The players were “aggressive and angry”. Lagerbäck was forced to take an unusual step.

Frustration and emotions ravaged the Norwegian team after the defeat of Serbia. Three days later, they devastated Romania.

ULLEVAAL STADIUM: It is one of the rarities for a Norwegian team to win by four goals. Even rarer is a player who scores a hat trick. However, the Norwegian team could not fully enjoy Romania’s relegation.

For that, the brutal defeat of Serbia three days earlier was too harsh, Alexander Sørloth was still cursed. Martin Ødegaard admitted that he will think about the long-missed European Championship opportunity.

Stefan Strandberg said it wasn’t until Saturday night, or perhaps Sunday morning, that the group of players “finished” with the championship that it slipped.

Coach Lars Lagerbäck realized he had to act after the loss. The Swede did something that he rarely does. To recover from the gigantic recession, he embarked on a large group effort. At the Thon Hotel in Storo, the students were divided into five groups. They were given a pencil and paper and three assignments. It was time to vent.

Much excitement and frustration

They had to put into words the attitudes they had before the Serbian game, and they had to put into words what was not working in both the defensive and attacking games.

The “findings” were shared and worked on.

– We needed to air out a bit. There was a lot of excitement and frustration. I think it helped in this fight. We put our thoughts on paper, says Stefan Strandberg. He came back in a red suit after four years. What was specifically said, you will keep internally.

Sørloth says that everyone sat with a feeling of emptiness inside after Serbia’s defeat. Then the players sat down together.

– So we decided that we will not play that football again. Most of us were aggressive and angry, really, he tells TV 2.

The recent RB Leipzig striker believes the time has come to create continuity in performance. The team cannot continue to vary as much as it did this fall.

Full support for Lagerbäck

Strandberg is fully aware of how hungry the Norwegian people are for a new championship. However, he emphasized one thing. He doesn’t think it hurts anyone more than the group of players. Since they were little they have dreamed of playing in a championship. Now they had the opportunity. It didn’t work.

The Russian professional believes that the group of players will grow with experience. Many are young and have never been in such a situation before. Hopefully they’ll be there again. Then they will be better prepared than now.

In recent days, Lagerbäck has repeatedly emphasized that the promising group of players lacks experience. Internationally, he believes he is more important than most.

The Swede opened, surprisingly for many, to resign as coach of the national team after the Serbia match. Speculation about his future at work did not abate when Ståle Solbakken was fired as FC Copenhagen coach on Saturday.

– We are super happy with the technical team that is, Strandberg emphasized Sunday night.

– I think it shined well with today’s performance. If there was dissatisfaction, I don’t think we would have delivered like today. We have extremely great faith in what we are doing, he continued.

Strandberg believes that Lagerbäck has what it takes to lead Norway to a championship.

It must be the most beautiful

Before the Romania game, the Swede noticed that the players gathered in a circle on a couple of occasions. He took this as a sign that the desire for revenge was very great and that they would fight together.

– Lars told us we were the biggest and most beautiful, Strandberg said at a press conference after the game.

“I probably said the biggest and the best,” Lagerbäck replied.

– I listened very well, Strandberg answered.

Whatever it was, at least the message seemed to work. Group work did the same.

The next chance to prove that is against Northern Ireland on Wednesday night.