Niclas Alexandersson opens up on his Sheffield Wednesday exit and THAT United double
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And it was even less often that Jaap Stam took a touch more at home in a Sunday morning park than under the lights at Hillsborough.
As Swedish winger Niclas Alexandersson took advantage of Stam’s leggy effort to round the great Dane and stretch the shock lead of his struggling side, the feeling in his own mind was that he’d arrived. It was 3-1 to Sheffield Wednesday and the old girl was rocking.
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Hide AdUnited – THE United – were not the vulnerable, get-at-able tribute act you see on television screens today. Alexandersson’s classy finish provided his second goal on a day that had seen him open the scoring thanks to Schmeichel’s Taibi-esque blunder and though a United side also featuring Beckham, Scholes, Cole, Yorke and Keane were off-colour, it was Wednesday that played on the front foot and claimed a deserved win.
Months later those in red would lift the European Cup to complete the ultimate treble having lost three league games all season.
Looking back on his Wednesday career in an exclusive interview with The Star, Alexandersson brings up the match unprompted. The Swede had suffered a serious knee injury just seven matches into life in England and returned not under Ron Atkinson, who had bought him for £750,000, but with Danny Wilson.
“It was definitely a highlight,” he said. “Every single game against them was a highlight.
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Hide Ad“At the time they were winning most things in England so beating them and scoring twice was incredible for me.
“I was worried being out for that long and we had a new manager. I didn't know if I would get a chance again but Danny put a lot of belief in me and within a few weeks I was back in the team. Then I got those goals against United and everything took off for me.
“They had Jesper Blomqvist [Alexandersson’s Sweden teammate] and we had an agreement that after the game he would stay over and we would go for a meal in Sheffield.
“I had a bit of fun with that, but they won one or two things in the end anyway so he could probably deal with putting up with me!”
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Hide AdAlexandersson, a vision of late-90s Premier League nostalgia in Adidas Predator boots and one-size-too-big Owls shirt, was a menace on the night, turning Denis Irwin inside-out time and again. Not many did that and it’s a theme that continued for much of his Wednesday tenure.
The club finished 12th that year – though just five points from fourth-bottom Southampton in a packed bottom half – and from his injury comeback in another coupon-busting Hillsborough win over Arsenal, the winger started every game that season.
If Wednesday were on the downturn heading into a 1999/00 season that would see them relegated, the Swede was anything but. An abject campaign saw Alexandersson’s side downed with a whimper, spending only one week outside of the relegation places, but the man himself was a class apart.
He bagged eight goals in all competitions and the player of the year award.
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Hide Ad“It was a big honour and to get it from the supporters made it very special,” he told The Star from his car in Göteborg.
“They pay to go to every game and they know their players. There have been great players over the years that didn't get it.
“It felt strange that season. The club was relegated but for me it was my best season in my time in England. When the team struggled it brought something out in me, I don't know why.”
Wednesday were a club in debt and Alexandersson was a man in demand. One of the few saleable assets left on the playing staff, departure was only ever going to be one outcome. He signed for Everton for around £2m.
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Hide Ad“I had one year left on my contract so it [the sale] came at a good time for both of us,” he said. “I needed to play in the Premier League as I had the European Championship coming up and we were told we needed to play in the highest league.
“From the club's point of view they made a lot more money than what they paid for me, that didn't happen with many of the other players, especially after we were relegated. I'm glad they got me cheap from Sweden and they got more than double that when they sold me, it helped the club.
“There were a few Premier League clubs interested but Everton was the biggest club at the time. I felt ready to make that move.”
Asked of his overriding memories of life in Sheffield, where his daughter was born, Alexandersson has only positive things to say. His son, Noah, was born in Warrington during three largely successful seasons at Goodison Park and at 18 has followed in his old man’s footsteps in playing for IFK Göteborg and Sweden at youth level.
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Hide AdHe’s a player known for his pace and ability to offer a goal threat from the right – a chip of the old block. Whether he achieves over 100 international caps and makes the jump into Premier League remains to be seen.
“He's an attacking midfielder,” said Alexandersson senior. “So far they've mainly used him as a right-hand striker in a 4-3-3.
“You never know what might happen, he would love to play in England but he has to take one step at a time first and must first get a secure first-team place. From there you never know.”