Football in Scandinavia is developing rapidly. Following the appearance of talents in Norway, we see more and more youngsters who raise a lot of interest from European elite teams.
At the same time, coaches from Scandinavia enjoy huge popularity. In this article, we will talk about the top 3 coaches who managed to achieve success during their managerial career.
Janne Andersson
Andersson managed Alerts, Laholms, and Halmstads. In December 2009, he was appointed head coach of Orgryte, playing in the second division of Sweden. In 2011, he was a coach of Norrkoping, who returned to Allsvenskan. In the 2015 season, he helped the club to become champions.
In June 2016, he replaced Erik Hamren as head coach of the Swedish national team. In November 2017, he helped Sweden beat Italy 1-0 on aggregate and reach the final stage of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where Sweden reached the quarter-finals for the first time in 24 years. This moment was the most successful during his managerial career and deserves credit.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
After serving as forwards coach in 2007, Solskjaer became head coach of Manchester United reserves in 2008. In July, under his leadership, the team beat Liverpool 3-2 in the final.
On November 9, 2010, Solskjaer was appointed head coach of the Norwegian club Molde. On October 31, 2011, he led the club to its first-ever championship in the Norwegian league.
This was probably the turning point for the Norwegian coach. During that season Molde were not considered main favourites but the hard effort and determination from Solskjaer led the team to its first-ever championship title. Because of that Molde is one of the top clubs in Norway and has a huge fan-base.
On November 24, 2013, Molde, under Solskjaer, won the third title, beating Rosenborg of Norway in the final. By the 72nd minute, the score was 2-1 in favour of Rosenborg, but in the remaining time, Molde managed to score three goals and, winning 4:2, to win the trophy.
Cardiff City
On 2 January 2014, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was appointed head coach of Cardiff City. In Solskjaer’s first match, Cardiff City beat Newcastle United 1-2 in the third round of the FA Cup, allowing the team to advance to the next round of the tournament. On 18 September 2014, he was sacked as head coach of Cardiff City due to the team’s poor performance.
Manchester United
On 19 December 2018, he was appointed as interim head coach of Manchester United until the end of the 2018/19 season.
In the first leg under Solskjaer, the Red Devils beat Cardiff City 5-1. In his first eight games, Solskjaer won eight times, becoming the first head coach in the club’s history to achieve such an achievement. At the end of January 2019, the Norwegian specialist was named the best coach of the month in the Premier League. He is also the new of the greatest Norwegian players to play in the Premier League.
On 28 March 2019, Manchester United appointed Solskjaer on a permanent basis, signing a three-year contract with the Norwegian. The following season, the team under Solskjaer took third place in the Premier League, and in all the cup tournaments (League Cup, FA Cup, Europa League) reached the semi-finals, but could not win any of them.
Right now, Solskjaer faces pressure but still remains one of the best coaches from Norway.
Lars Lagerback
Lagerback played on the lower level of Swedish football as a footballer, spent nine years with the local team Alby and five years with Gimonas. In 1977 he received a coaching license and began his coaching career at the club Kilafors, where he worked for five years. From 1983 to 1985, he coached Arbra Football Club.
Lagerback has earned a good reputation for his ability to manage teams well. In 1990, Lagerback became a member of the Swedish Football Union as his youth coach and spent six years coaching Sweden’s children’s, youth and youth teams. He first managed the Swedish national team in 1998 as assistant head coach of Tommy Soderberg. When Soderberg retired after EURO 2004, Lagerback became Sweden’s main coach. When the national team failed to qualify for Euro 2008, it was heavily criticized by the media demanding his resignation. In October 2009, he resigned after the national team failed to make the World Cup finals for the first time in 10 years.
From October 2011 to July 2016, he was the head of Iceland’s national football team, and it was due to him Iceland managed to participate in Euro 2016 and defeat England in the tournament.
On 1 February 2017, the Norwegian Football Union announced the signing of Lagerback, who is still working at the team and has a good reputation.
