Norwegian Tippeligaen

Heading out soon to see my first live Tippeligaen match between Strømsgodset and Mjøndalen. Sad to have missed Ødegaard by a few months but as it's a local rivalry it should still be entertaining I think.

 

Enjoy!

 

Strømsgodset seems ordinary with their new manager. They must really miss that fellow they had before, seemed like he had some promise. Wonder what happened to him? :icon_mrgreen:

 

That they do, although they were unlucky last week against Vålerenga and I think Mjøndalen will surprise some people this year. They are incredibly well disciplined and they have some good outlets for counterattacks. The person who impressed me at the match the most was Gustav Wikheim - he was the only way Godset could consistently break down Mjøndalen and has that "gliding" dribble where he makes it look effortless. His movement is also quite good, something you can only notice in person.

About Nielsen, I agree and I was talking to somebody who works for the club and I think there's a bit of a worry at the moment about the direction. The last 10 minutes was incredibly unsophisticated route one type of stuff and that's not what they're used to. They really wanted to win this match.

Anyways, apart from that, it was incredibly entertaining as a neutral (who somewhat became a Godset fan during the course of the match). Their supporter section behind the nets were fantastic, they were allowed to stand, made tons of noise for a tiny ground (there were about 1500 of them I'd imagine though, so they made up a good portion of the ground, especially when you consider the 700 Mjøndalen fans who made noise as well) and they had an impressive blue smoke and flare show before the match. The club employee told me that it's all sanctioned by the club, they just have to apply, say what their plans are, etc. Led to the humorous moment that couldn't be replicated in Scotland of one of the ultras dropping a flare and a security guard picking it up and taking it to them in the stands. Last cool thing was after the match I was able to go into the club restaurant and bar for some drinks and I saw a Celtic shirt of Johansen's that he'd given them hanging. All in all an enjoyable occasion where the club works really hard to make the matchday experience a good one.

 

:smiley-laughing002:

 

Sander Svendsen, 17-year old for Molde, had a brace today. Norway could have a side on their hands in 5-10 years. Just need to develop some defenders or they'll max out where Iceland have (or just a little above).

 

Ronny's replacement at Strømsgodset David Nielsen fired today for not being Ronny

 

This was an ok decision by Strømsgodset. But they should have waited one more week, after playing my team :icon_mrgreen: