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Offline E-man

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Devonian Balsom plots Swedish supremacy over England
« on: May 06, 2006, 07:55:47 PM »
Devonian Balsom plots Swedish supremacy over England
By Patrick Barclay (Telegraph)


(Filed: 07/05/2006)

Even at the Swedish FA's headquarters in Stockholm, where I called last week, there was no rejoicing over the news of Wayne Rooney. The main reason was that Lars Lagerback and his assistants, although anxious to maintain their impressive record against England when the countries meet in the World Cup this summer, are proper football men. But it also crossed the mind of Paul Balsom, an Englishman who has been at Lagerback's side for eight years - a sort of Tord Grip in reverse - that any lingering uncertainty would mean extra work. ''We'd have to plan to play England with Rooney,'' he said, ''and without him.''

So what, Balsom added, was new? ''It was exactly the same with David Beckham in 2002. As soon as he broke his metatarsal, we knew we'd need a Plan B in case he didn't make it because that would change the way England played.'' In the event, Beckham did appear, albeit as a shadow. He was replaced by Kieron Dyer in the 63rd minute, shortly after Niklas Alexandersson had earned Sweden a 1-1 draw they more than merited (Sol Campbell had headed England in front). Both sides progressed to the knockout stages and they are clearly hoping history will continue to repeat itself in Germany; given that theirs is the third match in the group, after they have faced Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago, another draw might prove mutually acceptable.

That, however, is to take an awful lot for granted - and Balsom's job is to leave as little as possible to chance. Since 1998, when Lagerback and the then co-coach Tommy Soderberg brought him in - he had previously worked part-time with the Under-21s - he has combined physical preparation with the increasingly influential function of match analysis. So, when Lagerback gives his team talks, the computer-designed presentations on the screen behind him will have been prepared by Balsom. The 42-year-old Devonian, whose mobile phone vibrates every time Torquay United score - and rings out to the Match of the Day theme tune - is closely in touch with his puckish side. Once, on the eve of an important match, Lagerback gathered his players to announce the team. He gave Balsom a signal to show the line-up and started discussing how they would play. Only upon seeing some grin and the brows of others furrow did he turn round to see the formation had been eccentrically reshuffled and several stars dropped.

Balsom was the embarrassed one in 1999, when the Swedes visited London for a European Championship qualifier. They had already beaten Glenn Hoddle's England in Stockholm and now Kevin Keegan was in charge. But for Balsom the great thrill was being able to tread the Wembley turf during the warm-up. ''My absolute dream was to score there, so I pleaded with one of our players, Teddy Lucic, to go in goal while I took a penalty. I ran up, smashed it and Teddy watched as it hit the bar and rebounded. It just kept rolling. All the way into the midst of the England players, who were stretching. I looked away.'' Too shy to ask the likes of Beckham and Alan Shearer if he could have his ball back, and receiving no help whatsoever from any of the Swedes, Balsom returned to his duties.

The physical side of it is, he said, still relatively uncomplicated because Swedish players are generally fit and disciplined by habit. But the advance of technology during his eight years with Lagerback has been remarkable. ''When I started,'' Balsom said, ''Lars and Tommy had to draw their own diagrams and so on for overhead projectors. It took them hour after hour, because, every time they changed something, they had to rub it all out and start again. Basically, what I did was put everything on PowerPoint.'' Ever more sophisticated programmes are being devised all the time and, when the Swedes assemble for their World Cup campaign, every player will have a computer and DVD player in his bedroom with analyses of every possible opposition system and individual. ''We already have clips of each Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago player,'' said Balsom. ''The English are not so urgent because we know them. But throughout the tournament all our players will have constant, interactive, computer access to everything we know. We've never taken it this far before.''

It will go much farther, he predicted, stressing a belief that sports science would play an ''unbelievable'' role in the future of football. Balsom recently accepted an offer to be head of sport science under Sir Clive Woodward at Southampton, fashioning tools for the manager, George Burley, to utilise. That will entail absenting himself from Sweden, where his contact was recently extended until 2008, for a few days a month. He had a similar arrangement with Sam Allardyce at Bolton from 2002 to 2004. But a foot in both camps does not affect his commitment to the Swedes' cause. It only makes the taste of their results against England - two wins and three draws in his time - all the sweeter. Having lived in Sweden since 1989 and being married to the erstwhile physiotherapist of the national women's football team with bilingual children, he is not sure how much Englishness he has left. ''When Beckham scored that famous free kick against Greece at Old Trafford,'' he recalled, ''my parents were here, watching on television. They just flew off the sofa. My dad even cried. And I felt nothing.''

Offline Bourbon

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Re: Devonian Balsom plots Swedish supremacy over England
« Reply #1 on: May 06, 2006, 09:13:36 PM »
Quote
''We already have clips of each Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago player,'' said Balsom.


Wait nah.....when...and how dem get dat??? Sweden doing dey homework boy!! Like de underdog cologone wearing off!!
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