Lucas Bergvall costs Sweden clean sheet as 'sloppy' Tottenham star slammed vs Poland
Lucas Bergvall has faced criticism despite Sweden's comprehensive 3-1 win over Poland on Monday.
The Tottenham Hotspur midfielder played all 90 minutes of Sweden's Nations League victory in Stockholm, winning his 16th cap in the process.
Bergvall's endured a tough start to the season with Spurs, having made just one of Robert De Zerbi's starting line-ups in the Premier League, where the North London club are bottom of the table and without a win.
In the summer, the former Djurgardens midfielder was widely reported to have asked to leave the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, something which he's denied within the last week.
A stint in the Sweden national team would have no doubt been something Bergvall was looking forward to, as at least a distraction from his struggles at Tottenham.
And while he did play a role in a good win for Graham Potter's side, the Swedish media's reaction to his performance wasn't exactly flattering.
What made one Swedish newspaper trash Lucas Bergvall's performance
Benjamin Nygren, Yasin Ayari and Viktor Gyokeres were all on the scoresheet for Sweden on Monday, while Sebastian Szymanski grabbing Poland's only goal of the game.
Despite the big win, Swedish news outlet fotbollskanalen said that while Bergvall was "solid" off the ball, he "sometimes took risks in the passing game".
They added: "[Bergvall] knocked away a pass that gave Poland an attack, which later resulted in an equalizer at 1-1. [He] was also at times sloppy in the passing game in the second half."
So it seems that Bergvall was largely at fault for Szymanski's goal, conceding possession before Poland were able to build up their attack and score.
However, it looks as though off the ball was where Bergvall shined on Monday, with TV Matchen writing that he was "mean and tough in every single duel".
They added: "Strong in the pressing game. And sometimes a winner with the ball. Seems like he likes to push forward. Loses power in periods with a game that requires a lot of gas."
SvenskaFans probably offered the most balanced view, though, saying that the Spurs man blew hot and cold in the game.
"Sometimes he loses the ball and sometimes he comes up with absolutely fantastic actions," they said.
However, despite the criticism, the stats don't actually back up the claims that Bergvall's passing was wayward on the night.
Bergvall's stats in Sweden win vs Poland revealed
According to Sofascore, Bergvall actually completed 94 per cent of his passes against Poland, missing a teammate with just four of the 67 he attempted.
It hardly backs up the claim that he was sloppy, although just one misplaced pass can be enough - especially if it lead to a goal - to be called that.
He also failed to make any key passes and neither of his two crosses found a Sweden teammate.
Off the ball, his stats also didn't look great, having failed to win the only tackle he challenged for and winning just 33.3 per cent of ground duels.
In total, Bergvall lost possession 11 times - only four players in the whole game lost control of the ball on more occasions.
Ultimately, it seems like a very hit-and-miss performance by Bergvall.
And if he keeps playing like that for Sweden, he won't be doing anything in this international break to convince De Zerbi to start him in the Premier League once the domestic action returns next weekend.