The midfield battle in the national team under Jon Dahl Tomasson is tough.
There are three places in the starting eleven that most recently Anton Saletros, Hugo Larsson and Yasin Ayari took care of. Neither Serie A team captain Jesper Karlström nor Tottenham's super talent Lucas Bergvall, 19, got a single minute during the September gathering against Slovenia and Kosovo.
The latter has since the 0-2 fiasco against Kosovo in the World Championship qualification made his first Premier League goal, cemented himself in the starting eleven and been named player of the round.
But Lucas Bergvall doesn't say much about the lack of playing time.
It's incredibly good players who perform week in and week out in the top leagues, then it's always up to Jon (Dahl Tomasson) who plays, but it's incredibly good players, says Bergvall about the competition.
Sometimes you play, sometimes you don't, he repeats.
"Not optimal for the team"
One who has good experience of a proper midfield battle is the former national team player Anders Andersson, now a TV expert on HBO Max.
During the European Championship 2004, he competed with Tobias Linderoth for the defensive role on the midfield. The duel for the offensive role, which was between Anders Svensson and Kim Källström, was tight. Supporters and columnists had all strong opinions.
It became so incredibly much writing about that for various reasons, and of course it was not optimal for the team. You can say what you want, that you try not to care, but of course you do, says Andersson.
Different climate now
Even if the competition is tough today, it's far from the same climate as then.
I think Bergvall now, when he didn't get to play a minute, deserves all praise. I didn't see much negative from him about it. It's good that you don't try to spread the negative mood yourself, but that you take it internally, says Anders Andersson.
It's sad for the journalists, but it's very good for the team.
He himself understands that one of the young players will sit on the bench. It's inevitable if you want to have a defensive balance, Andersson means. Instead, he thinks that Jesper Karlström can get the chance to start in Friday's important World Championship qualification at home against Switzerland.
He is a bit more of a defensive midfielder and then I think you have to sacrifice one of the other players for the balance to get better.
Born: March 14, 1974 (51 years old).
A-international matches/goals: 27/3.
Championships: European Championship 2002 and 2004.
National team debut: February 14, 1994 against Mexico (2-1).
Clubs: Svenstorps IF, Malmö FF, Blackburn Rovers, Aalborg, Benfica, Belenenses, Malmö FF.
Most recently in the World Championship qualification, Anton Salétros, AIK, Hugo Larsson, Eintracht Frankfurt and Yasin Ayari, Brighton, started on the national team's three-man midfield.
On the bench sat Jesper Karlström, Udinese and Lucas Bergvall, Tottenham.
All five are selected for the matches in the World Championship qualification against Switzerland (Friday) and Kosovo (Monday).
