BY OLLY TOMLIN
Hello to whoever is reading this. My name is Olly Tomlin and today I am doing the pre match report against Hammarby for That Millwall Podcast.
Our next fixture is against Hammarby.
One of the players that Millwall will need to look to limit the threat of is Mohaned Jeahze who is a LB.
This player has 6 assists and 1 goal in the 13 games he has played so far in the Allsvenskan.
Hammarbys form this far has been W/D/L/W/W.
Millwall come off the back of the fixture against Colchester playing a 5-2-1-2 formation and will need to expose Hammarby’s back four to try to create the chances for Benik Afobe or Tom Bradshaw to get an opening or even bring back the ball to Flemming to have a long range effort on goal.
My prediction for this game will be a 3-0 victory over the Swedish side.
I hope to see Rowett play a 5-2-1-2 formation so that Millwall can cause a threat in the box especially with the wing-backs making their way up the pitch.
Here’s what a Hammarby fan has had to say about their hopes for their fixture against Millwall:
– What could go well
The potential is there and has been for the last few seasons. Though we haven’t gone all the way we now are one of the contenders for the title every year (at last, after so many struggling years). Football is much about psychology and small margins, we have the class to get a long streak of wins and if we do we will end up as champions.
– What could go wrong
Well… so many things. We were quite affected by the pandemic seasons without spectators but that is of course over now. As always you can find out that the players you really believe in just aren’t good enough. Sometimes it might be a problem that we play a little bit risky with a lot of short passes between goalkeeper and defence instead of just kicking the ball away. If it happens too often that the opponents grab the chance we are going to lose useful points. We also want to play possession football and can be hurt by quick counter-attacks.
– Do you have the right manager?
Definitely. He came late this season because the former one Milos Milojevic (now with Malmö FF) got the boot in a quite unexpected way. The new one, Marti Cifuentes from Catalonia, got off to a very good start with five wins in a row and seems to be clever, polite, and have the players behind him. I also get the feeling that he understands how this club works and enjoys to manage a team that plays in front of 25 000-crowds.
– How’s your transfer business?
Recently we have been both selling and buying a lot but it looks as the people who administrate this know what they are doing. Like other Swedish clubs we have to sell away our best and most talented players. The issue is to get good money when you sell and find cheaper players that fit your system. And that is what has happened during the last years. We were known as a club that never had a good financial situation, those days are definitely over. Our scouts these days find the young players with potential and we also produce our own players. The incomes from our selling abroad has been amazingly good and now we are not a poor club anymore. And from that it is easier to take the next step.
– Key Player
I would say number 13 Mads Fenger in the defence line and number 16 Gustav Ludwigson on top. Mads is a Dane who have been with us for many years. He doesn’t speak much and when interviewed he has not much to say, he just does his job on the pitch tremendously well. A “playing” full-back – Ludwigson is also an interesting character, as a person may be the opposite of Fenger. Very good at express games in interviews, a bloke with other interests than football (he stopped playing for a year because he wanted to go surfing). Recently he said “no thanks” to a contract with a club from South Korea – a contract that for him had been worth about 30 millions SEK (3 million pounds) just because he is happy where he is. As a player he works very hard, never cheat, never give up. He sometimes lack in sharpness when it comes to scoring, but I think that’s been good for us. If he just had been a little bit better he would have been in Bundesliga or PL now.
– With the game on Wednesday, who do we need to watch out for and why?
The ones who is named above, and also number 20 Nahir Besara in midfield. He is the one who creates a lot, and he is also quite efficient himself. He has a shot, but seems to prefer to give chances to other players.
– What formation and style of play do you play?
I am not good at tactics but I think you can describe it 4-1-2-1-2. The new trainer Cifuentes said when he came “if we have 1-0 we should not be pleased, we shall go for 2-0, 3-0, 4-0”. A good day you can see that willingness to score in our play. But he is also a friend of tiki-taka. We try to keep the ball till, you will not see much long-ball game.
– What are your fans like?
This is a question I could go on forever about. In Sweden we have since a long time a status of being supporters that keep on supporting the club what ever happens. The club has during times not been very well handled, and we have from time to time been down in the second level, which is quite absurd when you think of our support. The club come from a typical working-class area (now very much gentrified) and there has always been a lot of romanticism around us. The beauty of the underdog? Among the fans it is strong feeling of community, may be because we havent been very succesful. For a long time we had a tiny little ground, one of the smallest in the league, though we always had top or second best average crowds. I suppose it is one of the reasons that we always could create good atmosphere at that old Söderstadion (capacity 10,000, 12,000 or 14,000 depending on which season you choose). Since 2013 we play in a new built ground close to the old one with a capacity of 30 000 and we have managed to fill it up several times. Average this season is 27 000. I also like to say there is a lot of “supporter activism” around the club. A lot of people do things like tifo choreography . arrange travels, podcasts, fight for standing areas and so on. My group of matchday programmes is another example – when the club decided not to have the printed programme anymore we started Supportrnas Matchprogram which is an independent publication.
– Are they looking forward to coming to London midweek in the middle of a mini heat wave?
If the circumstances had been different I am sure there would’ve been many hundreds, but with the short notice of this friendly game many people just can’t make it. It has been very hard to find affordable flights and we are also playing important league games a few days before and after the Millwall experience.
– A little birdie tells us you’re a fan of Millwall, how did this come about and why?
Also a subject I could talk a lot about. Like many Scandinavians I was very much into English League football and me and my mates went to all kind of games when travelling to London. Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea, Fulham. If it was a game we wanted to go but after a while I found that I wanted something else, not so touristic. We had heard horror stories about Millwall and were curious. In August 1980 me and two mates went down to New Cross for a League Cup game, Millwall Vs Watford. It was a poor game with few spectators, and they were quite miserable. No-one seemed to be happy to see their club. But when someone started to sing, everyone took part. We were dedicated, this was real.
– What do you think of our signings so far?
I am afraid this is a subject where I have not got much to say. Millwall is still my club beside Hammarby but I don’t follow what happens from day to day.
– And how many games do you go over for?
My most dedicated years were from 1980 to 1993, those years I saw Millwall 45 times and also stayed one Winter in London to follow the club, working as a labourer. Among the games I saw was Hull Vs Millwall when the Lions made it to the First Divsion for the first time, last game at the old Den (remember the chant “we have fucked the Palace”), Auotshields Windscreen final at Wembley (and Luton away..). When Millwall lost the Old Den my emotions weakened a little and life turned other ways with work and family. These days I try to come over once a year and I always check how Millwall is doing.
– Are the two teams similar in history and fans?
In some ways we are the opposite as fans, but there are also similarities. Hammarby has nothing of “no-one likes us, we don´t care” which is such an important thing in following Millwall. Hammarby has always been a “likeable” club, many people have a soft spot for “Bajen” (our nick-name”), maybe because we seldom have been a real threat to the big clubs. We have been “Scotland of Swedish club football” with a lot of fans never giving up travelling around and chanting though losing. The similarities between our clubs are the strong support without being successful and also a strong local community. Compared to the other big clubs in Stockholm (Djurgården and Hammarby) we are more connected to a certain area. Södermalm and South of Stockholm are our domains.
– What’s your thoughts on Huski as a sponsor and do you prefer their hot chocolate or the ice cold chocolate drink?
Well… it’s quite a strange sponsor, producing a product that’s been quite hard to find in shops. Interesting that they choose Hammarby and Millwall for marketing. Hot or ice cold? I must confess I don’t drink many chocolate drinks but the chance is bigger that I would go for the cold one.
– How do you think the game will go and a prediction for the result?
Very hard to compare the quality of Championship and Allsvenskan (which is a poor league when it comes to European games). But last year we were close to beating Basel in the UEFA Conference League (lost on penalties) so I think there is a chance for Hammarby. I think Millwall will be surprised that we play good football, but maybe we are going to be too naïve. My prediction is Hammarby winning 3-2.
IMAGE – MILLWALL FC
