Jesper Karlström doesn't exactly exude confidence when he talks about his day-to-day life as team captain at Udinese.
To understand why, it's enough to take a look at the Serie A table. For more than 30 years, the black-and-white club from northeastern Italy has played in the top flight, but now things are looking really bad. Udinese are bottom with a paltry five points after 11 matches, and their only victory so far came in August.
It's been tough, says Karlström as he meets Swedish journalists at the national team's hotel outside Valencia.
"Different expectations"
That's where Blågult are preparing for the final Nations League matches against Bosnia-Herzegovina (Solna, Saturday) and Poland (Wroclaw, next Tuesday).
When you come here, you disconnect from that. Of course, you might arrive with a different level of confidence if you're at the top. No, it's tough. We had different expectations when we started the season.
Coach Kosta Runjaic, who brought Karlström to the club in 2024 and also made him team captain, was recently fired.
That's how it is in this industry. Unfortunately, I think we needed a new voice after struggling - yes, what is it? - for eight or nine games.
His successor, Paolo Zanetti, didn't get off to a good start, losing the relegation battle against Venezia on Friday.
As team captain, I perhaps feel a little more responsibility for the team. Mostly in training and matches, by giving everything and spreading energy - and you can't get too depressed either.
For Jesper Karlström, it's more fun to talk about national team football right now. After starting the first two games in the World Cup this summer, he was benched, but in the last two Nations League games in October he was back in the starting XI.
With Lucas Bergvall injured, there will apparently be a place to fight for alongside Yasin Ayari in central midfield.
It feels better with the wins (during the last season) and also the performances on the pitch. It feels like it's harder to create chances for us. We're more compact, more coordinated, says Karlström, who has played 30 international matches since his debut in 2018.
Praises debutant
Another who could make his debut now is fellow Serie A Swede Alieu Njie, 21, who has scored in three straight matches for Fiorentina.
Karlström has faced Njie and therefore has a better grasp of the promising striker than most in Blågult.
You can see that he's a player with potential and then I also have a teammate who played with him in Torino, who praises him to the skies. It's really exciting.
What do you think?