In 1979, Malmo were the runner up of the European Cup which was the Champions League of that era. After that, they haven’t really hit top gear in the competition.
In 2015, they qualified for the Champions League group stage but they lost 5 out of their 6 games. Now, Malmo are back for redemption with Jon Dahl leading them at the helm.
Tomasson has had a decorated playing career who has almost won it all, but can he fare well as a manager in the long run. Here’s how John Dahl Tomasson has led Malmo to great things just like during his playing days at AC Milan.
WHO IS JON DAHL TOMASSON
After having a bad start to his career in Newcastle United, Jon Dahl proved the pundits wrong in his 4-year spell at Feyenoord. The striker won the Everdise with them in 1998 and UEFA Super Cup in 2002. In 2002, he became Denmark’s player of the year after scoring 4 goals in the World Cup.
By that time of his career, he was famous in the Netherlands and his home country Denmark. In 2002 he joined AC Milan and he became a global star from thereon. In his first season, Tomasson won Milan a Champions League after scoring 3 important goals in 10 appearances, He also won the Copa Italia with them in the same year and went onto win Serie A next season.
He played around Europe for the next few seasons and in 2011, Tomasson retired back to Feyenoord. He started his coaching career at Excelsior after becoming their assistant and ahead coach till 2014 and joined Roda JC after that.
MALMO TACTICAL ANALYSIS
Malmo had been struggling to get beach into their groove a few years ago after failing to win the league for 2 consecutive seasons. In January 2020, Tomasson took charge of Malmo and since then he has brought a revolution at the Swedish club.
In the 2020/21 season, Malmo won the league and have even qualified for the Champions League which is just the tip of the iceberg. Predicting the way Tomasson will set out his squad ahead of a game is almost unpredictable.
Malmo plays a myriad of formations depending on their opponents but Tomasson always makes sure that they are well spread all over the pitch and utilise the wide areas to the fullest. Even if they are playing with 3 centre-backs, they use their full backs like wingers and their go-to attacking instinct while on the front foot.
Although defensively, their performance hasn’t improved much, they have started scoring more goals under Tomasson and that is the only thing that matters at the end of the day.
EUROPEAN GLORY ON THE CARDS?
Rangers remained undefeated the whole season last year but still, Malmo knocked them out in the Champions League play-offs 4-2 on aggregate. Malmo have started their Champions League campaign strong and have defeated a number of formidable opponents to reach this far. Malmo have been seeded with Juventus, Chelsea and Zenit which is arguably one of the toughest groups this season.
They are unfortunate to be added in this group and their chances of making it to the Knockout stages are very slim. Considering the way they lost against Juventus last night, they could try and outperform Zenit who are also a club with a higher pedigree. Zalmo should try and do their best, they should be positive about finishing 3rd in the group and try their chances in the Europa League instead.