– Someone has to do shit work – VG

– For me, football is not aesthetic. For me, football is results. But I think that with good results, aesthetics also come, says Solbakken to VG.

He has signed a four-year contract with the Norwegian Football Association and the objective could not have been clearer; it will lead Norway to a championship before the deal expires.

– Have something to contend with in four years: if Norway doesn’t qualify for the World Cup in 2022 or the European Championship in 2024, have you failed then?

– Yes, Solbakken responds in cash.

– Why?

– The World Cup is probably, in percentage terms, much more difficult to achieve than the European Championship. We will do everything we can in the World Cup qualifiers, we will not remain with our hat in our hand, everything is possible in football and anything can happen. But for the European Championship, there are many more countries, and there is so much potential in our team, that if we do not enter into a bonanza of long-term injuries from the best players, I think we have great prerequisites to be successful in a Championship of Europe.

mens how Should the goal be achieved? What is the Solbakken style about? The new boss won’t answer how he himself would have tackled Serbia’s disappointing match in October when Norway’s last European Championship chance with Lars Lagerbäck was smashed.

But there are few things he likes more than talking about football. And on one point it is uncompromising: the defensive game.

– The important thing is that the NFF has declared in its sports plan that zone defense is a basic parameter for further development, and there we are very much in line, says Solbakken.

Here you can watch VG’s 20-minute interview with Ståle Solbakken in Hamar:

National team stopper Stefan Strandberg describes Solbakken as “extremely good” at zone defense.

– Not many, if any, in Europe have better distances in that defensive game, says Strandberg about Solbakken’s FC Copenhagen.

Zone defense is, in short, the players’ task to cover part of the court and position themselves in relation to each other, in contrast to marking defense, where players have dedicated responsibility to different players and take on more responsibility. by the positions of the opponents.

There will be no surprises from Solbakken here. But what about the attacking game? Norway has an impressive arsenal of fast offensive players: Erling Braut Haaland, Martin Ødegaard, Alexander Sørloth, Jens Petter Hauge, Mohamed Elyounoussi and Joshua King are just a few of them.

– If all of our cannons are in cannon form at the same time, you can set up a strategy where you can be more advanced, and then there may be periods when you have to make things easier, Solbakken comments.

But there is hardly room for all the entertainers at once. The French team that has reached the final of the last two championships is a good example: Moussa Sissoko played on the right wing in 2018, two years later Blaise Matuidi played on the left wing.

– How are you going to balance the workers and the artists in the team you are going to form?

– France is a good example. You should always have a bit of each on a team. It may well be that for someone to shine, someone else has to do some of the shitty work, to make him a little nervous. It’s about the team, it’s about the collective and not the individual player. That is what will hopefully bring results.

– Are you more willing to adapt to opponents in playing style and formation than Lars Lagerbäck?

– It depends on the situation of the players who have been removed. Who is available, who is not, who we meet, how is our team versus the team we are going to find. It’s a game, says Solbakken.

It is difficult for him to say anything about which players will form the tribe in his Norway:

– We may be standing here talking about some players now that they are not close to being relevant in March due to injuries, malformations or something else.

It is true that Solbakken has stressed that he hopes to bring out the best in stars Haaland and Ødegaard.

VG asked national team commentator Knut Espen Svegaarden and TV 2 expert Jesper Mathisen to set up what they think will be Solbakken’s preferred starting lineup.

Selected Svegaardens (4–2–3–1): Jarstein – Omar E., Ajer, Gregersen, Meling – Berge, Normann – Moi, Ødegaard, Hauge – Haaland.

Mathisen’s selected (4–4–2): Jarstein – Omar E., Ajer, Gregersen, Meling – Ødegaard, Berge, Normann, Hauge – Sørloth, Haaland.

VG also wanted Egil “Drillo” Olsen to consider the same, but the legend’s response was as follows:

– Ståle plays with four behind and four or five in midfield. I’m not in a position to say anything about which players he uses.