-rounder has been consistent over the seasons and is one of these players who play a huge but somewhat invisible role for his team. Forget the flashy players, time to get this productive work-horse a spot in the team.

In the defense, Niklas Ramirez, the 24-year-old from Växjö, is on the left side. No WFC experience for this defender, although he has matches for men´s national team thanks to EuroFloorball Tour (2017, 2018). Ramirez scored 5+9 for Växjö last season in the SSL.

Oskar Hovlund, another young gun (21 years old) is the choice for the right side in the third line of defense. The offensive defenseman from Linköpings had a good previous season, scoring 13+14 in 30 matches. Hovlund has a silver medal from U19 WFC in 2017 but no men´s national team matches for him yet.

So, this was the team that has to bring the gold back to Sweden. Do you think they can do it? Did I miss any players? Who’d you swap them with?

Let me know in the comments or on our socials!

This article was written by Petr Havej and Anne Jan Hempenius.

[/ppp_patron_only]

Anne-Jan Hempenius Member since June 25, 2020

Loading + Follow Following

Contributor