This was no fairytale arrival for Graham Potter, who has four and a half months to guide Sweden from rock bottom to the World Cup. He was given a glimpse into the fragile state of a side that, shorn of several big names, collapsed in the second half having previously competed well. They prop up Group B and can thank their lucky stars that their better fortunes in the Nations League have earned a shot at playoff redemption.
Maybe Alexander Isak will be match-fit by then and able to make the difference Sweden crave. His return from the bench for half an hour, shortly after Granit Xhaka’s controversial penalty had restored Switzerland’s lead, was welcome although he appeared decidedly rusty. Potter expects to hand him a longer outing when they host Slovenia on Tuesday for a dead rubber that could, at least, be used to take some confidence into the winter.
Potter has form for creating miracles in Sweden and it may be a stretch to suggest he requires another. Their position is wretched but there were mitigating circumstances here: Isak may have been undercooked but Viktor Gyökeres, Dejan Kulusevski, Lucas Bergvall and Victor Lindelöf were among those missing altogether. There is still time to create a functioning unit from players of that quality, although the margin for error is scant.
“In the end we came up a little bit short against a team that, on the night, are in a better place than us,” Potter said. Switzerland will compete in North America next summer unless they finish their campaign with an improbable six-goal defeat in Kosovo. They are balanced, wily, practised and clinical, and juice the maximum from their resources. As reference points go, Sweden could find significantly worse.
At half-time Potter might have sensed a smoother transition to international management than anyone had imagined. He said afterwards that he had enjoyed the buildup and there was no doubt he embraced the occasion, belting out the national anthem before kick-off and being greeted approvingly by the pocket of away fans in the south-west corner.
His scratch team were undone from Switzerland’s first serious attack, Dan Ndoye getting away too easily down the right and crossing for a first-time Breel Embolo finish, but they swiftly heaved themselves off the canvas.
They deserved the parity earned when Benjamin Nygren, the Celtic forward, just about beat Gregor Kobel after good work from Anthony Elanga. Potter had spoken about instilling a resilience, a togetherness, that had eluded Sweden in recent months and for a time they showed something akin to the collective spirit that has spurred their most successful predecessors. Shortly before the interval they should have gone ahead when Alexander Bernhardsson burst through and, perhaps hindered slightly by a heavy-ish touch, allowed Kobel to make a decisive block.
“Those are the margins that you need,” Potter said. Sweden are not currently a team that land on the right side of them. The second half was chugging along acceptably from their perspective when Gabriel Gudmundsson, recently introduced to replace an injured Emil Holm, needlessly sold Viktor Johansson short with a back-pass. In nipped Embolo, who tumbled under the keeper’s challenge. Had Johansson really instigated contact? The referee, Erik Lambrecht, thought so and the video assistant official agreed. It looked soft but Xhaka, standing over the spot-kick, was never going to worry about that.
This time Sweden showed no sign of composing themselves, that brittleness now in constant evidence. Embolo could have scored again and eventually Ndoye, the impressive Nottingham Forest winger, shot low under Johansson. The party could start in Geneva, whose stadium produces a racket quite unbecoming of such refined surroundings, and a marvellous run from the youngster Johan Manzambi in added time brought a finish to match.
Isak had barely been given a kick, a few pieces of smart link-up play around halfway the sum of his meaningful involvement. “It’s not an easy situation to come into,” Potter said. “But I thought his attitude was great. He’ll get better and better the more he plays and the more he trains. So hopefully on Tuesday we can see more of him.” Sweden will have to if Potter is to revive their fortunes, not to mention his own.
Perhaps motivation can be found from the way Switzerland, so buoyant by the end, basked in the adulation of their support when the job had been done. This is the standard and they look capable of improving on their traditional last-16 finish when the serious business starts. “We need to make sure we’re celebrating like they were celebrating in March,” Potter said. The scale of his task was made glaringly apparent here.
