What Janne Andersson will bring to the Super Eagles

Former Sweden coach Janne Andersson is known as a no-nonsense coach, who believes in team organisation and direct football rather than the individual stars and ball possession.

He comes with a wealth of experience as he called the shots of his native country for seven years and previously led IFK Norrkoping to win the Swedish top-flight league in 2015.

He recorded a 51.06% win percentage with Sweden – won 48, drew 15 and lost 31 games.

His team scored 151 goals and conceded 97 to give a healthy +54 goals difference.

He built a solid and organised Sweden team, who however were not exciting, limited going forward and did not take risks.

It will therefore be most interesting to see how he will work with the tantalising attacking riches that the Super Eagles will now offer him.

The highlight of seven years in charge of Sweden was when he guided them to reach the last-eight of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, where they crashed out to England.

Andersson is of the old-school of Swedish coaches who were heavily influenced by Englishmen Bob Houghton and Roy Hodgson, whose back-to-basics style in mid-1970s Sweden quickly became part of the country’s footballing DNA.

Andersson’s arrival coincided with the initial international retirement of Sweden top star Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the timing was perfect – the coach preferred to concentrate on organising the collective more than accommodating the individual star.

He is a proponent of a 4-4-2 formation while using two defensive midfielders with emphasis on a big target man upfront.

Critics said his game plans are easily read as was the case when Sweden were relegated to the third-tier of the Nations League in 2022.

Is he now the right fit for a Super Eagles desperately lacking in public confidence and results against some of the lesser powers of African football?