Solbakken open for playoffs in Norwegian football:
On Tuesday night, Norway’s World Cup dream broke with a loss against the Netherlands in the last qualifying match in Rotterdam.
On Wednesday, national team manager Ståle Solbakken was back on Norwegian soil again after the national team for the eleventh time in a row had to state that a championship would go without them.
– I’m generally disappointed. As I said yesterday, we have all the prerequisites to get ahead of Turkey over ten games. If there is one thing we did wrong, it is the first match in Malaga (against Turkey). There I made some mistakes both in the entrance and changed too much too fast. That was a problem for us in that match. There we made some mistakes that we are not close to making in the rest of the qualifiers, says a self-critical Solbakken to TV 2 at Gardermoen.
Solbakken feels confident at the European Championships in 2024
Open for playoffs: – You have to endure discussions
In addition to the World Cup qualifiers, the discussion about introducing the playoffs in Norwegian league games has been a theme in Norwegian football lately. NTF, Norsk Toppfotball, has said that several of the clubs in the Eliteserien and the OBOS league are positive to a proposal.
So far, Solbakken did not want to comment on the case until Wednesday. The national team manager had great success as a coach for FC Copenhagen in the Danish Superliga, which practices finals.
Several Norwegian clubs and supporters have also clearly shown their dissatisfaction with the idea, but the national team manager is not necessarily on the same wavelength.
– This is something that has been practiced in many countries. We must ask the countries that have practiced it, such as Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark. In Denmark it has been an enriched success, but there are fewer layers there. No country is like. The clubs … It must not be dangerous to discuss it, so you get it on the table, as it is something for Norwegian football or not. It is not dangerous to discuss it. One must endure taking discussions before sitting down on one’s own barricade.
Thorstvedt in tears
Believes that Norway should look to other countries
Solbakken thinks in Norway, and others have opportunities to learn from another country when it comes to development.
– Will your recommendation be a play-off in Norway?
– It depends on. There are many types of playoffs, so it depends on how you put it together. I’m not dismissive, but it’s not like I should stand here and say “hallelujah, this is the Norwegian way to success.”
When asked if the league system can be changed to improve the quality of Norwegian football, the national team manager answers:
Without Haaland we are without a chance
– Yes, it is an opportunity and that is why you work with this here and look for other nations and see where it has worked and whether there are some places where it has not worked.
– It’s not an exact science
Lise Klaveness, elite football director of the Norwegian Football Association, said that this is a discussion between the clubs in NTF.
– It is incredibly important that the top clubs talk together about what goals we should set, what is the gap for these goals and what must we do to achieve these goals? I do not know the answer to that. It is incredibly important that one is not afraid to take that discussion. We have to take it. It is our task to take it, but whatever the outcome of it will be, you must not advance it, says Klaveness to TV 2.
– Our role in this is to gain insight into how they do in Europe, what works and what does not work. It’s about margins so it’s not exact science, she adds.