A championship was not enough for former manager Allan Kuhn to keep his job, and now Malmö's player are speaking out on Kuhn's sacking.
Sometimes, winning really isn’t everything. Just ask former Malmö FF manager Allan Kuhn.
The Dane led Malmö to the 2016 Allsvenskan crown in his first year at the helm at Swedbank Arena, but not even the club’s record 19th league title could save Kuhn’s job. Malmö parted company with Kuhn after just 10 months, citing philosophical differences with the former Aalborg manager. Malmö replaced Kuhn with former Djurgården and Estonia national team head coach Magnus Pehrsson.
Now, as the winter transfer season enters full tilt and the players return to training after a two-month break, several are speaking out on just why Malmö decided to fire the unpopular Dane.
“I think it was good for Malmö that he had to resign,” said Pa Konate. “We won the league, but we never really played our best. We won because we had the best individual players, not because we always played best.”
Critics lambasted Kuhn throughout last season for relying on fashioned defensive tactics and failing to allow his players to show creativity on the field. Kuhn admitted to playing a defensive style, defending his philosophy by saying he inherited the team and did not know the players. Konate, however, said his former manager lacked vision and the ability to relate to his players.
“We listened more to (team captain Markus) Rosenberg and other senior players,” Konate said. “They guided us young players in difficult situations. We grew close to each other in the team, even if it was not so good with Kuhn.”
Konate also knocked Kuhn for a lack of a cohesive game plan.
“Sure, he won the league but I do not think he was suitable. He failed to utilize the squad the right way. We had the best players but did not always play good football. He changed the course of his game idea after only a few matches. The idea did not work. It was better, but not really good. We did not really know what to do, what the game plan was.”
Rosenberg was just as critical of the Dane’s ability to work with his players, especially the younger members of the squad.
“We have a very young team,” Rosenberg said. “It is about getting the group together. It's about having a coach with the same philosophy as the previous coaches. We want to be a team that plays great football.”
Rosenberg pointed to Ostersund manager Graham Potter as an example of the coach he believed Malmö needs.
“I want a coach with a proper philosophy that he can get out among all players,” he said. “I want us to have a coach who has a basic recipe we can take out of Europe. We must be able to play the same way in the headlines that we can then play in Europe with small modifications. It does not work if you have to change too much.”
Although he was critical of his former manager, Rosenberg said there were no hard feelings among the players toward Kuhn.
“There are high demands in Malmö FF. He's a good coach who should get a new good job pretty fast. He is still a winner. He was here a year and won a gold.”
Whether Malmö upgraded with Pehrsson remains questionable. Pehrsson had some success at Aalborg in the Danish Super League in 2009, leading his side into Round 16 of the Europa League, but that success never translated to the league. He spent three years at Djurgården, resigning in 2013 after allegedly receiving death threats due to poor results. He then moved to Estonia, where again after initial success his team appeared to backslide and he left the job by mutual consent with the Estonian Football Association.
Pehrsson is from Malmö and said he is ready to take the helm of his hometown team, even if many in the Swedish football world have their doubts.
“I know this is a demanding job,” he said at a press conference announcing him as head coach. “I’m ready for it.”