Norwegian Tippeligaen Review 2010
You just didn’t know if you wanted to laugh, cry, or go to sleep: the Tippeliga season 2010 was, quite simply, tranquilizingly unexciting. Having gone the whole campaign unbeaten, Rosenborg won their 22nd league title, and their 19th since 1985. They did, however, miss out on the chance of competing for their tenth Cup triumph (and seventh Double), having sensationally been beaten at the semi-final stage – in what was arguably the game of the season – by the pink-clad part-timers of Follo, a club which will start next season at the Third level: having avoided relegation from the Adeccoliga by a single point, they were, heartbreakingly and bizarrely, demoted for having failed to meet the deadline for a professional lisence application. There was to be no consolation in the Cup Final, either, Strømsgodset winning an uninspiring encounter 2-0 following first half headers from Ola Kamara and Glenn Andersen, to bring the Kongepokal (King’s Cup) back to Drammen for the fifth time.
Laudably, the Federation has taken action to encourage (or force) clubs to run financially responsible operations: this summer, bankrupt former champions Lyn were demoted to the Fifth division, their results in the first half of the Adeccoliga season being declared null and void, while recently five clubs – Brann and Strømsgodset of the Tippeliga and Bodø/Glimt, Løv/Ham and relegated Moss of the Adeccoliga – received formal letters of warning regarding their financial conduct, and may start next season with a points deduction in case of continued failure to comply with League regulations. Even the mighty Rosenborg – impossibly wealthy by Norwegian standards – recorded a deficit of 44 million kroner (approx. £4 million) in the last financial year, and have been told in no uncertain terms that they need to put their house in order. “We want a strong Rosenborg which can be competitive in Europe”, said Federation President Yngve Hallén, “but the club must also balance its books”.
Alas, chances are it will be some time before Rosenborg or any other Norwegian club can be competitive in Europe. Performances have been woeful for several seasons now but, then again, why should the clubs take European competition seriously when their fans clearly do not? For their first Europa League qualifying home games, Stabæk and Molde managed to attract 1134 and 2343 spectators respectively, which – even allowing for the slightly mitigating circumstance that the games in question took place during most people’s summer holidays – was nothing short of pathetic.
The truth is fans are voting with their feet. Since the record year of 2007, when Tippeliga games attracted an average of 10 473 spectators, attendances have been in steady decline, and no wonder. Several theories have been put forward to explain the current predicament – after-effects of the global finance crisis, over-saturation in the media, the 2009 expansion from fourteen to sixteen clubs – yet while all these factors no doubt play their part, the bottom line is surely that people can’t be bothered because the quality of competition really isn’t very good? Well before the season started, everyone knew who would win the title, the idendity of the relegated teams came as no surprise, and only Rosenborg, runners-up Vålerenga, Cup-winners Strømsgodset and promoted Haugesund could be accused of playing entertaining football on a regular basis. The good news is that the latter three all have young teams, and should be capable of improving further if (and, particularly in the case of Strømsgodset, that’s a big if) they can keep their best players.
To the surprise of all and delight of many, the Second Coming took place Molde last week, as Ole Gunnar Solskjær returned to the club where he started his professional career as a 21-year-old in 1994. I’ve previously expressed my reservations about Solskjær the manager, however it can’t be denied that he’s got media presence: Molde, who finished 11th this term, are already being trumpeted as potential title winners next season. If that happens, I’ll eat a 1999 vintage Manchester United replica shirt with salt and vinegar on it but, for all my hardened scepticism, I can’t help but feel ever-so-slightly intrigued by what’s afoot in the City of Roses. Inevitably, there’s been speculation that Molde will now become an official Old Trafford feeder club, and although Solskjær has been hesitant to confirm any such arrangement, he hasn’t denied it either, and it’s not exactly a well-kept secret that he wants to take United’s Norwegian academy players Joshua King and Magnus Wolff-Eikrem on loan in the upcoming transfer window.
Elsewhere, Brann and Stabæk – League winners in 2007 and 2008 respectively – endured miserable campaigns, and can console themselves only by the knowledge that next year will probably be even worse. Stabæk have already lost coach Jan Jönsson to Rosenborg, while Brann will lose virtually all their remaining decent players: veteran captain Eirik Bakke is going home to the fjords to join Adeccoliga winners Sogndal, fellow midfielders Jan Gunnar Solli and Petter Vaagan Moen have opted for metropolitan life, moving to New York and London to join the Red Bulls and QPR, while local hero Erik Huseklepp will also surely take his lanky frame and sublime ball skills elsewhere. Although it would be false to claim that either side at any point threatened to entertain anyone except their most committed fans, Odd Grenland and Start will be quietly satisfied with the results obtained this season, while traditional powerhouses Lillestrøm and Viking day-dream about former glories in a futile and increasingly desperate attempt at ignoring a pitiful present.
Having sold star midfielder Eirik Mjelde to Brann before the season, everyone predicted the whalers from Sandefjord would go down without a fight, and so it proved: they even managed to create history in the process, going 23 games without a win to beat one of Norwegian football’s oldest records. (It should be noted, however, that back in 1975 there were only twelve teams in the First division, which means poor Os actually went an entire season without winning. Perhaps unsurprisingly, they haven’t been back in the top-flight since.) Kongsvinger also went down, but their fans will be pleased by the very fact that the club still exists, having been hours from liquidation at more than one point during the season. (Mysteriously, however, they are not among the clubs which have received official warnings regarding their financial conduct from the Federation.) Sarpsborg 08 were promoted alongside Sogndal, while Hønefoss and Fredrikstad will contest a relegation/promotion-play off this coming weekend.
And that, at long last, is that. The season is over, and it’s fair to say it hasn’t been a vintage one. Still, there are those who did reasonably well, and so the time has come for your humble correspondent to honour the great and the good of the Norwegian game by naming my
TEAM OF THE SEASON* (4-1-3-2 “Wingless Wonders” formation):
Goalkeeper:
Anders Lindegaard (Aalesund). Tall, blond, arrogant and Danish: no wonder Manchester United (allegedly) want to sign him. His consistency was arguably the single most important reason for AaFK’s impressive fourth-place finish, and he also won recognition at international level, Denmark coach Morten Olsen handing him his first cap in the Euro qualifier v Iceland.
(Honorary mention: Adam Larsen Kwarasey (Strømsgodset). Agile, ever-improving youngster who enjoyed an excellent season. Dreams of representing fatherland Ghana at the next World Cup.)
Left-back:
Mikael Dorsin (Rosenborg). Ever-present captain of the undefeated champions. An enthusiastic overlapper who contributes greatly to the fluidity of Rosenborg’s system. Has won league titles in Norway and Romania as well as his native Sweden.
(Honorary mention: Joakim Våge Nilsen (Haugesund). Shy off the pitch, remarkably confident on it, the teenager and his thunderbolt left-foot were key components in the fine performances of promoted surprise package Haugesund, who were unbeaten at home until the penultimate round of the season, and finished a creditable sixth.)
Centre-back:
Miika Koppinen (Tromsø). Perhaps most famous internationally for having scored the goal which brought down Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge back in 2007, the Finnish veteran has been imperious in his second spell with Gutan (the Boys in the local accent). Strong in the air and absolutely ruthless on the ground.
(Honorary mention: Frode Kippe (Lillestrøm). The former Liverpool defender continues to lead by example in his tenth season with the Canaries: no particularly subtle operator, but tough and tenacious and also weighs in with his fair share of goals.)
Centre-back:
Vadim Demidov (Rosenborg). The son of a former Russian international handball player, he capped a fine club season with an exceptional performance in Norway’s Euro qualifying defeat of Portugal in September. Due to join Real Sociedad in Spain in the upcoming transfer window.
(Honorary mention: André Muri (Vålerenga). Rarely steals any headlines, but played every minute of every league game without collecting a single booking, and for that achievement deservedly collected the Federation’s Fair Play award.)
Right-back:
Mikal Lustig (Rosenborg). Tall, fast and technically skilled, he’s arguably the only player in the Tippeliga adept at crossing the ball (!) Rumour had it he was on his way to Serie A in the summer transfer window, which provoked veteran coach Nils Arne Eggen into a trademark eccentric rant, bewilderingly condemning the “drunken and violent behaviour” of Lecce players and officials at La Manga a decade ago. (Eggen, it later transpired, had misheard a question from a local journalist, and thought the club in question was Leicester.)
(Honorary mention: Tom Høgli (Tromsø). “Who?” Thus spoke newly-appointed France coach Laurent Blanc ahead of the August friendly at Ullevaal. For your information, Laurent, Høgli was in fact joint top scorer at the 2006 VIVA World Cup, as Sapmi finished winners ahead of Monaco, Occitannia and Southern Cameroon. Fast and extremely disciplined, he’s now Norway’s undisputed first-choice right-back, finally providing a solution to what has been a problem position since time immemorial for the national side.)
Defensive midfielder (and Player of the Season):
Anthony Annan (Rosenborg). No stranger to controversy – he (allegedly) bit Aalesund forward Thor Hogne Aarøy in the chest (!) and gave André Muri the full Vinnie Jones treatment – but also by far the most accomplished player in the League, a truly exceptional ball-winner of tremendous stamina and spirit. Excelled for Ghana at the World Cup, too, and it is frankly a complete mystery that he’s still at Lerkendal.
(Honorary mention: Serigne Kara Mbodj (Tromsø). As elsewhere in Europe, Africans rule in the holding position. Tall and born in Senegal, it should come as no surprise that the 21-year-old has been linked with a move to a certain club in North London. Started his career with the Diambars Academy, established by former France internationals Bernard Lama and, yes, Patrick Vieira.)
Midfielder (centre-left):
Petter Vaagan Moen (Brann). “Mjøsa’s Beckham” somehow managed to excel in what was otherwise a truly miserable campaign for the 2007 Tippeliga champions. Deployed centrally for much of the season, rather than in his usual position on the left, the baby-faced dead-ball expert scored a career-high fourteen goals and won a recall to the national team. Will join QPR in the January transfer window.
(Honorary mention: Ruben Yttergård Jenssen (Tromsø). At 22, a key man for his hometown club. Mobile, technically gifted and adept at linking defence with attack, he made his international bow in the June friendly v Montenegro.)
Midfielder (centre):
Harmeet Singh. (Vålerenga). Top assist-maker of the season at eleven, and kingpin of the league’s most consistently attractive side. Egil Olsen recently stated he’s looking for more creativity in midfield, so why he’s yet to summon Singh for international duty is anyone’s guess, although the playmaker probably didn’t endear himself to anyone within the national team setup by declaring that “playing for Norway looks very boring”.
(Honorary mention: Johan Arneng (Aalesund). Swedish one-man engine room and captain of a side which, while rarely enjoyable to watch, was always fiercely competitive. Capped twice in 2004, he’s available on a Bosman free and, although there is talk he might be joining Lillestrøm, seems keen to play out his career in his homeland, where he enjoyed title success with Djurgården both in 2003 and 2005.)
Midfielder (centre-right) (and Newcomer of the Season):
Markus Henriksen (Rosenborg). From virtual unknown to full international recognition in less than six months: Henriksen’s first full season has arguably been the finest of any Tippeliga player since John Carew’s breakthrough at Vålerenga back in 1997. Week in, week out, the 18-year-old showed remarkable skill, physical strength, composure and tactical maturity, and while he might lack the pace required at the very highest level, he remains an immensely exciting prospect for club and country alike.
(Honorary mention: Umaru Bangura (Hønefoss). The Sierra Leone midfielder, who played at the 2003 U-17 World Cup in Finland and later had a spell at Watford, may have found working conditions difficult during his club’s first ever season in the top flight, but nonetheless proved himself one of the finest passers in Norway. Rumoured to be on the wish-list of Rosenborg, who tend to get their man.)
Striker:
Baye Djiby Fall (Molde). So good they named him after a season, a religious doctrine, an Albert Camus novel and a Manchester post-punk band. The Tippeliga may be home to more elegant forwards, but certainly none more effective. The physically-imposing Senegalese, who, despite being only 25, has already played in France, Denmark, the United Arab Emirates and Russia as well as Norway, scored sixteen goals to finish league top-scorer and save his struggling side from relegation. On loan this season from Lokomotiv Moscow and, for reasons best known to themselves, Molde haven‘t exercised their option to buy. Even so, Fall should have little problem finding gainful employment elsewhere.
(Honorary mention: Ole Martin Årst (Start). Having battled persistent injury for two years, the only man to have been top goalscorer both in Norway (Tromsø 2005) and Belgium (Gent 2000), decided to retire from the game last October. Come March, however, the thirtysix-year-old had changed his mind, signed a new contract at the Sør Arena and was richly and deservedly rewarded for his persistence, scoring twelve league goals in a remarkable swansong season.)
Striker:
Nikola Djurdic (Haugesund). Maverick Serb whose partnership with Tomas Sørum was one of the most attractive sights of the season, inducing panic in many an opposition defence with their understanding and constant movement. With respect to Sørum, however, Djurdic was clearly the brain behind the duo’s success, time and again creating space where none seemed to exist thanks to his vision and fine ball skills.
(Honorary mention: Luton Shelton (Vålerenga). Jamaican speed-merchant who’s been a man reformed since returning from a loan spell with Aalborg in the Danish Superliga. Initially deployed as a central striker and derided by fans for his inability to translate his obvious talent into goals, he found a new lease of life drifting in from the left, scoring a dozen goals and constantly stretching defences thanks to his incredible acceleration.)
Coach:
Ronny Deila (Strømsgodset). Former central defender who’s been a revelation in his first post as head coach. Encourages attacking football, puts a premium on discipline and fair play, and never makes cheap excuses: his young and exuberant Strømsgodset side have been brilliant at times on home (plastic) turf at Marienlyst, but frequently struggle on their travels. Still, Deila comes across as a genuinely lovely man as well as a highly talented coach, and it’s no surprise that there’s been talk linking him with more prestigious clubs. Strømsgodset sporting director Jostein Flo, however, has been dismissive of such speculation. “I have an agreement with Ronny”, said the notorious former Norway forward following the triumph in the Cup Final. “He will remain in Drammen for several seasons yet.” Here’s hoping.
(Honorary mention: Jostein Grindhaug (Haugesund). The South-Western port of Haugesund is (allegedly) the birthplace of Marilyn Monroe’s paternal grandfather and hosts an annual film festival, but there is, truth be told, little glamour about the team that Jostein built. Rather, it’s a cohesive and craftily constructed unit, built upon solid team-work and the mobility of their striking duo. In any case Grindhaug deserves high praise for leading a club of limited resources to safety and a sixth-place finish in their comeback season in the top flight.)
*Please note that I’ve only considered for inclusion individuals who played the full League season in Norway. (Hence the absence of, for example, Vålerenga/Hannover’s Moa.)
Where to start? A brilliant seasonal review Mole!
1 – Well done Follo! Always good to see an underdog come out on top. Is this similar to the Man Utd 0 – 1 Leeds result last season?
2 – Good to see that at least one football association is taking debt and finances seriously. Would be very interesting to see how the top leagues would change if their respective FA’s had the bollocks to make similar threats.
3 – I used to always buy Mikael Dorsin on championship manager
1. The highlights of Follo – Rosenborg can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AW-zTDhKlYI (the first goal is a brilliant strike by Markus Henriksen).
I’d venture it’s a significantly greater shock than Leeds beating Man Utd. Leeds, after all, are a former powerhouse in English football, while Follo were only formed a decade ago following a merger, and have never even been in the top flight.
2. It remains to be seen whether the Federation will have the courage to back words with action if more prestigious clubs are afflicted, but the early signs are quite promising. There’s been a change of leadership at NFF, with the feeble presidency of Sondre Kåfjord – who spent most of his time chasing the dream of Norway hosting Euro 2016 – to the straight-talking Yngve Hallén.
The federation must, truth be told, also take the blame for the financial problems at certain clubs, enforcing unrealistic and debt-inducing stadium requirements. (About half of all Adeccoliga clubs would be denied access to the Tippeliga even if they won promotion, because their facilities are not up to standard.)
3. Swedish players, in general, used to be very good value for money in CM. I once purchased Kim Källström for £200K (when managing, I think, a financially-stricken English 2nd division club going by the name of Manchester City) and he scored something like 50 goals from midfield in his first season.
Next-Peter-Schmeichel-update: it’s being reported that representatives of Aalesund are in Manchester to negotiate the sale of Anders Lindegaard. The former Peter Schmeichel, however, doesn’t think the next Peter Schmeichel is good enough, and wants United to sign Liverpool’s Pepe Reina instead. Watch this space.
Haha, as soon as I saw this story I thought you would of already commented on it!
“Media reports suggest the deal will be completed in the next 48 hours with United playing the Norwegian club £3.5m for his services.”
I presume that he is worth 3.5m?
He’s a good keeper, but I have to admit I’ll be a little surprised if he’s a great success at Old Trafford.
He’s been excellent for Aalesund, but only joined them because his career in Denmark wasn’t really going anywhere.
I’d say he’s worth the fee, just: he’s an international footballer with his best years still ahead of him, but compared to other recent transfers from the Tippeliga, it’s definitely on the high side.
He’s represented, by the way, by Jim Solbakken, who’s also the owner – sorry, “agent” – of Ole Gunnar Solskjær and the Norwegian youngsters at United.
That’s interesting, where was he before Aalesund? Do you think that he has the mentality to be able to play for a big club?
As an aside what order is the league quality out of the following: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and has there ever been talk of a super league of the best teams? (I’m not aware if this has happened previously!)
He was at Superliga side OB – whose current no1, coincidentally, is former United custodian Roy Carroll – but only played a handful of games in five seasons.
He may be a late bloomer, but also comes across as what’s in Norway known as a “vinnerskalle” (lit. “winner’s skull”: someone whose mentality is conducive to success).
I don’t think it will come down to his mental attributes, the question is if he has the technical quality to excel at the very highest level. He’s been outstanding in the Tippeliga, but it’s an extremely wide gap to bridge. As I’ve pointed out before, few players have been instantly successful when moving directly from Norway to the English Premier League (Solskjær being a notable exception).
As for the quality of the Nordic leagues, I’d venture Denmark’s fractionally ahead of joint runners-up Sweden/Norway at the moment, with Finland a distant fourth: although they’ve produced some excellent players over the years, the Finnish aren’t really a football nation, ice hockey being far more popular (this, in fact, is also the case to an extent in Sweden).
We used to have the Royal League, a tournament contested in the off-season between the top four teams from the three Scandinavian monarchies: it was held thrice (2005-07) and won by Danish clubs (FC København x 2 and Brøndby) on each occasion. It was discontinued thanks to a notable lack of interest from sponsors and the paying public (I’m also under the impression that it was less than extremely popular within Uefa).
Actually, there’s been talk of late of resurrecting the competition: the Swedes and Danes were apparently keen, but this week the Norwegian FA turned down the proposal. A most wise decision, in my view.
Thanks for an interesting and entertainig review.
So that’s where Luton Shelton is! He had a good season in Helsingborg playing alongside Henrike Larsson. Helsingborg sold him on to Sheffield U for around 2,5 m Euros. I wasn’t sure Arneng was still playing either. He might go back to Djurgården who has gotten his old mate Magnus Persson (sacked from Aalborg this season) as manager. Not sure if they have the money to pay him or push for the top next season though.
“Mjøsa’s Beckham” – that’s just brilliant!!
Annan was indeed brilliant at the WC and everyone was amazed he played for Rosenborg. No bids for him from foreign clubs?
Throughout the summer Annan was linked with several foreign clubs, including Lyon, Genoa and Galatasary, however nothing materialised. The consensus appears to be that, while talented, he’s not tall enough for the holding midfield role – a view that frankly comes across as quite silly: I mean, Gennaro Gattuso and Claude Makélélé aren’t exactly giants either, are they?
Arneng to Djurgården sounds like a good bet. Seems Aalesund are rapidly disintegrating. Their coach, Kjetil Rekdal, must be furious. (Then again, he’s always furious, so no real surprise there.)
Speaking of former Helsingborg forwards: whatever happened to Razak Omotoyoussi? He looked extremely promising during the 2008 African Nations Cup, and you’d think he could’ve learned a thing or two from Henke, but he seems to have been wandering aimlessly around ever since and is currently a free agent. What went wrong?
OK. Thanks for the info about Annan. Height seems to be more and more insignificant in modern football, maybe bar the back-4. A blog-entry in Aftonbladet (Swe) listed the height of the candidates for the Ballon d’or. Top candidates:
Wesley Sneijder (170 cm)
Leo Messi (169 cm)
Andrés Iniesta (170 cm)
Xavi Hernández (170 cm)
Further down the list: Dani Alves (173 cm), Phillipp Lahm (170 cm), Cesc Fábregas (175 cm) and David Villa (175 cm). Not one player among the 23 is taller than 190 cm, the tallest being Drogba at 190 cm.
Kjetil Rekdal – Yes, I remember he had a temper as a player as well! I was actually at Råsunda when Arneng scored against Juventus in the last qualifying round to the CL. I think Juve won the game 4-1 though, but I think Arneng’s goal meant 1-1.
Omotoyossi – now what a powerhouse he was. He was Shelton’s replacement at Helsingborg. He was vital in Helsingborg qualifying from the group-stages of the UEFA-cup in 2007 A rare accomplshment for Swedish teams nowadays. He scored 6 goals in 6 games. He signed for a Saudi Arabian club in 2008 and not suprisingly his formed seems to have dipped. According to his Wiki-entry he then went to Metz in League 2 where he scored 16 times in one season. In the summer of 2010 he seems to have been on trial for a bunch of 2nd tier English clubs. Currently he’s on trial at Sven’s Leicester according to Helsingborgs Dagblad.
Royal League was good fun though I think, but the climate doesn’t really make for good football in those months up here. I didn’t even know there were talks about a reintroduction of the competition. I think your rankings among the Scandinavian leagues is spot on. Although Rosenborg is probably the 2nd best team in Scandinavia (behind FCK) at the moment. It’s going to be interesting to see what Swedish champs Malmö FF can do next year. They have a young and exciting team, but are not doing well financially and might lose a lot of their talented players whose contracts are running out. Like in Omotoyossi’s case it’s in the business models of most Swedish clubs nowadays to feed foreign clubs with mid-priced talent after a good season in the Swedish league. In Norway you might be able to hold on to them for a bit longer since you can pay higher wages? At least that’s my impression.
Thanks for the update on Omotoyoussi. Hope he can find his form once more under Sven’s benevolent tutelage:-)
Would be very interested to hear more about Malmö’s new generation. In fact, it wouldn’t hurt this site at all to have an article or two about Swedish football. Interested?
You’re welcome!
That’s very flattering of you, but I’m not sure I am really that knowledgable about Swedish football. It’s a survival instinct I guess, which is contradictory since I am a Spurs-supporter. But I don’t really follow Swedish football like I do Spurs, where I watch most games on TV. If I feel inspired and come up with a text I can send it to you though. I think I read a lot more about Swedish football than I watch it.
There sure has been a lot of drama this season in Sweden where title-holders AIK were struggling in the relegation zone all season, sacked their coach, sold two of their starplayers mid-season under dubious circumstances to Hungarian side Videoton where they’re not playing, bought some atrocious foreign players amongst them a Brazilian who journalists that saw him in training was the worst Brazilian player they had ever seen, bought a player (Mohamed Bangura, Sierra Leone) from the Swedish 3rd division mid-season who turned out to be one of the best players in Sweden, brought in a Scottish hardman (Alex Miller) as coach, who although kept the team up seems to be hated by fans and players alike.
Interesting to see Schmeichel be so outspoken about Lindegaard. It’s not as if he has come out before and slated any of the other goalkeepers at Utd. This wasn’t a particularly smart thing to do and I’m sure that Ferguson will be pretty pissed off!
I found Schmeichel’s comments pathetic to be honest. How often has he seen Lindegaard in action? It’s as if he doesn’t want another Dane to be successful at his former club
I wouldn’t be surprised at all if this is partly to do with the fact that the keeper rose to prominence in Norway. Danes, famously, detest our (perceived) style of football, and many would probably rather sell their children to the porn industry before they see them playing in the Tippeliga:-)
In any case, I suspect it might prove counter-productive. Denmark face Norway in a vital Euro qualifier in March, and the legendary Peter Schmeichel starts the mind games by prunouncing their new first-choice goalkeeper a liability? Genius.
coldroses – you sound knowledgeable enough to me! Interesting story about AIK
If you do find your writing fingers check out our contact details at http://www.tiki-taka.co.uk/about-tiki-taka
Cheers! Sure, I’ll look into it. The AIK-story this season is enough for a PhD-thesis in itself. I can’t get my head around it. I realize I omitted som astonishing parts in that brief description, like bringing in Sebastian Eguren from Villareal, but once used to play for local rivals Hammarby. He wanted minutes on the pitch to get into the Uruguay WC-squad, which I think he didn’t at the end and he turned out to be absolutely useless this time around and the transfer provoked Hammarby-supporters to walk on to an AIK-training session to “talk to him”. One journalist said: “If someone put me in charge of AIK before this season and told me to do everything to f__k up AIK, I don’t think I would have succeeded as well as the current regime has.” Savicevic? Of course Man United-legend, at least according to himself, Bojan Djordic was one of the players to escape AIK mid-season.
According to the fountain of knowledge that is wikipedia, Eguren was in fact in Uruguay’s World Cup squad, although as far as I can recall he didn’t play.
His first Scandinavian club, of course, was Rosenborg, where he arrived in 2005 just as they lost the plot completely for a while. Being South American, the coaches assumed he must be a creative genius, so played him in an attacking midfield role for which he was ill-suited. I wouldn’t be too surprised if something similar was the case at AIK?
His compatriot Alejandro Lago, a central defender who arrived in Trondheim at the same time, is still a highly-valued bench-warmer at Lerkendal:)
Yes, you’re right he was in the Uruguyan squad somehow.
I didn’t know he used to play for Rosenborg. He was a big success at Hammarby, but I think they used him as a defensive midfielder. Although the Swedish league is bad he must have made an impression since Villareal bought him and he actually used to play quite a bit for them. I don’t think anyone thought he would get a game for them.
Interesting that he came with a benchwarming mate. In Sweden we get a lot of poorly scouted South American players every year. I don’t know what the succes to failure ratio is, but I reckon it’s pretty low. Then once in a while you get a ‘success’ like Afonso Alves. I wonder where he is now.
Alves is playing in Qatar at the moment. Real shame that it didn’t work at Middlesborough. Looked like he had alot of potential but was obviously mentally shot.
Compared to its Nordic neighbours, I reckon Norwegian clubs were late starterts in the globalism game: according to my exhaustive research (wikipedia) the first Latin American to play in the Tippeliga was Brann’s Costa Rican midfielder Alonso “el Mariachi” Solis, as recently as 2002.
In the past five years, however, there’s been a huge influx: some have been extremely successful, others have… not, to put it very politely. The best is no doubt Stabæk’s former Brazilian wing-wizard Alanzinho, who inspired his club to the 2008 League title and even sparked a naturalisation debate (regardless of the fact that he didn’t qualify for citizenship).
The worst among many ignominous failures was probably Matias Almeyda’s brief spell at Lyn in 2007: he may well once have been voted Serie A’s best player (1998-99) but was evidently way past his sell-by date.
Also: Ygor Santiago, a Brazilian midfielder signed by Start in 2007 amid much chest-beating and (entirely fabricated) rumours that he was close to a call-up to Dunga’s national team. Although a first-team regular in Kristiansand, he failed to make much of an impact as the club were relegated, after which event it transpired that they no longer had the funds to pay his wages, so loaned him to Fluminense for two years until his contract expired.
I agree the reason for the relatively high failure rate is poor scouting, but also a lack of patience. Alanzinho, for example, hardly played in his first season and was labelled a flop, but then he met a Norwegian girl, adapted to the local culture and his team’s style of play, and was twice voted Midfielder of the Year before being sold to Trabzonspor in Turkey at a huge profit.
Outstanding review, Mole!
Why is it that every player who is the next Patrick Vieira is linked with Arsenal?
Interestingly though, I remember some site talking about Mbodj, saying that he reckoned he could be better than Song.
What do you think?
In Kara’s case, I guess the fact that he started out at a club founded by Vieira during his Arsenal days, made the Emirates connection pretty much inevitable.
However, I don’t think he’s anywhere near good enough to play for a club of that level – yet. He’s clearly talented, though, very powerful and covers a lot of ground. His major weakness is that he can seem careless and linger too long in possession, but then again that’s a common deficiency in most young players.
For what it’s worth, my prediction is that he’ll be at Lerkendal next season: if Annan is sold in January, Rosenborg will obviously look for a replacement, and to all intents and purposes they have first option on players from clubs in Northern Norway.
Quick relegation/promotion update: the aristocrates of Fredrikstad claimed the last place in the Tippeliga 2011, having beaten hapless Hønefoss a whooping 8-1 on aggregate. Costa Rican midfielder Celso Borges, arguably the most talented player in the Adeccoliga, scored a hat-trick in tonight’s second leg. He’s the son of Brazil-born former defender Alexandre Guimares, who played for Costa Rica at Italia 90 and coached them in Japan/Korea 2002 and Germany 2006.
There you go. Please don’t mention Costa Rica WC 1990 again!
How tactless of me. Sorry. I’ll punish myself by saying this:
Norway 0-0 Republic of Ireland (1994 World Cup)
Norway 0-0 Slovenia (Euro 2000)
(Hangs head in shame.)
Haha – Mole I didn’t realise that the Norway/Rep of Ireland result was such an embarrassment for Norway?!
Anders Lindegaard has signed for Man Utd today. Lets see whether he can deal with the pressure!
England have it all to do in the Ashes…
The result in itself was no embarrassment – Ireland were very difficult to beat and had a playing-style uncomfortably similar to ours – what left a bad taste was our approach to the game: we knew we’d go through if we won, but still decided to play for a draw in the blind (and forlorn) hope that Italy would beat Mexico (or vice versa).
The Irish would qualify with a draw, so were obviously happy to sit back and relax, and the result was the most mind-numbingly soulless game you can ever imagine.
Famously, Egil Olsen is an avid poker player, known for his calculated approach to the game, but sometimes you just have to gamble, and in that case he lamentably failed to do so, rather inaccurately leaving a lasting impression of our style as predominantly negative (La Gazzetta, for example, compared him to Nereo Rocco, inventor of the Catennacio)
The same thing, pathetically, happened again in 2000: Slovenia, with the genius of Zlatko Zahovic in their midst, were a decent side, but we’d beaten them twice in qualification and should certainly have done so again, but Nils Johan Semb, who had a tendency to err on the side of caution, decided to sit back and attack if and only if Spain took the lead against Yugoslavia. Which they did. In the 95th minute. When our game was already over. A travesty. The picture of Semb on all four in the centre circle, as if ready to take it doggy-style, will haunt me to the end of my days.
I have to admit I was somewhat sceptical about Lindegaard’s move at first, but following Schmeichel’s comments I must say I’d love it, just love it if he does brilliantly at Old Trafford and erases all memory of any other Danish keeper ever having played for United!
Also, forgive an ignorant Scandinavian for asking, but… what are the Ashes? I know it’s cricket, but it’s a sport I really struggle to understand. To me it merely appears to be a more intellectual version of baseball, but surely that can’t be correct?
If you can explain the game and its attractions in layman’s terms, I’ll be immensely grateful, and only too happy to do the same with ski-jumping or biathlon or any other of the strange sports with which we content ourselves throughout the winter.
The attraction is mainly because of the rivalry between Australia and England. To be honest I’m not a massive cricket fan but I love to see England beating the Aussies. Best example was Rugby union world cup 2007 – Marseille – 12-10. Absolutely awful standard of play but the rivalry was intense. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7030422.stm
Oh and Barcelona played quite well tonight…
Research has revealed that the Norway national cricket team are in fact ranked 40th in the world (but are there more than 40 nations that play cricket?) and highest among the Nordic countries. I’m impressed. Most players seem to be recruited from the Pakistani community in Oslo.
As for rugby, I was in Rome this March minding my own business when, out of nowhere, hordes of Scotsmen (and a few lasses) descended on the city: apparently they were there to see their team take on the Italians in something called the “Six Nations”(?) In any case it was subsequently quite amusing to see Scottish fans completely shocked at having lost away to Italy:)
Oh, and I missed out on the Clasico: someone very close to me had the audacity to celebrate her birthday (I shall not be forgiving her anytime soon).