Rebecka Blomqvist: 'Football is so complex so there's nothing black and white, situations have to be taken as they come and adapt.'
Pressing Matters #8: Rebecka Blomqvist
Wolfsburg’s quest to return to the summit of Europe’s elite has taken a significant upturn this season. After losing the UEFA Women’s Champions League final 2 years ago to Lyon, the team lost their talismanic figure in Pernille Harder. Barcelona’s dominance and the rise of elite teams in Chelsea, Bayern Munich, and Paris Saint-Germain only added to Wolfsburg’s task.
Two years on they’re on the brink of a semi-final clash against Barcelona when many thought they’d be ousted by Arsenal in the previous round. In truth, their performance against the London club was exceptional by nullifying their threats in Vivianne Miedema and co.
Part of their resurgence has come from their Swedish forward, Rebecka Blomqvist. The 24-year-old describes herself as versatile and capable of playing in multiple positions and credits her movement as a hallmark of her game.
The interview goes into tactical details of playing as a striker for Wolfsburg and her evolution. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed curating this together.
How would you explain your role and best position in your own way?
It's a basic question, but it's pretty hard to explain, I think. I would see myself as a pretty flexible player. I grew up playing as a striker, either as part of a duo or as the sole No. 9. I've been the fast girl like ‘you hit the ball deep, and I run and score a solo goal’ type girl. I know if I score a goal like that, they say ‘Oh, that's a typical Beck's goal’. Getting the ball behind the backline and just running in behind defences was really my signature move.
Then of course now getting into senior football in Gothenburg for BK Häcken, in my first few years there I was playing as a winger. I would actually say I'm a winger/striker hybrid. So an offensive player overall, but it's hard for me to nail down which position is really my best because I think it depends so much on what type of attacking player you are.
For example, you could be a wide winger or an inside forward, a wing-back or you can be a winger in a 4-3-3, where the three are so attack-minded. I think it's complicated, but I would say that I am a striker, a fast player that likes to move between the lines but also behind lines to create combinations with my teammates.
As a forward in this Wolfsburg team, we’ve traditionally seen them play with a focal point in Harder. Now it’s a lot more focused around certain key players like Svenja Huth, and Tabea Waßmuth to name a couple. How well do you think your style of play suits Wolfsburg and to what extent do you think the players around you benefit you tactically?
I wasn't here when Pernille [Harder] was here, so I can't really compare it to that time. Of course, she's a typical No. 10 to me and as you said, the game goes through her. Some players have the ball more, but here right now, I feel the game revolves so much around all the movements on the pitch. As an individual, I think it's very good when it's flexible, and when you can identify ways to create space for each other that isn’t confined to a set system.
I like that the most because when I create space for someone, space is also created for me, so it's hard to say which one is better because I haven't really experienced a style where it all revolves around one person. However, I think it's important that we have this fluid movement because if I play as a striker coming in from deep, then you need to have someone who occupies the backline as much as they can or receives the ball between the lines, so you can get serviced.
You’re listed as a centre-forward but you do play across the forward line; you started on the left of a 4-2-3-1 against Turbine Potsdam but your movement overall this season has been very much focused on the left. You still rank eighth in touches in the box (5.45 p90) – what do you put that down and how has that affected your playstyle?
If you compare me playing as a complete striker, and actually even playing off the left we still call me a striker in this position, but of course, it's as you said: it involves defending which you would even do as a No. 9, but in a different way.
The role of the No. 9 in the way we play now is [different]. When you see Waßmuth or whoever is playing there, they usually start from the middle and then maybe go wide or they start wide and then go centrally. You have your initial positions and then interchange and move positions fluidly.
From the left, I would start more from a wider position and then come inside before going even more central. In general, I can still use my speed, it's just that I don't get as many central runs. Though I do feel that in the Potsdam game you referenced I was in the central areas quite frequently too, and sometimes there I have one chance to score but I also had some runs trying to go behind the lines from the middle.
I think it's hard to say ‘oh when I play as a left-winger, I don't get my central runs’ because in some games I do and in others, I don't. Depending on the tactical plan, I have to stay wide because we have to overload on that side or I have to stay on the inside because we already have the numbers out there. It is complicated, but I would say that in some games I feel now I didn't really get the best of me because I was too wide that I wasn’t able to move into the box as much.
Football is so complex so there's nothing black and white, situations have to be taken as they come and adapt.
Do you see yourself better in a striking partnership or in a solo striker setup?
A partnership! I've thought about it a lot, of course, it depends on how the game looks and the type of player you play with. If you have a No. 9 paired with a No. 10, you have a big connection which doesn’t leave any skillsets out but I like playing with two strikers especially if there’s a No. 10 as the second striker, then I like that.
Can I go as far as saying that the left-sided role you have is that of a roaming forward where you're basically told to take up positions that are vacant? So when you need to be a striker, you move centrally but when you need to be a winger, you will move into a wider position, so a roaming left-sided forward.
It is. I think as with most tactics, you have your basic, fundamental plan of the system but when it comes to the game and different situations, we have to use our minds and use the specific situations to solve them.
This position [left-sided roaming forward] differs and varies a lot in the movements required so that's something I like. Sometimes when I play as a No. 9 I have it in my spine to know which runs to make and I'm not really there yet as a winger – if we call that position or role a winger – but I still think it's a very interesting role.
Quickly staying on the same game, this pass network shows the relationships between you and your teammates. Most of your passes came from Felicatas Rauch and Lena Oberdorf. What do you make of the passing relationships between you and your team?
When we’re in possession I do have good connections with the central midfielders because they are often on the ball and heavily involved in our game. So I try to be in space both behind and in front of the lines. Sometimes Feli [Felicatas Rauch] holds up a defender and then I have more space to run into. At times, it's the other way around so it's normal that we have many passes to each other. But I do feel like it's also a good connection for the midfielders to us because we have to go through the lines and give them a target.
I mean it's very complicated in one way but when you're on the pitch, there are some things you have to adapt to and some things you have to think about from game to game. There are plans and pointers that our coaches pass on to us but of course, we have our principles too and are different players and every situation is different.
You would have come up against both back-three and back-two defences, how do you overcome the challenge of playing against different types of defensive lines?
This is where the interesting part comes in about how you connect with your teammates. Let’s say you come up against a three-at-the-back defence, if one of the strikers can get on the outside channel and take one of the outer centre-backs to run with them, then the space outside is very open. Or if the other striker stays wide then you can run between the outside and central defender, so it's about how you move the defenders and where the space opens up.
Of course, if the team plays with two wing-backs who are very offensive, then the wide wingers of the attacking team will be in space to take advantage.
But, I always want to go to the central positions and receive balls. If I am the one running and playing as the sole striker then I just try to run between the central and outside centre-back when there’s a three back. Ultimately, I would say it's how you move your opponents that determines how you play against them.
So who is the hardest defender you've had to face so far?
One person that comes to mind is when we played a U23 game with Sweden against England – I'm not sure of her name – but we had such a great duel in that game. For 90 minutes we were struggling and after the game, we just looked at each other and said ‘Good job’.
Then of course I played against other defenders too. Of course, there’s Hanna Glas of Bayern Munich. I played against her on the left side, that’s another duel I remember. [Linda] Sembrant is another I'll mention, though I haven't played against her at club level, in training for the national team, she's a great defender.
Lastly, I want to show you a clip of you in certain situations, I’d love to hear your explanation of what you were thinking in these moments and the reasons behind making these decisions. How does your mind work when you are in these moments?
I think I came on about two minutes earlier. I was just instructed to do my thing and make deep runs in behind the defensive line. Here, I go short first for Feli, to be an option, and Ewa [Pajor] is at the right place for the wall pass for my run. It ends up becoming a duel between [Niamh] Charles and I. Ewa also binds up [Millie] Bright which creates the space for me to run into. It's hard for the coaches to say ‘do this’ in these situations, but this is what they wanted out of the substitution.
Did you know through the game that Charles was playing a bit too high compared to the rest of the line, and there’s space for me to exploit behind if I get a chance. Was that something you noticed from the bench?
Yes, I did notice that. Frido [Rolfö] played on the left side before I came on so I watched her movements. I studied the central players and like we see here, we knew that Bright could be too eager to push up, especially when Charles has stepped forward when they play with three defenders.
Here you see the space when Bright has moved and we have [Alexandra] Popp in the middle and Svenja [Huth] driving centrally too. We have a numerical advantage around the box. This is something that we talked about before about how we could hurt them. So I think we played well but of course, the score here is 2-0 so it’s not the best.
Photo by Boris Streubel - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images
Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images