One of the best free-kick takers in SoL history was born on this day in Eskilstuna, Sweden. Of course, that man is Seb Larsson.
At sixteen, Seb signed a four-year contract with Arsenal to begin his professional career. In February of 2006, he made his Premier League debut. Strangely, Arsene Wenger mostly used him as a defender. He left Arsenal to play on loan for Birmingham City in the Championship, where he excelled as a forward player and signed a permanent contract the following year.
He moved to Wearside after serving four years with Birmingham. Steve Bruce, the coach he had previously worked with, was his new boss. After his contract expired, we signed him for nothing, and he has to be considered one of our great free transfers. Correct? A genuinely underappreciated athlete.
He had a great start to his career. With great confidence, we lined up in that fantastic light blue Tombola away top and prepared for the season. On the first day of the competition, Anfield was the site of a 1-0 deficit. However, with minutes remaining, Ahmed Elmohamady crossed the ball deep into the area, and Larsson finished deftly with a scissor kick to equalise. An excellent goal technically.
He will always be renowned for his ability to take free kicks. It was and maybe still is unmatched. He had scored free kicks that resulted in victories over Stoke and Arsenal when he initially came. Following the Arsenal match, his former manager Wenger declared that he was “possibly the best in the league as a free-kick taker.”
Not only did he take excellent free kicks, but his technical talent was evident as well. For the entirety of his tenure at the club, he took our corner kicks and even the deep and wide ones. Basically, Seb was standing over the ball if it wasn’t moving.
I believe that the sheer number of set pieces we possessed clouded the perceptions of some individuals, as not every performance will be flawless, but the numbers speak for themselves—he was among the greatest at the time.
You could see he had a fire ignited inside him most of the time, even though it might not have pleased everyone at the Stadium of Light. He had a lot of fire and emotion, but occasionally it boiled over into a fury akin to Lee Cattermole, which caused him to yell in the faces of players and referees when things didn’t go his way. His goal against Manchester United was crucial in keeping us from being relegated, and he scored most of his goals with similar skill. Seb did a fantastic job serving the club.
His tenure at Wearside concluded concurrently with our Premier League days, as we concluded our campaign in 20th place in the 2016–17 Seb’s deal had expired. Larsson went to Hull and followed us into the Championship.
After playing in the Championship for a season, he returned to his native Sweden to play for AIK, where he won the title.
Globally, Seb has experienced a lot of turmoil. In most competitions, Sweden wasn’t expected to win anything or even get past their groups, but on occasion, they may pull off a shock. It is exactly what they did in the 2012 Euros. They obviously lost in their group, but they did defeat France 2-0, with Larsson scoring one of the goals. After leading his team in the 2020 Euros and helping them advance from their group before losing to Ukraine in the round of 16, Seb announced his retirement from international football. After playing for so long, it seemed absurd to see him still leading his nation; he seemed to have been there forever.
In 2022, Larsson took early retirement in Sweden, having played the most games of any football player for Sunderland AFC. Seb, happy birthday!
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