– I’m not that stupid
ULLEVAAL (Dagbladet): 2-0 over Slovakia. And 9-0 over Armenia. Ståle Solbakken has got the start he wanted for the national team year 2022.
While last year was abnormal due to the restrictions, the corona situation and normalize in the football world. Solbakken can play on all strings as a national team coach, where he can also visit clubs and managers.
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is unlikely to have the credit for the party victory over Armenia on Tuesday. But the meeting with the football personality earlier this winter is a bit of a big puzzle: Solbakken will pick up all impulses and inspiration and send Norway to the European Championship finals in 2024.
– We had the world’s busiest days in England, the 54-year-old tells about the admission to those for the private international matches.
“We” is he and analyst Andrew Findlay.
– We were within Watford, Arsenal, Manchester City and some other teams. We watched four to five games in five days and visited four clubs. We got lots of great input from Pep Guardiola, Mikel Arteta, Roy Hodgson and more.
Charged for
leakage: – Shock
– Who inspired you or made an impression?
– I guess everyone did. From our point of view, it was important to have a good chat with Arteta with Martin Ødegaard in mind. He is our captain and has a rising position at Arsenal. But we had good conversations with everyone.
– How open is Guardiola in photo meetings?
– He was surprisingly open, also about what I did not wonder.
– Like what then?
– I’m not that stupid, says Solbakken and chuckles. Implied: He had some knowledge from before.
As many will remember, Solbakken and Guardiola ended up in a clinch on the sidelines in 2010. FC Copenhagen and Barcelona met in a wild and boiling Parken.
Big profile Sergio Busquets intervened and it came to pushing. The commotion receded from the first match between the teams, which Barcelona goalkeeper José Pinto whistled as loud as he could when Copenhagen player Cesar Santin was alone through. He thought the referee blew for offside and stopped.
– I said something like that Barcelona was a rotten egg in the basket, Solbakken has told about the meeting with the Camp Nou giant.
But football is about moving on. And the two coaches have met each other several times after the brawl.
Private flight message
For Solbakken and Norway, the seriousness of the Nations League starts in June. Serbia, Sweden and Slovenia are opponents over ten days.
– What are you left with after those for the private international matches?
– That we have had a good collection and have trained a lot tactically. We have been shown a lot of pictures and have done a good job with the whole squad. I think everyone is a little wiser, says Solbakken to Dagbladet.