Jonas Olsson (footballer, born 1983)

Jonas Olsson

Olsson playing for West Bromwich Albion in 2012
Personal information
Full name Jonas Olsson[1]
Date of birth (1983-03-10) 10 March 1983
Place of birth Landskrona, Sweden
Height 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)[2]
Playing position Centre back
Club information
Current team
 West Bromwich Albion
Number 3
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2005 Landskrona BoIS 56 (1)
2005–2008 NEC 93 (5)
2008– West Bromwich Albion 237 (15)
National team‡
2003–2005 Sweden U21 19 (1)
2010– Sweden 25 (1)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 28 December 2015.

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 8 June 2015

Jonas Olsson (born 10 March 1983) is a Swedish footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club West Bromwich Albion and the Sweden national football team.

Club career

Olsson was born in Landskrona and made his debut in professional football in 2003 as part of the Landskrona BoIS squad. Olsson is considered to be a very tough defender, playing as a centreback or leftback. He considers fellow Swedish defender Olof Mellberg to be an inspiration.[3]

Two years later he was sold for €750,000 to Dutch side N.E.C. Nijmegen.[4] While playing in Sweden Olsson was known for his physical play and in 2004 he was the player who picked up the most cautions that year. Playing for NEC Nijmegen evolved his game and the cautions became a thing of the past. Olsson himself says that the Dutch man–man marking approach to defense has improved his game.[5][6]

He was linked with a move to the Premiership several times with Bolton Wanderers, Middlesbrough, Newcastle United and Everton.[7][8][9][10][11][12] Olsson scored three goals in the Eredivisie in 2007–08.

On 22 August 2008, Olsson was linked with a move to West Bromwich Albion.[13] On 29 August 2008 West Bromwich Albion confirmed his signing subject to a medical for an initial fee of £800,000 with a possible £360,000 of performance related add ons.[14]

Olsson made his first appearance, starting against West Ham United on 13 September 2008. He scored his first goal for West Brom, in a 1–0 win away to Middlesbrough.[15] Olsson went on to score two more goals in the 2008–09 season. The first coming in the FA Cup against Peterborough,[16] and the second was the first goal in West Brom's 3–0 win over Sunderland on 25 April 2009.[17]

In a match against Doncaster Rovers on 15 September 2009, Olsson headed two goals. Thirteen days later, he signed a new four-year deal which is set to keep him at the club until 2013. On 23 October 2010, Olsson picked up an Achilles tendon injury during the win over Fulham and was ruled out for up to six weeks. He then made his return to the starting line-up against Blackburn Rovers on 23 January 2011, completing the full 90 minutes, partnering Gabriel Tamas in defence in a 2–0 defeat at Ewood Park. At the end of the 2011–12 season, he made 34 appearances in all competitions, all of which were starting berths.

The following season Gareth McAuley joined West Brom on a free, Olsson and Mcauley formed a strong partnership throughout the season playing a major part in the clubs highest finish for 30 years in tenth place.

On 6 October 2012, it was announced that Olsson had signed a new 4-year contract with West Brom, ensuring he will remain with the team until 2016.

International career

Olsson was a regular for the Swedish under 21-squad. He was capped 19 times, scoring one goal.

Olsson was included in new coach Erik Hamrén's squad for the friendlies against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Belarus in 2010. He never came off the bench in the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina.[18][19] The next match against Belarus saw Olsson play from start.[20] Today he is a regular with coach Hamrén's squad, but spends most of his time on the bench. On 15 May 2012, 29-year-old Olsson was named in the 23-man squad and handed the number 13 shirt for Euro 2012 held in Poland and the Ukraine, along with two other Premier League stars, Blackburn's Martin Olsson and Sunderland's set-piece specialist Sebastian Larsson.

Career statistics

Club

As of 1 August 2016.[21]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Landskrona BoIS 2003 22000——220
2004 22120——241
2005 12020——140
Total 561400000601
N.E.C. Nijmegen 2005–06 34021—20381
2006–07 32220—30372
2007–08 27320—52345
Total 93561001021098
West Bromwich Albion 2008–09 2821100—293
2009–10 4343120—485
2010–11 2411000—251
2011–12 3420010—352
2012–13 3600010—370
2013–14 3210000—321
2014–15 1311010—151
2015–16 2812020—321
Total 2381282700025314
Career total 386181637010241923

International

As of 1 August 2015.[22]
National teamYearAppsGoals
Sweden 201010
201140
2012110
201381
201510
Total251

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 6 February 2013 Friends Arena, Solna, Sweden  Argentina 1–1 2–3 Friendly

Television work

When Swedish cable network Viasat acquired the broadcasting rights for the 2010–11 Premier League season, the network hired several new television presenters and journalists. Olsson has signed up with Viasat and will appear via satellite link and telephone to provide a players perspective on the matches and the Premier League. He added that this will give him a chance to promote West Bromwich Albion in Sweden.[23] On 15 April 2012, he appeared as a guest pundit on BBC's Match of the Day 2.

Personal life

When not playing football, Olsson enjoys playing the guitar. He lists Bob Dylan, Nirvana, The Rolling Stones, Oasis, Babyshambles, The Chardogs and The Who as some of his favourite artists.[24]

Olsson has stated that once he is done with his professional football career, he wants to qualify as a lawyer and work within the sphere of human rights. He has already taken introduction classes on the subject in Sweden.[25][26]

References

  1. ↑ Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Mainstream Publishing. p. 319. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
  2. ↑ "Premier League Player Profile Jonas Olsson". Premier League. Barclays Premier League. 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2015.
  3. ↑ Lepkowski, Chris (3 September 2008). "Jonas Olsson inspired by Olof Mellburg".
  4. ↑ "Olssons flytt ogillas av Bois-tränarna".
  5. ↑ (Swedish) hd.se – Jonas är redo att ta nästa steg
  6. ↑ fotbollskanalen.se
  7. ↑ Weekend Report – Sweden
  8. ↑ "Sky Sports – Football – News – Olsson in Magpies link". Sky Sports.
  9. ↑ Prem trio linked with Olsson move | TEAMtalk
  10. ↑ "Jonas Olsson på väg till England".
  11. ↑ "Succébacken kan köpas av Everton".
  12. ↑ "Olsson open to Everton switch". Sky Sports.
  13. ↑ Lepkowski, Chris (22 August 2008). "West Bromwich Albion track Swede defender Jonas Olsson".
  14. ↑ "Baggies agree Olsson fee". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 29 September 2008. Retrieved 29 September 2008.
  15. ↑ Ashenden, Mark (27 September 2008). "Middlesbrough 0–1 West Brom". BBC. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
  16. ↑ "West Brom 1–1 Peterborough". BBC Sport. 3 January 2009. Retrieved 15 September 2009.
  17. ↑ "West Brom 3–0 Sunderland". BBC. 25 April 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
  18. ↑ "Här är Hamrens trupp mot Wales".
  19. ↑ "Express & Star".
  20. ↑ http://www.dn.se/sport/fotboll/ingen-zlatan-i-hamrens-landslag-1.1099966
  21. ↑ "Jonas Olsson". eliteprospects.com (in Swedish). Elitefootball. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  22. ↑ "Jonas Olsson - national football team player".
  23. ↑ "Han kliver in i tv-rutan".
  24. ↑ West Bromwich Albion new boy Jonas Olsson is a guitar hero/
  25. ↑ "West Brom Defender Jonas Olsson Wants To Become A Lawyer - Goal.com". 3 May 2009.
  26. ↑ "Här är stjärnornas okända utbildning".
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Netherlands Romano Denneboom		 N.E.C. Man of the Year
2006–2007 		Succeeded by
Morocco Youssef El-Akchaoui
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