Ukraine 1 (Selenzev) - 0 Norway
When Latvian referee Romas Lajuks quite perplexingly gave Jon Arne Riise a straight red for allegedly saying "that's fucking shit" he actually did Norway-manager Åge Hareide a favor.
You see, the Edvartsenesque sending off meant today's papers were dominated by the sensitive ref rather than the fact that Norway were yet again an incoherent and shambolic lot, and that for the first time since 1978 the Norwegian national side has gone an entire calendar-year without winning a game. Today's follow-up stories were about how Hareide thinks the referee needs to take an English-course and how we see more serious swearing all the time, even in the Tippeliga.
What we also see in the Tippeliga are Norwegian players who look like they know what they're supposed to be doing (unless you're watching HamKam), something last nights friendly against a distinctively under-strength Ukraine was almost completely devoid of. Credit where it's due, Hareide handed Vålerenga's phenomenal forward "Moa" a much deserved start and he showed glimpses of quality, and Jon Knudsen showed that while we all wait for the more talented Rune Jarstein to sort himself out he is a highly reliable alternative. But there endeth the positives. The midfield didn't make any sort of sense, Morten Gamst Pedersen seems to be in the worst funk of his career (for both club and country), Tore Reginiussen clearly has promise but still doesn't quite cut the mustard internationally, and so on and so forth.
With pacy forwards like Moa and Trond Olsen on the pitch and the possibility of bringing the criminally under-used Tarik Elyounoussi off the bench, going down to 10 men could have been a useful exercise in counter-attacking for Norway, but whenever the Norwegians managed to get the ball it was swiftly surrendered through aimless hoofs up the pitch. There is a reason Norway are now below Saudi-Arabia in the FIFA-rankings.
"We've just got to draw a line through the year 2008," said Hareide after the game. While that may be the most tempting option for the man responsible, perhaps a thorough analysis of what went wrong would be more useful in the long run..
5 opinions:
Please note that the name of Norway's international goalkeeper is Jon Knudsen, not Jon Knutsen.
I also disagree that Knudsen is merely a stand-in for the much-overrated and erratic Jarstein. Knudsen has qualities that remind me of solid, reliable keepers like Peter Shilton and he could stay as the international keeper for a long time to come.
My bad, the fact checking-department here at fjordball-towers have all gone off on their holidays now that the off-season is on..
Listen, I like KnuDsen a lot and I agree that reliable keepers who get the basics right should always be picked ahead of the erratic one, but in my occasionally humble opinion Jarstein has the _potential_ to be much better. Of course the guy has to sort himself out (both his head and his game) before he gets a chance in the national shirt again, but he's just a kid, 24 is still very young for a goalkeeper as with the natural talent he has I think he will be absolutely superb if he can mature a bit and find some consistency.
(Though I'll concede that towards the end of this season he was looking worryingly like the second coming of Espen Johnsen..)
Another thing about Jon Knudsen: He always comes across in the medias as a level headed and intelligent guy, which we all like of course..
How does this manager not get sacked w/o winning for so long? Are the powers that be conceding that Norweigan football is so bad it's not his fault but simply a lack of talent in the country? I attended a WC match in '94 when Norway played Mexico and it was great match good football....now that seems so long ago.
Lars,
What has happened? The domestic league seems stronger and more able financially so I don't under stand the results. Certain ly Sweden has less to offer in every why but do some much better internationally, so what gives?
I totally agree with your analysis of the situation, and I find it quite perplexing to see how perfectly willing the Norwegian media are to overlook the blindingly obvious.
Hareide has staked his entire campaign on creating a positive energy around the national side in the media, even going as far as to include poor, but popular players in his squads and starting elevens, and this has, inexplicably, led no-one anywhere. Still, he is only just starting to feel a little bit of heat from the mighty newspaper commentators, at a point where even Drillo would have been asked to pack it in.
Maybe the NFF should just demote Hareide to Head of PR when they, eventually, decide that enough is enough. Given, of course, that they manage to look beyond the praise he's been offered from an inexperienced, and totally biased, former pupil.
Åge Hareide, Martin Andresen..
It shows the weakness of the Norwegian media and Norwegian football generally that these guys seem to be "untouchable".
Have they been given a "Licence to fail"?
Any other trainer who had shown themselves to be as incompetent as either of these two would have been destroyed in the press and sacked long ago.
Post a Comment