What now, Egil?

January 7th, 2010 | by: HJ | Comments(7)

Finally given the job on a permanent basis, Egil Olsen will be in charge of the Norwegian National Football Team for the next three years. Olsen has always been a controversial figure in the football world, with his left-wing political opinions and his often criticised style of football. He’s also known for his extreme knowledge about world geography. Ask Egil Olsen about the area of any country in the world, and he will, without hesitating, present you with the correct answer.

But since this is a football blog, and not one that focuses on geography or politics, I’ll focus on Egil Olsen’s tasks from now and until 2012. Many pundits, colleagues, players and former players have dubbed his style of football as “boring” and “negative”. Olsen himself has stated that he could have done a better job with Brazil than Zagallo did in the 90’s, and that Barcelona, who won the treble last season, would improve greatly if they stopped “dallying so much with ball”. These statements make him “easy to hate”, but the most important thing in football is still results. And with the Norwegian National Team, Olsen’s results have arguably been extremely good. In his first stint, he coached the Norwegian team from 1990 to 1998, guiding them to World Cup final tournaments in 1994 and 1998, Norway peaking as number two on the FIFA ranking. And with 5 wins from 9 games in 2009, many fans felt that he deserved another chance as permanent head coach.

So what will you do in this three years, Egil?

He will most certainly continue to build on a strong defensive foundation, with Fulham defender Brede Hangeland as the natural leader at the back. John Arne Riise is without a shadow of doubt a first choice at left back. The Roma star was not only solid defensively in 2009, but also emerged as a offensive threat, linking up well with Morten Gamst Pedersen and scoring some trademark goals from freekicks. Jon Knudsen is the current first choice goalie, but at the age of 35 he must soon be replaced. Rune Jarstein seems to be the only leading candidate for the future, especially since lots of the goalkeepers in the Norwegian Premier Division have been very error-prone for the last couple of years. Tom Høgli played well at right back this year, both for his club Tromsø and country, and seems to edge the position in front of Jon Inge Høiland, who also can be used as a central defender. Tore Reginiussen, young defender who recently signed for high-flying Schalke 04, will emerge as Hangeland’s partner if he continues to develop in Germany. But for now, veteran Kjetil Wæhler, who Olsen bought to Wimbledon, will continue to partner Hangeland in the heart of the Norwegian defence.

Offensively, we have struggled to control matches for full 90 minutes, even against weak sides such as FYR Macedonia and Iceland. Morten Gamst Pedersen had a good year and is certain to continue in his position out left in the midfield, regardless of some speculation regarding his future at Blackburn Rovers. Of course, the best thing will be if his form improves in Blackburn or some other club where he can play regularly. Another player who is struggling in the English Premier League is Fulham’s Bjørn Helge Riise. The younger brother of John Arne, joined Roy Hodgson’s team in the summer, but hasn’t managed to break into the side yet. But he has done his things well in the Europa League, so we’ll hope that he soon finds his feet in the Premiership as well. In the centre of midfield we have a lot of solid, if unspectacular, lads that are fighting for two or three (depending on Olsen’s preferred formation) places. Henning Hauger, reliable, hard-working anchor for Stabæk, Per Ciljan Skjelbred, linked to a few European clubs (including Newcastle United), Kristofer Hæstad, who had a very short and unsuccessful stay at Wigan, Christian Grindheim, doing okay for Dutch outfit Heerenveen, Alex Tettey, young talent playing for Rennes, and Fredrik Strømstad, higly talented, but rocked by injuries for a few years now, seems to be the most likely candidates here.

Up front, John Carew is a key player. He has all what it takes to be a top-class striker, but struggles to perform consistently. The Aston Villa targetman needs to be more involved in our games and will have to get his name on the scoresheet more often. Erik Huseklepp, currently our hottest prospect, will probably be sold to a good European league and hopefully be a vital asset for the Norwegian team already this year, and for many years in the future. Experienced striker Thorstein Helstad is a good goalscorer, while a few other might emerge from the Norwegian Premier Division as solid candidates. Daniel Braaten has done reasonably well for French top-flight team Toulouse and can be used both as a striker and as a winger. Erik Nevland has proved himself as a good striker, when given the chance to play for Fulham, but he doesn’t seem to be one of Olsen’s preferred ones.

CURRENT FIRST TEAM (4-4-2):

Knudsen

Høgli Hangeland Wæhler J.A. Riise

B.H. Riise Hauger Grindheim Pedersen

Carew Huseklepp

LIKELY TEAM IN A COUPLE OF YEARS (4-4-2)*:

Jarstein

Høgli Hangeland Reginiussen J.A. Riise

B.H. Riise Hauger Tettey Pedersen

Carew Huseklepp

* Extremely difficult to predict our future team. If Reginiussen doesn’t perform as well as expected, young Arsenal defender Håvard Nortveit (currently on loan to struggling Nuremberg) may well be given a chance. There are also loads of young players in Norway who may develop beyond those listed above. I will therefore write a more in-depth post about up-coming young Norwegian footballers in the near future.

Until then, have a nice day.