Why Is Norway's 'Golden Generation' So Bad?

[@sebball1]

Because of an insufficient manager and an incompetent FA who refuses to fire him, presumably because he's a former national team player. Such a shame Norway are missing another major tournament.

[@199019852007]

Bring in Ole

[@magnus2627]

​@@199019852007Dear god, no

[@hoze1235]

Ole at the backseat

[@legandrydirk]

Nah not at all I'm Scottish

[@angryscotsman9342]

Please explain how its a shame? Not good enough simple as that.

[@pappabuN]

Pretty spot on. It's quite absurd that as a Norwegian, you just know that whenever there is a game we "HAVE to win", we are 100% guaranteed to lose. And it's been like that forever. We simply can't handle pressure.

[@GardEngebretsen]

Ever since the 2008 Euro Qualifying campaign I've felt this way. Ever since we failed to advance against Turkey then, we've consistently failed.

[@mikesmith2057]

Norwegians are killers -- mentally-- in the winter sports (Nordic and alpine anyway). Why do the soccer players (men and women) choke?

[@Jout8-re1ij]

What is this have to win childish mindset. Consentrate on the game and play smartly as team, so you might win the game then.

[@generalpierogi7781]

Sounds like my country Poland😂😂

[@jinx8624]

england are quite similar despite having objectively better players

[@wythore]

It’s crazy to imagine that Luxembourg on a group with Portugal and Slovakia made 17 points and has a chance to go to the Euros through the playoffs while Norway only made 11 points and wont even go to the playoffs

[@SWOTHDRA]

Smh

[@theginka]

Dude dont talk about miracles Luxembourg is one of the richest country in Eu come to Macedonia poor as shit and still qualify for Euro Championship XD

[@puru6898]

@@theginka extreme yap

[@sindrehemstaddrum4599]

they played 2 more games, and had an awful group apart from portugal let’s be real here

[@sindrehemstaddrum4599]

@@Jiri-j4n iceland is not at the same level of Norway, and past qualifications does not matter at current time

[@maxmagnus3793]

I'm from Norway and this is just painful to watch. My main takeaway is that Solbakken as a manager has been terrible

[@YetAnotherGeorgeth]

As a Wolves fan I could’ve told you that 10 years ago 🤣

[@ziudra91]

Haaland and Odegaard are your only good players mate.

[@MotRi1986]

​@@ziudra91kinda true. However we got a core of decent enough players to reach The world cup or the Euroes. To name a few and their clubs, Ajer-Brendford, Østigård-Napoli, Ryerson Borussia Dortmund, Aursnes-Benfica, Bob-Man City. The position where we are genuine horrible is our goal keeper pluss the fact that a CB that plays for a relegation level team in the Norwegian top league play ever single game.

[@craigratio]

As a Scotsman you’d be there if you hadn’t came up against the best Scotland team we’ve had for 40 years.

[@dmer2130]

​@@ziudra91 sure mate sure, Østigård, Sørloth, Bobb, Nusa, are just shit right? got a crap goalie for sure.

[@Kvannkjos]

There is a lot of focus on Haaland and Ødegaard but the biggest weakness for the Norwegian national team is the defensive players who are too weak, during the last qualification they conceded 12 goals from behind.

[@havardhelgesen2906]

The fact that Strandberg, who plays for a shitty relegation fodder team in the Norwegian league, is a regular at CB is a disgrace. Every time I see him in the starting line up I loose all hope. Edit: Worst of all, there are better CB’s in the squad. This is on the manager

[@Skjerstad1812]

You have to blame the manager. It is as simple as that. As an example look at Newcastle united, under Steve Bruce then Eddie Howe.

[@wildchild3862]

Strandberg and that little squirrel patrick berg at cdm cost us.. its incredible when we have Kristoffer Ajer and Sander Berge who could have covered those positions. But instead we have seen Ajer playing RB and Berge playing as a nr8. Ajer and Berge are physical monsters, both of them 195 cm tall, rock solid premier league starters. Berge is the player across the top 5 leagues thats covered the most distance this season. If we put those two as the foundation of the spine of our team, there is no way in hell we would concede this many goals. The tactics for this team should be a cakewalk.. fortify the defense, give the ball to ødegaard who feeds haaland.. thats it! Still this idiot manager managed to fuck it up.. 3 times!!!

[@peterboyd7149]

As a Scotland fan the game i remember is beating Norway 2-1 in Norway. I thought we had lost that game but the Scotland players have bought into how Steve Clake wants them to play. When we beat Spain i think Spain thought they could just turn up and win. We don't have any superstars in the Scotland team but we have a great team spirt and a great manager. I hope Norway get there team sort. I always look to see how our Northern neighbours are doing. You have teams like Bodo Glimt that seem to have a good manager and team set up.

[@rubens4318]

exactly, thats the game that ended us. it was totally absurd. two goals in 90+

[@handerborte97]

As a Norwegian and had not seen a Norway game for around 10 years just knew we would lose that game. Even when we went 1-0 up I was convinced we would lose

[@TroenderTass]

@@rubens4318 What's absurd about it? Scotland started attacking and norway fell like a house of cards. What was absurd is the passive and defencive attitude of the scottish team facing such a weak opponent as Norway.

[@ColinGLogan]

Steve Clarke respect! Yes I know we're not the subject of the video but there's far too little discussion of what a great job he's done. We've got no strikers and only one vaguely decent goalie (who's currently injured), but he's managed to get midfielders to pile in goals and to set up a superb defence despite limited personnel.

[@themanonguitar3398]

Exactly. As a Scot I must agree, he might just go down as the greatest Scotland manager of all time,

[@edwardrea8924]

He's better then Southgate and what he did at west Brom tbf he be great in the Premier league on e he's done with Scotland

[@sandersson2813]

​@@themanonguitar3398Its a low bar.

[@davidferguson1785]

@@sandersson2813 Tommy Docherty and Jock Stein would like a word.

[@themanonguitar3398]

@@sandersson2813 Ouch

[@giodhuha6771]

Even their women's team which has been considered one of the strongest teams in women's game are on their way downfall. From winning world cup and olympic gold medal to loss against Portugal and other disappointing results, including a tie vs Zambia. I blame the federation for this recent stagnation.

[@seersoftimez]

Maybe Zambia are a good team?!

[@cliterally1791]

tbf that WC was crazy but the point still stands

[@BadselS]

​@@seersoftimezno

[@nishant54]

​@@seersoftimeznever 😂😂

[@Hyde_Hill]

I think this was in part due to Norway used to have being ahead of their time with Women's football and then other countries catching up and then slightly in part Norway resting on their laurels/ regressing. So they kind of where artificially stronger.

[@whatsup9992]

As a norwegian following our national team closely, I am very impressed how incredibly well you hit the nail on the head in this video! All the important aspects and details covered and with very similar conclusion and possible solution to the problem as my own. Even a very interesting new take I hadn't thought about how Solbakken is really not suited as a manager because og him being more used to coaching Copenhagen dominating the danish league, while we really need someone that can make us perform against tougher opposition. I also think Solskjær would be a better option for this reason, despite him not really being a great manager either. Only nitpick I have on this video is the stuff about Haaland being so harshly judged by norwegians. The "jantelov" is for sure still present in the nordic countries among many, but most love Haaland. He is seen as a pretty grounded typical norwegian despite his somewhat flamboyant personality. If you go to his hometown on the west coast, you will find huge wallpaintings of him as well.

[@GamerFlair]

Actually feel like Ole would be an alright International manager. You don't need to play Pepball. Solid defense, strong counter attacking football. Thats shit if you want to win in top level club football, but its solid for internationals since you don't get the same amount of time. Haaland is terrifying when his playing upfront for City who are camping on your penalty box. Imagine how fucking scary his going to be the break.

[@Yoshi-nq2xk]

@@GamerFlair Actually he got offered the job before Solbakken got it, but he refused to sign at that time.

[@casperiongen4899]

Punktene om Erling blir nevnt i media her og der for å ver rettferdig. Ingen så egentlig bryr seg såklart

[@MrRonald2796]

Paraguay's NT is on a similar situation right now, we now have one of our best sets of players in years (in terms of individual quality), but that hasn't been able to translate to a team level with various managers at the helm. Even a 40 year old Óscar Cardozo managed to be the standout player last night against Colombia (he was called up again due to his form at Libertad), when he only played around 10 minutes.

[@takacolon2792]

As Brazilian, Paraguai have so good players, that at least is better than the Equador and Venezuela that are better in the world cup qualification. Segovia is a very solid and good player, Gomez is a monster one of the best defenders of Brazilian league, a legend in Palmeiras. Rojas is not playing well, but in Racing was a monster too. Romero is not any big talent, but is a player that give everything in the field. Paraguai deserves a qualification to the next world cup.

[@luishernandezblonde]

Sad. What has gone wrong to Paraguay? They should have been better but it didn't.

[@supersueca1]

"Tenham cuidado, ele é perigoso, ele é o Oscar Tacuara Cardooosoo!"

[@Hoffanheim]

@@supersueca1Benfica Fan?😄

[@craigsb92]

Cardozo is still going?! Unreal.

[@globoiitsuna]

Hey Alfie, I’ve been watching your vids for a while. Would you be able to look into the Nigerian national team because they’re going through something similar. With the players that they have, many people would think that they have a golden generation coming up but recent results haven’t been good. So far in qualifiers for the 2026 WC they drew their first 2 games against Lesotho and Zimbabwe, meanwhile they have the 10th most expensive squad in the world when it comes to player values and the most expensive African squad. And as many people already know, the Super Eagles are overloaded in the attacking position with top attackers in form in top leagues around Europe. You made a video about biggest underachievers in football and Nigeria was on that list and I can confidently say that Nigeria are the biggest underachievers in African football by far as they should be head to head with Senegal and Morocco but they’re not.

[@seersoftimez]

Don't disrespect Zimbabwe like that bro..

[@michaelkay5268]

​@@seersoftimezhe's speaking facts though

[@innocento.1552]

​@@seersoftimezwhere is the disrespect? Oh sorry, Zimbabwe has won multiple national trophies so it is an absolutely wonderful team

[@aquaowouko5295]

We have a great squad on paper but I wonder if Peseiro knows any tactics. He's only won three matches or so. Then the NFF is one of the most corrupt FA's worldwide with cronyism the name of the game. We refuse to hire good coaches and when we do, we refuse to pay them. I really want to see Osihmen at the WC but we need South Africa and Rwanda to be worse than us. Sigh

[@Vegardsen1]

As a Norwegian I can only praise this level of research! You pretty much cover everything going on with our national team. Great work!

[@Derlino1]

Just a note on Håland being injured in the most recent international break, he did come on in the second half against the Faroe Islands, and that's where he injured himself. He went lunging for a finish and twisted his leg, and was visibly in pain, but played out the rest of the game.

[@akg1301]

Out of context question is Haaland written like that (Håland)??

[@blodhevn2353]

@@akg1301 I believe that Haaland changed his name to make it easier for english speakers, although it didnt really seem to help their pronounciation at all. But two aa's in norwegian is the same as the letter Å.

[@akg1301]

@@blodhevn2353 thanks that helps

[@yvindnystadbakk1416]

As a Norwegian, this is pretty much spot on! Perfectly summes up everything wrong with our NT. Credit for making this video so detailed💯

[@Vivi_dream123]

His videos are consistantly long,detailed, original and visually stunning.

[@sangofesango6925]

And such a shame we won't have a world class coach taking over the team!

[@humbleleviathan183]

Just look at Hungary's example. Take a manager from outside the country with a clear tactical vision and give him time to build th national team around it. The Hungarian national team is in value way under Norway's but the results for ex. the unbeaten year speaks for itself.

[@danielwga6356]

Meanwhile Romania without a single top player won the group

[@davedavis2132]

that will take a while. Norway has always been very big on local talents in the national team. Until recently they wanted only players from the eliteserien in the national team but that, of course, has begun to change. However, Fs a lot of Norwegians and especially the media will not be happy at all if they get in a non-Norwegian manager

[@mihai12243]

​@@danielwga6356 our defenders and goalkeepers are probably our strong point, id call ratiu our best player atm

[@humbleleviathan183]

@@danielwga6356 And praise to them but just before they were relegated from the Nations League B group while Hungary won their B group than almost won their A group with Germany-Italy-England. I don't want to take away Romania's success but we will see how permanent this could be.

[@luishernandezblonde]

Long live Hungary. Being a desperate Polish-American here, I am proud that Hungary has improved. Sadly we are regressing however.

[@jotarokujo9164]

Norwegian here and you are correct. Our federation is indeed low-minded and failed to facilitate necessary reforms. We have a lot of talented players but we somehow always flopped at the final moments because of Solbakken's inadequate selection choices. To say however, you can also talk about Thailand's football struggle since it is ridiculously similar to Norway. Thailand used to boast two golden generations, the first in late 1990s to 2000s, and the current one, that saw Thailand reaching the final round of Asian WCQ twice and Thailand is also greatly benefited by having one of the best football leagues in Asia with so many wealthy clubs that can offer to overpay salaries. Yet for all respect the Thais also flop a lot, never won a single match in the final round and, currently, Thailand's chance to reach the 2026 World Cup is now in limbo after suffering a devastating 2-1 defeat at home to China, an opponent Thailand must win since South Korea is too much for the Thais.

[@ottomanosman2463]

Didn't Thailand just beat Singapore 3-1 to reclaim the second from China?

[@TheRishijoesanu]

Antonio Nusa is an insanely talented player at just 18. His injury hit 🇳🇴 hard in the qualifiers The frontline of Nusa - Haaland - Bobb Odegaard Is very promising. Nusa in particular is a Haaland tier talent. Reminds me of 18 year old Neymar

[@jotarokujo9164]

@@TheRishijoesanu Yeah but we need someone who capitalised them. We already have the players, but not the right coach.

[@jotarokujo9164]

@@ottomanosman2463 But they lost the direct confrontation with China in the qualifiers 2-1 in Bangkok. Losing to China is too much for Thailand now. They have next matches against South Korea twice, how are they going to fare? South Korea with Son Heung-min, Lee Kang-in, Hwang Hee-chan, Cho Gue-sung, Kim Min-jae and Hwang Ui-jo. You gotta kidding me.

[@viriya24]

As I’m trying to enjoy the content about the downfall of another country, you brought up Thai-effing-land to ruin my mood. Thank you 😂😂

[@Arctic_Dude]

I'm by no means an expert, but I'm old enough to remember the national team from 25-30 years ago who was able to quality for the euros and world cup. Partly you can probably contribute that to our unorthodox playing style at the time, and although we sometimes lacked good options up front, we had solid defenders back then. Players like Henning Berg, Ronny Johnsen and especially Rune Bratseth were pivotal. Solbakken has tried a lot of different constellations as centre-backs, and this position seems to be our achilles heel.

[@Trancymind]

Norways defense was also well organized. Norway 1990's decade team even defeated Brazil at the 1998 World Cup.

[@davidferguson1785]

As a Scotland fan I'm obviously happy that Norway underachieved again this time out, but looking at it from a neutral perspective it's maddening. International football is above all about finding a system that gets the most out of the available players. Scotland have two top class left backs, some quite technical, very fit and focussed midfielders and some okay but technical defenders. He created a system that matches us perfectly and we beat Spain 2-0 and could easily have been 4-0. Steve Clarke would have this Norway team in the knockout stages of a tournament. When we played them in Oslo their play was so predictably centred around Haaland that it made it easier to defend against than it should have. They also had nothing out wide. Taking Haaland off with 5 to go was wonderful too and we won the game. It's a team with a stupid amount of quality in it from back to front. It's a dream job for a quality coach. Just leave Steve Clarke alone please 😉.

[@QwertyGuy365]

Scotland won the game with luck

[@QwertyGuy365]

@sumboi2321 Norway had the match under control, but the defender gained an injury when he was about to clear the ball away and lost he’s balance. So a lucky 1-1 goal and that gave Scotland extra drive towards the end.

[@MonTheWell1886]

​@QwertyGuy365 Norway literally done nothing all game it was just aim the ball to Haaland and hope he does something but even then they were only winning after getting one of the softest pens I've ever seen. After he got subbed off Scotland had more chances in the last 10 mins than Norway did the whole 80 mins before.

[@HankyPanky44]

Every time us Swedes fail to quaify for a tournament, it's at least a little comforting knowing that Norway is right there below us.

[@exentr]

Sweden should not fail to qualify. Sweden has such great traditions in Euro and WC. Norway is a different story.

[@terjefevag2455]

Vi vant forrige kamp. Er det 2 på rad nå?

[@bs5am]

They beat us the last 2 games, I don’t see that changing any time soon

[@newforestpixie5297]

Being placed lower the Faeroes must be a bit annoying …I still remember the guy was it Elig Olsen whom always wore Wellington Boots whom left Norway to manage Wimbledon ?

[@exentr]

@@newforestpixie5297 Yes, Egil Olsen

[@jonasstoresund9828]

Great video Alfie! You summarized the situation perfectly. Impressed with your research🇳🇴 Its crazy how everyone in Norway knows this is probably the best football we will see in our lives, but noone dares to get their hopes up

[@Weegie2]

Scotland themselves are an excellent recent case in point here. Until 18 months ago Tierney was forced to play at RB which is probably his 5th choice position and Scotland suffered from the very imbalance. It's been noticeable that Scotland's form has dropped off dramatically since Hickey and Porteous have been injured. This is a tribute to Hickey and Porteous and Clarke finding the perfect formation for Scotland to flourish as a team.

[@ryanlamb9489]

Tierney last played at right back for Scotland in 2018, he’s normally a LCB under clarke and we had O’Donnell and Palmer at right back so thankfully Patterson and Hickey broke through

[@caralho5237]

Scotland has never been a good team

[@chiefgilray]

​@caralho5237 your English isn't very good

[@legandrydirk]

@@caralho5237 Says a lot about the English Premier league then if we have never been a good team

[@caralho5237]

@@legandrydirk Scotland has never gone past the group stage in the world cup OR in the euro. Cope harder, scotland sucks

[@TheRishijoesanu]

Antonio Nusa is an insanely talented player at just 18. His injury hit 🇳🇴 hard in the qualifiers The frontline of Nusa - Haaland - Bobb Odegaard Is very promising. Nusa in particular is a Haaland tier talent. Reminds me of 18 year old Neymar

[@Hvanudetfornoget]

Odgaard is a danish player in lower league 😉 Ødegaard is great tho!!

[@TwoPoachedEggs]

as a Slovak, I think Norway has a better team on paper than we do, and they mightve qualified in our group. However Slovakia's weakness is scoring, while Norway's is conceding. Conceding to sides they should beat is perhaps the biggest issue for the current Norway team?

[@Trancymind]

Slovakia really deserves to be in the euro 2024 and not Norway. Opportunities are earned not given for free. Estonia still has a chance of qualifying for the 2024 euro even though they had 1 point throughout qualifying. Lol!!

[@TwoPoachedEggs]

@@Trancymind yeah i dont think i agree with how the playoff teams are chosen, but may the best teams win thata

[@kidnebhagalandson7487]

True

[@badabingbadabong5645]

Alfie my good sir, you're the best content creator out there when it comes to football. I just simply have to rant about Zlatan for a bit though since I feel the full picture isn't really painted. Zlatan is one hundred percent the best Swedish footballer since maybe the 50s or 60s (probably the best of all time). Although he honestly didn't have a great effect on the Swedish national team. Before 2009 he was an asset and a cog -a golden one- in a bigger machinery. After 2009 and the appointment of Erik Hamrén as manager that changed. He was promised a role similar to Cruyffs in Ajax where he could do and say whatever he wanted. That worked in the regard of Zlatan scoring goals but not really in making Sweden a lot more competitive. Zlatan never went to a World Cup after 2006 and sure that could be because other talented players got to old and/or because Erik Hamrén wasn't the greatest of managers. It's just weird how the Swedish national team rose like a Phoenix from the ashes right after Zlatans retirement from international football after the 2016 Euros and went on to reach the quarterfinals in the 2018 World Cup. A lot more industriousness as a team and generally better results. He scored all the goals sure, but he also got every singe pass, like ever. Since he never was much of a creator that didn't really work out. Absolutely he had moments of pure brilliance when he single handedly thrashed England and also -as you pointed out- Denmark. So yes, Zlatan was the best player in the team, but I'm honestly not so sure that he made the team as a whole a lot better over say an entire qualifying round. Hadn't he basically forced his way to a role similar to a dictator on the pitch and in the dressing room I'm pretty sure I would feel different. At the same time that's a part of the package that is Zlatan. I just wanted to give you an average -very nerdy one- Swedish football fans perspective of the Zlatan era of the national team since I don't think Zlatan made the team a lot better. Also thank you for pointing out Norway is shit! Makes me as a swede filled with joy. Especially now that we've probably had the worst qualifiers since the 80s and looked as dead and plain as a concrete slab.

[@jopearson6321]

Yes, its funny how being predictable is such a massive disadvantage in football. Even if you have the finest technical and physical specimens, if the opposition know exactly what you are going to do, they have a very good chance of stopping you just enough times to make you much worse than you should be on paper. Reminds me of Van Nistelrooy at United, or Ronaldo at Juventus. Brilliant players, but the team became one-dimensional.

[@shreddedguy679]

nah he made sweden better no doubt, who would have improved the team over him? they easily qualified for most tournaments with him as captain. euro 2010 didnt he also put France to the sword? there is no perspective that some other mediocre swedish player would have been a better option than zlatan, which is what you should be insinuating based on your claim he didnt improve them over a qualifying round, naaah he definitely did m8

[@ritchierich2793]

I didnt even know they were golden generation to begin with.. But its indeed worrisome that they kinda have two top class players but a Gareth bale led wales to world cup tournament appearance.. Haaland and odengaard is just good system players, they need to step up personally in order for this team to at least qualified international tournament.. If gareth bale can inspired a bunch average joes so too haaland and odengaard..

[@Trancymind]

It is not a golden generation.

[@mineturdle6518]

It is a norwegian Golden gernaration

[@Trancymind]

@@mineturdle6518 Oh please stop with your sarcasm joke. You can't even spell generation for crying out loud.

[@mineturdle6518]

@@Trancymind stop the cap bro it is a Norwegian golden gernaration lmao

[@Trancymind]

@@mineturdle6518LOL! Oh boy. Nice joke. I love your effort something the norwegian national team defense really lacks with their superb convincing golden generation..

[@tiesjaja2938]

I lost it when he told me that Norway national team doesn’t even has its own base camp….what the hell is that? Northern Ireland doesn’t have one too but that’s slightly more understandable. First thing that the bond has to do is built a camp. That’s straight up amateurism. Louis van gaal always told us dutchies in press conferences how important it is for national team players to have a safe place…a place that feels like home, where players can enjoy themselves together and recover well. He was always super keen and sharp on the facilities/details being top notch wherever he went. He was even involved to make the Dutch players team bus as comfortable and ready as possible 😂. For my hearing Norway needs a stubborn seasoned manager to take them trough an absolutely crucial qualifying cyclus for 2026. It’s really do or die now. Someone like van gaal really which sadly can’t and won’t happen.

[@CanalulAscuns]

I was literally searching for this since Romania qualified. How did we qualify and Norway did not was a big “?” for me 😂

[@Trancymind]

Easy, because Norway is still bad for the last 12 major tournaments and counting.

[@trejt]

I agree with other comments, you made an excellent and informed analysis. I was also impressed with your knowledge of Janteloven.

[@Norralin]

During their golden age, Norway was 2nd on the FIFA ranking for quite some - and also met Scotland in their group in 1998.

[@witchfinder77]

Good video. Well researched. It is indeed amazing that our national team has not been able to qualify to a major tournament since 2000. We had top-notch players like John Carew and John Arne Riise in the past. We should atleast have qualified for Euro 2008, but as usual when a norwegian player puts on the national suit it's like we suffer from a losing/making crucial mistakes syndrome. I can't even believe Scotland qualified ahead of us. Just look how poorly they performed during the Euros. Shameful. We should also have beaten Georgia in both games too. But ofc personal mistakes from the defenders never stop. Atleast we have some young very talented players like Oscar Bobb and Antonio Nusa coming up, so there is some hope. My opinion is that Norway has no defensive capabilities. That's why we always concede goals against us. If we somehow can fix the defensive play we'll be in the World cup or Euros soon.

[@mafiousbj]

Sad that Bielsa was taken by Uruguay, he would be fantastic for nurturing a young group of players for the future and using good tactics to win matches. Sometimes smaller federations need to bring some outside experience used to higher stakes and pressure, to kickstart their growth before they can walk alone with local managers.

[@alohatigers1199]

Isn’t bielsa born in Argentina? Imagine Bielsa managing Argentina.

[@mafiousbj]

@@alohatigers1199 he already did. I think he scored record points in the world cup qualifiers but was eliminated in the group stage in the 2002 World Cup, kinda tarnishing his legacy there. Still the current Argentina head coach and his staff played under him and mention him as a reference and someone who taught them much, so I think Norway could use a coach that leaves a long term mark and gives a style to the team

[@jyynarpalisenniemi6242]

It’s not sad, Uruguay is a good national team and Bielsa is leading them to success

[@mafiousbj]

@@jyynarpalisenniemi6242 sad for Norway I meant 😂

[@zeenagioff4179]

Good video. I'd love to see you make one about the rise of the Luxembourg national team. They seem to have drastically improved

[@alanw083]

Scotland should in no way have finished ahead of Norway in our qualification group. Our team is nowhere near as talented as Norway's. But we ARE a team. And play like one.

[@E6hosting]

Steve Clarke knows how to get all of his best players on the pitch at the same time, well when KT is not on the treatment table anyway. Norway should have been able to defeat us easily they have a stacked team.

[@purplebutterfly314]

And you have McSauce, who is Haaland next to him? 😎

[@legandrydirk]

We got more in the EPL than them yes they got a few big names but that is it we still have the better pool even don't pick other EPL players or people in Bundesleiga And we should beat them again with Gunn Gordon Robertson Tierney Hickey Hanley Adams

[@otto_jk]

​@@purplebutterfly314McSauce outscoring Haaland is hilarious

[@JustHereForCatVideos]

Do people unironically consider this to be Norway's 'golden generation'? Like, surely, a 'generation' implies at the very least half the team being stellar, so 5-6 of the starting XI ought to be great. Norway has only two truly great players. C'mon, let's be serious...

[@ritchierich2793]

More liked golden average spuds... Alfie is in his feelings with Norway.

[@kageryu311]

He is not saying that they should be winning World cups or Euros but should be qualifying with that team. That team on paper is better than Albania, Hungary and Scotland who all qualified. He's digging into why.

[@legandrydirk]

@@kageryu311 How is it better than Scotland?In case you haven't noticed we were also at the last Euroes and we mist half a team and Hampden Gunn/Gordon Tierney Robertson Hickey Hanley Adams If that was the back line we wouldn't have lost 3

[@ritchierich2793]

@@kageryu311 who the hell are this average Norwegian!!

[@daviebananas1735]

⁠@@kageryu311How the hell is norways team better than Scotland. Outwith Haaland and Odegaard, how many Norway players are regulars at the top level? Scotland have 7 or 8 important players at top level teams. We don’t have a superstar, but we definitely have a stronger TEAM than Norway. Put Haaland in the scotland team and we can beat anybody.

[@ezraezra2928]

Next, do the same thing for Sweden and Bulgaria. They were the two big underdogs for the 1994 World Cup, having prevented 1998 host and champions France for playing in USA. However, since that historic tournament for the two countries: 1.Sweden finished last in the Nations League, which also costs the Euro 2024 playoffs. 2.Bulgaria didn't even grabbed a single win this year. The last 2 games were so unlucky that they should have won against Hungary and Serbia. They also got humiliated by Lithuania and Montenegro at home.

[@diomuda7903]

Sweden has chances to rebound overall. They have a bad manager, not bad players. In Bulgaria, the story is very different.

[@ezraezra2928]

@@diomuda7903 Can you explain what is the reason of Bulgaria's incredible downfall? They didn't qualify for the major tournaments since Euro 2004 and had a disastrous result this year.

[@diomuda7903]

@@ezraezra2928 Sweden and Bulgaria have a poor 2023 calendar but they are hardly similar. Sweden has a stable structure and can recover with right investments and right coach; Sweden already has the former and only the latter, Janne Andersson had just resigned. Bulgaria is different. The country's demise began since 2010s due to mismanagement and corruption. The worst is Bulgaria's poor performance was blamed solely on Borislav Mihaylov, the former member of Bulgaria's 1994 golden squad and currently President of Bulgarian Football Union. During that time Bulgarian football had become increasingly intertwined with mafia activities and bribery in favour to Mihaylov while youth system was neglected and abandoned. As for the result Bulgaria suffered a protracted crisis that hurt Bulgaria deeply like what's going on now.

[@ezraezra2928]

@@diomuda7903 That's really shame. Bosnia were also in a crisis mode. 7 defeats out of 10 matches and only finished above Liechtenstein was such an embarrassing. Aside from 0-5 loss to Portugal, the two defeats against Luxembourg was such a national tragedy, considering how weak this Benelux country from the past.

[@luishernandezblonde]

Even Poland, renowned as the biggest underachiever in Europe since the turn of the new century, qualified to even more World Cups and Euros than Norway, is enough to imagine how bad Norway is at the moment. With regard, I am also following shock report that Carlo Ancelotti may have secretly confirmed his interests to become coach of Brazil by signing to a contract yesterday. Considering Brazil is suffering from a string of poor result (notably suffered first-ever qualifying defeat to Colombia before another first by losing at home for the first time to Argentina), Ancelotti's confirmation (already stated few months ago by Fabrizio Romano but the contract agreement might be the first time heard) could reckon to change South American football landscape. Ancelotti is well-liked by many Brazilian players and this was perceived as a major shock in many Latin American countries about Ancelotti's upcoming arrival in replacement to interim coach Fernando Diniz.

[@paraguayhastalavistaysenor9404]

I am interested about Ancelotti's prospect. It's clear that Diniz acting as caretaker meant problems have been enormous. However given how popular Ancelotti is in Brazil and the fact Ancelotti worked well with many Brazilian players, I expected a massive revival of Brazil's football prestige.

[@maciejbala477]

Poland is like Norway lite haha. Not quite as terrible, but terrible in our own right. We definitely also expect the team to be worse than it is on paper, and almost always choke when it matters, our managers have mostly been terrible, etc. But yeah, it's impressive they are somehow underachieving more than us. I felt this video. Many things said in it could easily have applied to Poland too

[@rubens4318]

lmao what, poland has 40 million population ofc u should qualify for every tournament

[@sandersson2813]

Poland is 38m people, Norway is 5m.

[@diomuda7903]

This is even crazier than the weird fact that the best football nation in Southeast Asia is not even an Asian country. Australia, joining AFF since 2013, has been the best football nation among Southeast Asian nations despite its non-Southeast Asian history, to a point Southeast Asian nations have barred Australia from competing in the regional AFF Cup and even attempted, alongside the Arab monarchies of West Asia, to remove Australia in 2015 but without success. I think a video about why Southeast Asian nations have struggled to accept Australia as a member of this sub-confederation of the Asian confederation will be fun to take to account.

[@Argentavis]

Great video, really informative. Thank you!

[@paraguayhastalavistaysenor9404]

I am hoping you to talk about the downfall of Paraguayan football. From once being among the strongest in South America into now a minnow, it is so hard to watch as a Paraguayan-American.

[@thabo3866]

True, you guys had players like Santa- Cruz, Chilavert, etc, World-class players

[@unjubinunuk5917]

@@thabo3866 and you had shaun bartlett and mark fish

[@sihlemasondo2898]

@@thabo3866 lol but they could not beat us in 2002

[@thabo3866]

oh wel...@@unjubinunuk5917

[@marcossenna4612]

They still haven’t had a goalkeeper who is 20% the ability of Justo Villar

[@Stefan-dn8qf]

The syntetic pitch theory is very intresting. This year, the Romanian side FCSB (who played against a Danish team this year and a Norwegian one last year, in EUCL qualifiers) staff members complained about playing the away games on artificial turf, claiming that is impossible play and to make tackles, questioning the aproval of UEFA for those type of artificial pitches. As far as calling playing on them like "playing football on a cheap carpet".

[@davidbowie5023]

Ireland is also in a similar shamble, so no, Norway is not the only one at fault. I think a couple of videos about underachieving national teams of Asia like Iraq, China, the UAE, Kuwait and Qatar can also help. Whereas Chinese fans are yelling about the team's poor quality after the defeat to South Korea 0-3, I think it is more sensible to talk about the shocking downfall of Kuwait, a nation once rocked the world by qualifying for the 1982 World Cup and even held Czechoslovakia 1-1.

[@Scott-bh2qb]

Ireland are in a transition phase though. Norway have the two best players in world football

[@daviebananas1735]

@@Scott-bh2qbYeah, Ireland don’t exactly have a Haaland.

[@Alfie_1]

I have to say Ajer is brilliant and they should have played him in the last qualifying game. I hope I'm not overrating him because I like him, but yeah, he has the ability to be their third or fourth most important player, depending on Oscar Bobb's progression.

[@martinottesen1053]

Ajer is absolutely a brilliant player. In most norwegian's opinion, the only reason he doesn't start more is because another centreback, Stefan Strandberg, is Solbakken's favourite player, so he has a reserved spot in the team, though he isn't even close to being good enoug. For context, Strandberg plays for Vålerenga, which are currently in the relegation zone in the norwegian league with two rounds to go. He should not start for the national team, but alas

[@Thebest-wc3ow]

Ajer is an avreagere player that drops consistent performances. He is nowhere nest world class, and was overhyped by Norwegian media. That being said he is our best centreback and to drop him for Strandberg should have gotten Ståle fired just for this.

[@Alfie_1]

Okay well watching him every week at Brentford, he is far far far from an average player, certainly this season, he has improved so much, like seriously can't overstate how much he has improved. @@Thebest-wc3ow

[@Alfie_1]

Yeah he is fantastic, shame that the coach sucks though. I have to say, Ajer is improving so rapidly that even he may not be able to stick with bad players@@martinottesen1053

[@langletprolet8378]

@@Thebest-wc3ow Players who can drop 6/10 or 7/10, just put a decent shift in performances each game are so important to teams. Teams don’t need star players in each position (eventhough Ajer would be considered one of the stars in that Norwegian team). Ajer deserves better indeed.

[@jamesthomashtunkyaw5682]

Like the story of my tragic Myanmar. Once we had a golden generation that people expected to guide us to World Cup after the U19/20 successful U20 World Cup debut in 2015. Now they are the shadows of themselves due to coup and corruption. At least Norway is a decent democracy. Myanmar? Not so much.

[@adnankaric374]

Do a video about the rise and fall and rise again of slovenian NT. From going to the euros in netherlands and belgium and 2002 wc and also the 2010 wc to nkt qualifying for any tournament for 14 years and now finnishing 2nd in their euro group with 22 points same as denmark but with a better GD

[@diomuda7903]

I was quite happy when Slovenia won 2-1. This moment gave me tears because Slovenia managed to defeat a sportswashing state and prevented them from moving. Had Kazakhstan won that match, it would have been a major triumph for autocratic regimes of Russia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Azerbaijan, whose oil money is used to empower corruption in sports. Kazakhstan had supported Saudi Arabia's sportswashing scheme and given its repression on dissidents, Slovenia's win was a major relief.

[@IHSpark7325]

​@@diomuda7903which Muslim country with dubious dictatoral regime wouldn't support the Saudis?

[@diomuda7903]

@@IHSpark7325 UEFA’s weakness is also the reason why it happened. We should have never granted Kazakhstan the UEFA passport in 2002. That devastating decision made Kazakhstan 21st century’s first sportswashing state and has been the reason why Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Qatar, Russia, China and even Myanmar feel so bold to do the dirty bids. It should have never occurred.

[@kev4the537]

As a Norwegian it’s very frustrating cause we definitely have the players but the coach (Solbakken) doesn’t get the best out of his players and our defense is questionable and it doesn’t help when solbakken (Coach) doesn’t choose the best players we have and prefers favorites over actual decent players. Meling and Strandberg are a prime example of this. They’re far from best in their position but Solbakken keeps picking them

[@antham.]

Hvem skulle ha erstattet han da?

[@kev4the537]

@@antham.Det er bare å sette Ryerson på venstre som faktisk er posisjonen hans og sett Pedersen på høyre å start Ajer over strandberg med Leo

[@antham.]

@@kev4the537jo helt enig i det, men hvem skal bytte solbakken? Solbakken kommer aldri til å endre

[@bababababababa6124]

Nigeria is in a very similar boat. Many talented players, but the coach doesn’t know what he’s doing or how to use them

[@TwoPoachedEggs]

I'm not from Norway but have become a fan of your football through football manager, Ive been so frustrated with Solbakken! Good to hear it is not just me

[@DionBakanga]

Norway need to play a front 2 and make Haaland play deeper. Its the best theyve looked.

[@siler22]

So European countries that qualifaid for major tournament since Norway last did consist of powerhouses such as Latvia (Estonia almost) Iceland (2 twice) Albania,Finland, Bosnia and Hercegovina,North Macedonia and Northern Ireland, didnt wanna include countries like Slovenia, Slovakia,Romania out respect

[@christhewolf4246]

Moldova nearly qualified for the euros this year that's the biggest surprise but for other countries Romania is the biggest name out of all those teams in terms of football.Has the same amount of UCL's as Ligue 1 and in the 1990's they were the Belgium of football

[@fjdshfjkhsdfjkhdjkfgldjdfg]

They didn´t have dickhead and relegation specialist Ståle to deal with.

[@ourmonarchy326]

Still remember 1998, we were beating Scotland, and just a win while Norway failed to even grab a win and we would advance. Yet the Norwegians scored twice against already qualified Brazil to rob our last sixteen dream. This led to a lot of conspiracies that Brazil intentionally let Norway to score. Now their squad is even weaker than us.

[@God_of_Arson]

@@KennethStBriceI think he’s talking about Scotland

[@magnusalexander2965]

If it makes you feel better Norwegians voted that win against Brazil as the country's greatest moment in the 20th century, comfortably ahead of actually becoming a country in 1905 and the end of the German occupation in 1945. It wasn't unappreciated, is what I'm saying

[@aurumcaelo]

@@God_of_Arson hes talking about morroco

[@tourmaline07]

Morocco had a good team in '98 , and an even better one now. What did for Morocco in '98 was the opening game where they couldn't hold on to a lead despite being the better team v Norway from memory.

[@chileanhussar2659]

@@God_of_Arson I would say Norway.

[@soundscape26]

Norwegians - much like Finns - seem to have a very chilled attitude towards football with an obvious reflection in their National Teams. Aside from the sporting arguments, the socio-cultural aspects you mentioned are also quite relevant.

[@otto_jk]

Football hasn't been that popular in Finland until quite recently. The national team didn't fill even moderately sized stadiums and nobody even now when the national team has gotten popular follows the Finnish football league, it's quite rare to get even stadiums of 5k seats full.

[@fhlostonparaphrase]

What do you mean by "chilled attitude"? Football in the number 1 sport in Norway, unlike in Finland.

[@soundscape26]

@@fhlostonparaphrase They won't go partying like crazy or have a collective commotion depending on the team's results.

[@otto_jk]

@@soundscape26 you have clearly never seen Nordic football fans

[@soundscape26]

@@otto_jk Maybe so... but I'm not imagining them being at the same level of a Napoli, a Marseille or your average Greek club. Still I was referring mostly to the National Team since it's the topic of this video.

[@ottomanosman2463]

I think you should also mention my country (Turkey) underachieving status. We have just sacked Stefan Kuntz and while we have achieved successes under Vincenzo Montella, deep down reasonable person like me knew that Montella cannot solve the inner problems and if Montella cannot live up to expectation, he will be taken scapegoat like Kuntz again. For us, Stefan Kuntz' tenure exposed how fragile Turkish football management is, and I fear our appointment of Montella is just an attempt to cover-up our management crisis.

[@goranurengard]

It was a little bit like Sweden in the 2010s when we had Zlatan (A highly controversial player and human being in Sweden even today.). He didn't always fit and was constantly questioned by both pundits and average fans. Sometimes the manager must have been relieved by his injuries. Some of this resistance probably was due to "Jantelagen" and racism. I have repeatedly heard people saying that he isn't reallly Swedish. So thanks for reminding me of his great achievements, Alfie!

[@amdimilker5773]

Racism against Eastern Europeans??

[@amdimilker5773]

That's not racism. That's a genetic fact.

[@myownlilbubble]

@@amdimilker5773 if he was born in Swedish soil...he is Swedish. Just because he might not have a typical name.......does not negate his nationality. Sweden messed up big time.

[@amdimilker5773]

@@myownlilbubble If either parents are not from Sweden, they cannot have a Swedish child. Both of his parents are from the former Yugoslav countries.

[@amdimilker5773]

@@myownlilbubble No, he could still have a foreign name and be Swedish. He'd just have to be part Swedish to be Swedish🤣

[@lmfsilva3000]

I think there's an interesting contrast with the team at its peak in the 90s: good but hardly spectacular talent at the core, a solid defense but above all a system that made a mockery out of their opponents created by one of the sharpest coaches of his time.

[@shmooveyea]

It's almost like elite strikers need a midfield feeder...

[@runarengja8646]

Thank you for this video. As a Norwegian, I can say you are spot on!

[@henrimarjoan7876]

I would love to see video about Ecuadors recent rise and Independiente del valle. Its pretty interesting topic I would love to see your take on it.

[@bentn13]

If I'm not wrong, Aursnes has only not played as a centre back and goalkeeper since he's in Benfica, I know for a fact that he's played RB, LB, DM, CM, Left Winger, and I'm quite sure Striker. Not 100% sure about Right Winger and Central Attacking Midfielder. Many people would say his best position is as a more defensive left winger, allowing for the LB to bomb forward, providing defensiveness on the wing, while also being great at getting balls in the box and linking play.

[@bazhughes5625]

i'd argue Aaron Ramsey was just as good and important, if not better than Bale in that Euro 2016. This was quite evident when he was banned for the semi's, and we lost our main assist threat and Portugal rolled us over. I said at the time that that was going to cost us and it did.

[@Electrodragond1]

I’m from Norway and it’s so sad watching all these class players never get to participate in any major tournament because of our management 😢

[@octavioquartio]

Speaking of Haaland's attitude, note the picture at 29:58, when he is the only one not holding the "Fair Play for Migrant Workers"-banner. It was well-noted.

[@ianmacfarlane1241]

Spotted that myself, but I'm guessing that it has something to do with his Emirati employers.

[@RhinoYTT]

That intro had my creasing, much love man ❤️❤️

[@Earllls]

Solbakken has consistently made poor choices regarding team selection and match management. It's inconceivable that he has a newish long term contract. I'd argue that the Golden Generation is another qualifying cycle away, with Bobb and Nusa to mature, but without a new manager and better defensive players, we'll continue to disappoint.

[@alfred0000]

0:43 Can confirm, there’s a saying in Norway «Give the kids alcohol before sports take them»

[@siler22]

'in short' and there is a picture of Insigne 🤣🤣

[@roolaing]

Jan Aage Fjortoft has been on Viaplay on the UK, for Scotland/Norway, and was really interested in Scotland’s rise, and how Norway can learn from it. Without stealing Steve Clarke, please don’t anyone steal SC, basically, Scotland have started believing. It took some time, but it started with Clarke setting us up as hard to beat. Then we found a way of playing. Now, we’re actually good, and able to give bigger teams a game. That, and Scotland do have some very good players as well. Norway need to start somewhere on that journey.

[@lordpelagius5078]

haaland was cursed when he chose to represent norway instead of england to never play at an international tournament jokes aside its worth pointing out that norway haven't been to a tournament since 2000... they've had good players in that entire time... but always fail to qualify,.... problem is deeper than the players

[@In_my_own_mind]

Why would he want to represent England? He was only born there becauae his dad played football there. Both his parents is Norwegian, all his family is Norwegian. He has no family ties to England and he moved back to Norway when he was a toddler. He has grown up in Norway, learned to play football in Norway, played for every youth national team. Should he chose England just because England is better or represent the country whoch is his home Country? The Norwegian players doesnt seem to give their all and fight for their nation. They are too «soft» in important phases (end of games). Look at Scotland, Iceland, Finland… they dont have stars but fight like a team. Norwegian players have for some years thought they are better than they are and if they are critisized in any way,they get grumpy. And the managers havent been a good fit either. The whole football federation needs a rebuild. They just move ex-managers to other jobs aso in the federation. They need some new faces and new ideas. Its crazy they havent done anything to fix things the last 25 years. They just keep ruining one qualification after another and every new manager gets to ruin 3 qualifiers before they get the sack. They need a strict manager who knows national football, preferable someone foreign (not Swedish, we have tried that).

[@tangbein]

The "players playing out of their preferred position" - problem, will be solved now that Antonio Nusa, Oscar Bobb, Sverre Halseth Nypan and Andreas Sjelderup are coming through the ranks. At least on the flanks. I guess Sørloth and Strand Larsen will be substitues in the future when that happens. Unless Haaland is injured.

[@playitdontrateithomie-ke9ve]

Or just play 4-4-2

[@tangbein]

@@playitdontrateithomie-ke9ve Indeed. But we need a new trainer before we can do that.

[@einarsteien4809]

Great video! However, I am optimistic for the future. Our own league has not been this good for ages, and the top clubs are doing Well in Europe. Top talents are doing well in Europe such as Nusa, Bobb, Zafeiris and Schjelderup. Our youth teams (u19 and u21), have also qualified for several tournaments over the last years, which will give them experience from tournaments. Then again, we have to see if Solbakken is the right man when the Nations League starts next year, and the Qualifiers in 2025. Hopefully we can have some lucky draws for them aswell😅

[@Robvagab]

As a Portuguese I must say with the professional first division league improves the national team will improve . Get Rosenborg and other teams to succeed in uefa competitions and your national team will be solid . It’s all about good managers that can transform rat labs into mutants if you know what I mean

[@nont18411]

Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard show us that not everybody can carry an underdog nation like Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey.

[@DavidLimofLimReport]

Or Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney

[@mekhzino]

@@DavidLimofLimReportthey never carried England anywhere 😂

[@soundscape26]

I wouldn't put Ramsey in the same tier as Bale at all.

[@otto_jk]

​@@soundscape26Ramsey was a crucial player in the prime Wales team

[@anthonykaruri6430]

And Ashley Williams.... What, he was good🥲

[@psykkomancz]

30:00 notice how UAE-employed Haaland is the only one not holding that banner. Should tell you something about his character.

[@cadrollhunting3564]

2 Players alone do not make a golden Generation. People will blame the FA and the Manager, but the main reason is simply a lack of talent on average. We have seen countless teams with 2 star players not qualifying for big tournaments, it would actually be more of surprise seeing them qualify.

[@TurboGauchiste]

Wales do

[@vanjahruska5661]

I'm croatian. I can't complain. We have everything. World class players and results. The last 5 and a half years have been great to watch.

[@DavidLimofLimReport]

Norway are not the new Belgium. They’re not even the new Austria.

[@Iron-Bridge]

They're not even the new Greece, who bundled their way to winning Euro 2004.

[@marcuspoosz2190]

we are by far better than Greece atm, just the manager who is shit.@@Iron-Bridge

[@otto_jk]

​@@Iron-BridgeGreece had maybe the greatest Bundesliga coach of all time, Norway has some random bald cod fisher guy

[@DavidLimofLimReport]

@@otto_jk The Greatest Bundesliga coach of all time? Didn't realise Ottmar Hitzfeld or Jupp Heyneckes coached Greece.

[@fjdshfjkhsdfjkhdjkfgldjdfg]

But it may perhaps be the new Andorra.

[@Liftinglinguist]

I watched Norway vs Spain a few weeks ago, and was shocked. There was zero effort to create pressure on Spain's half of the pitch, the entire Norway team retreated to their own half, and despite having so many bodies, still failed to cover space and cut passing-lanes along the wings. Terrible, terrible work, and it's become the standard for us. Shameful is what it is. There are also a lot of matches where the defensive work collapses in the final 20 minutes, and we concede so many late goals.

[@chechenknightslaillaillall2047]

I am Chechen Swedish, and when I talk about Norway football, our people are just like chilled. The fact that many Swedes do not even think of Norway in football (a lot of Swedes like Norway for beautiful fjörd and calm manner, to be realistic), show just how weak Norway is in the world’s game.

[@black.sasuke.uchiha]

When you were talking about teams that infamously had one key player, you could’ve mentioned Canada with Davies. Going into the World Cup as the clear first place in qualifying, but bottling out once the World Cup group stage concluded.

[@Dougie-]

Because the defence sucks. Really. If the opponent comes anywhere close the box, it's a goal.

[@ralphbason8605]

No mention of Lord Beaverbrook, or Henry Cooper. A picture of Maggie Thatcher should have led into the speach. Interesting documentary as always, thanks Alfie.

[@connorledwith98]

I never get why managers play a back 4 with this team, they’ve got a few decent centre backs and most of them play at a back 3 with club level and it would allow for another one of the strikers to play up top with Haaland, have Odegaard in behind creating with Aursnes & Berge in the middle and i think this team would cook

[@pappabuN]

Our best players are forwards. Playing "extra" defenders would mean sacrificing actual talent. Which many are reluctant to do

[@TheJgenerationS]

Our manager never plays our best team, and brings players from the Norwegian leauge to play instead

[@michaelhudson5009]

You say the black sheep compare to Sweden…. Who also didn’t qualify for the euros and got obliterated by 10 man Azerbaijan just over a week ago 😂 seems to be Scandinavian football in general at the minute struggling rather than one nation

[@diomuda7903]

Sweden has talents far better than Norway. But like Norway, Sweden is coached by a poor man.

[@BigMarcusc1995]

As a norwegian, I want Kjetil Rekdal to take over as a manager. We need some discipline, just look at our U21 they reach Euro. Maybe it's something with our culture? When we fail to qualify for over 20 years.

[@Philip_Michalke]

To see the importance of a good manager one only needs to look at Greece´s run in the 2004 Euros

[@jimmyyue238]

Greece run of 2004 is truly an super exceptional one

[@haraldlund9261]

They played truly horrific football though ...

[@fjdshfjkhsdfjkhdjkfgldjdfg]

You don´t have to look at anything. It´s a complete no brainer. Who hires a relegation specialist and expects to qualify? The incompetence at NFF is is as bad as in Biden´s White House.

[@MrErlendFS]

Some other norwegians have already commented on this video, but I would just like to say that you one or more good sources on the norwegian national team. The only thing missing is that someone somewhere in the norwegian media has a tendency to hype us up and take some wins for granted. An example was the hungary match - TV2 (the broadcaster)was pretty much already celebrating us qualifying.

[@francolive5718]

Norway of the 90s really were the hipsters favourites. A Norwegian was pretty much a mainstay in every top premier league team. They keep letting us down and this time I really thought they would do it. To not even be in the euro qualifying play offs is a massive let down with their talent.

[@FreddieBear1]

As a Norwegian that has felt the qualifier curse for over 20 years, it gets worse and more painful for each season. The timing for specific decisions has been a key factor to disaster. Sometimes we haven't had good enough player options, but at the same time we've been very close to qualify multiple times. We have wasted many decent opportunities, and we have made it more difficult for ourselves. I have seen so many unnecessarily starting lineups and bad substitutions, especially when we have decent options. It's like we choose to play with 80% capacity or less instead of going all in. The only few times we played with 100% capacity was a time when Norway didn't have the luxury options we have now days, and we simply weren't good enough. The only exception was maybe the 90's. Even then there were eligible players that didn't get a fair chance. However that time period had the players and relevant tactics. Most of our coaches are the perfect comparison to idiotic chefs from Kitchen Nightmares. Lets put banana on a shrimp, and vanilla ice cream on a sausage. Let's ignore making things easy and efficient by putting cheese on a burger. That's Norwegian team sport logic for you! Let's ignore finding a right wing, let's put a slow striker or defensive/central midfielder to take an illogical and unfamiliar role. Or let's use a free agent without fitness in the starting lineup. What is even more sad is how the federations are running things. The coaches are bad, but the federation is next level dogshite. We sack a coach when the players are rubbish, and they extend the contract if good players are not performing to their average ability. The federation is clueless! When Ståle Solbakken got the job in 2009, he decided to terminate his contract and coach Köln in the Bundesliga instead. After getting sacked there, he was even worse in Wolverhampton. He has done two decent jobs in his life. FC Copenhagen and HamKam, and I'll say that is an irrelevant CV to take over a team like Norway. I was so glad we dodged that bullet in 2009. However I knew we shot ourselves in the foot, when this fool got a second chance. I can't blame Solbakken for taking the job, but I really hope his time will end soon. Possibly a few people in the Norwegian football federation needs replacement as well. What a mess!

[@HalfGodHalfManYourWelcome]

"Football has competition from other past times like Skiing, Alcoholism, and being in Heavy Metal Bands." 😂 When Alfie stabs a nation, he does it from the back and the front 🤣

[@drs-xj3pb]

I notice that no Norwegian has objected to this.

[@thumpr5419]

a few years we were playing faroe islands. thank god i found another tv channel were they had a knitting contest going.

[@supersueca1]

Feel bad for Norway, specially our boy Aursnes. He really deserves a Euro or WC presence.

[@danielruud224]

Aursnes might be our most underappreciated player. Obviously not as talented as Ødegaard and Haaland, but right behind them and a damn good player in his own right.

[@TheMatmate]

Very good analysis, altough the main reason we are relatively bad now is because we have a manager that likes 4-4-2 formation

[@lokmansahat6220]

Please make a video What the Earth is Going On With Sweden national team with they not qualifed to Euro 2024.

[@kennethellingsen5902]

It's hard to win games without a single decent defender...

[@ItzXochy]

Golden generation = 2 great players these days apparently

[@mineturdle6518]

Its still Norways golden generation

[@MasterKnutA]

Fantastic video, although there's some points you didn't consider. 1. We (I'm Norwegian) played a lot of Friendly Matches the same Week before Qualifying Matches. Our "B-team" won almost every Single friendly match. Some we even could have scored 10+ goals, but we didn't want to humiliate the opponent. Then, instead of using the Squad with the Players who had a Great Experience actually Winning Matches. We decide to use our "Star Team" with people who have never won any National Team Games. I'm positive we would be in the EuroCup if we had kept the same Core 11 players for both the Friendly Matches & the Qualifying Matches. It makes no sense to use a different squad for friendly matches. The friendly matches should be an exercise to practice co-operation, attacking and defending Strategies. 2. Most of Norway's goals are either on The Head or a Kick from long-distance. Against Spain (in Norway) we had 0 kicks from distance. Haaland got the ball 4 times in 90 minutes. If we know how we score goals, why do we try to score goals through dribbling in Qualification matches??? "The Norwegian Team should get Nobel's Peace Price, due to not shooting at the opposing goal". If you look at UEFA EURO 2024 social medias. Almost all the goals this year was shots from long-distance. Why can't Norway learn from the other qualifying teams? 💀 3. The Norwegian U21 team play almost the same way as the Adult Team. If two different coaches can get the team to play the same kind of weak and boring football. It's not a problem with the Head Coach, but the culture in the organization. There's some kind of academy articles that should be burnt on the bonfire. I couldn't believe my eyes. Just look at Norway U21 against Italy U21. It's insecurities, inaccuracy and poorly planned decisions. 4. I'm almost convinced all the 5 Top teams in Norwegian League this year got a better attack strategy than our National Team. Bodø/Glimt, Brann, Tromsø, Viking and Molde, would have given Spain and Scotland way more Challenging matches than our National team. It's almost like our National Team should get their own Team in the National League, so it can practice winning and developing a mindset that's focused on the task at hand. Conclusion: I personally believe in Ståle Solbakken. Just a year ago our National Team was a bunch of Entitled superstars that were unable to pass the ball to each other. So he HAS made an imprint, now they play as a Squad, and a Team with a Common Goal. Now, I do want a New Football Strategy, because we can't keep losing matches in the 80th minute. So I believe Norway will be ready for both WC26 and Euro28. We just have to get rid of that horrible Law of Jante.

[@johnzotheclown]

It's not a golden generation, they've two very good players.

[@mineturdle6518]

It is a Norwegian golden generation

[@djean80]

great video!

[@dequanmsealey1356]

Forgot Sander Berge

[@Uuuung]

Norway's problem is multifaceted. "A team is only as strong as its weakest player." The goalkeeper is perhaps the worst in Europe, without exaggeration. Additionally, we have an aging 33-year-old player lacking pace from Vålerenga, a team on the verge of relegation in the Norwegian league. His partner is a benchwarmer from Napoli. Moreover, Solbakken, who relies on zonal defense, a strategy that hasn't worked at all for the national team. His playing style fails to bring out the best in Haaland and Ødegaard. Speaking of the Golden Generation, the squad from 1994-1998, from midfield to goalkeeper, was better than today's team. Only the attack is superior now. Norway won't reach the Euros or World Cup without a better center-back duo and goalkeeper, along with a manager who doesn't employ zonal defense.

[@darkno6493]

Might have something to do with your main man not being surrounded by Rodri, Silva, Foden, Doku, KDB, Alvarez, Grealish… It’s exactly why Haaland would have failed in the same Tottenham side Harry Kane was scoring 30, 29, 25, 23 goals for.

[@rubens4318]

lol so why was he better at dortmund than city? hes not even a box target man by design, just being forced to play that way by pep

[@uzaidgurjee4798]

@@rubens4318he wasn’t better at Dortmund. Also him and sancho were the best partnership in the league and they also had Reus and a teenage Bellingham

[@Abbadonhades]

You do have a point, but at the same time Betancur, Kulusevski and Son are no slouches.

[@DionBakanga]

Haaland has a goal a game for Norway in his career so clearly not. Whilst Kane has no trophies which is why he wouldn't do what Haaland did winning trophies at Dortmund and City

[@glacieractivity]

Norway decided to only focus on offensive talents in the 1990s (because "Drillo" had "proven" that we were naturally born defenders. No longer do we have a madly angry defensive mid-fielder like Rekdal or the back rank world-class competence of Rune Brathset or Ronny Johnson or Henning Berg who could collectively glue their defence airtight against any creative nation during the 1990s. This is a problem because qualifying points (in case someone just like the NFF does not remember) is a function of how many goals a team scores vs how many goals the team concedes). It is WAY better to win 1-0 than lose 3-4, for example. Heck, a 0-0 is way better in qualifying than playing brilliantly forward and losing 3-4. I am not saying that there are no Norwegian players left with a defensive bone in their body - but there are lacking links between the back 4 and at least 1-2 midfielders with a defensive bone in their body who can also play as link-up players. Sure, under Drillo Norway did well by pure defensive structure. Now everyone knows how to play "Drillo" defensively. The problem is that the GOOD teams go one, two or three levels above, by varying between zone defence and extreme competence of defenders tackling the best dribblers one-on-one. Conclusion: Norwegians are not "naturally born defenders". That is skill sets that must be honed as much as talents with "creative hearts" (as if the best defenders are not "creative"). This is a sad case of understanding in NFF. Every big effort can only be about one thing - lasting a decade or two from talents who are 6 years old until they can potentially start for the national team in their early 20s (often later for defensive players). Viola, here we are. We have at least 10 good choices to pick from the mid-field/up while going on attack, while defensively we can not even make a solid foundation of 4-6 players to make a coherent and well-functioning defensive play when nobody is injured. I am sure NFF is setting up the next big strategy for the next 20 years as I type (since we now are naturally born attackers) focusing only on defensive midfielders or something to be ready for qualifying stages in the late 2030s. Unfortunately, by then even Haaland and Ødegård as youngsters have probably retired. Thus, we will then try to qualify with a plethora of great defensive mid-fielders alone. On the upside, we will have a lot of Norwegian players doing an excellent defensive job for the best teams in Europe. NFF is the biggest "design the future by committee" stupidity known to mankind since the Soviets and China were doing 5-year planned economy outlines during the middle of the last century. If NFF were planning to create the best hotel in the world, they would educate the best team i.e. Concierges on the planet. Totally forgetting that a good hotel also needs decent management, front-line staff, kitchen staff, excellent, room service, event organizers, sommeliers, baristas, housekeepers, maintenance teams (etc). So not the great hotel experience it would have been. But a brilliant lineup of concierges, of course. NFF would have nailed that side of it to nobody's complete enjoyment from the total hotel experience. This is why Norway never again will forge a team. NFF is a one-strategy organization. On the upside, I bet they have very clean and clear strategy documents. It is the same organization that saw Norwegian women doing well during the 1980s and 1990s and concluded that Norwegian women are naturally born footballers, after all - thus no developing strategy was needed at all. TBH - I want to give the NFF over entirely to the Norwegian Handball Association. The latter showed that Norwegians could do team sports wearing shorts well on the international stage back in the 1980s. They have continued to evolve, change and even move the sport forward on the international stage ever since. Put those people in charge of football for a few years.