MARBELLA (Nettavisen): – It was terrifying, this is how RBK’s striker describes what he saw of Vålerenga in their previous training match against Fredrikstad before leaving for Spain.
On Wednesday afternoon, the two teams that perhaps disappointed the most in Norwegian football last season will meet. For Rosenborg, it ended with 9th place in the Eliteserien. Vålerenga was relegated to the Obos league.
– It’s a shame that it had to go like that, says Sæter to Nettavisen.
WATCH LIVE AT 4 PM: ROSENBORG-VÅLERENGA
– Obviously went to their heads
The 27-year-old has had a fresh start in Rosenborg with Swedish Alfred Johansson as coach. The striker is still struggling with an injury that means he is not ready to play yet.
Last year was also difficult for the Trønders on the pitch.
– It’s about standing in the damned muck and fortunately we managed to do that last year. The difference is that we are playing in the Eliteserien this year and not in the Obos league, because our last year was a very bad year, he says.
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– It is the mentality that makes us stand here and that Vålerenga is in Obos. They definitely had good enough players to stick around, but it obviously went to their heads. It showed in the last qualifying match, says Sæter before the Direktesport-broadcast match on the Atalaya pitch just outside the center of Puerto Banus.
Marius Broholm helped send Vålerenga down to the Obos league in December. The 19-year-old is back at Lerkendal after a loan to KBK.
Especially in the return game in Oslo, he was a strong contributor to the VIF fade.
– I noticed it especially after the first goal we scored. Then you noticed that they were “shaky”, says Broholm to Nettavisen.
He says that he has probably never come across similar situations where the mental aspect has played such a big role in a match.
– I think they were actually more nervous about the pressure from the fans. We became more driven, he says.
Bakke: – Has a lot to say
Vålerenga coach Geir Bakke himself is aware of the mental aspect in top football.
– Self-confidence and the mental aspect obviously have a lot to say for an athlete and a team. It goes without saying, says Bakke to Nettavisen.
He cites the match against Rosenborg in Oslo last autumn as an example. One match the Trønders won 3–1.
– It is difficult to say whether they were that much stronger mentally than us, but at least they won that game, he says and points out that the Oslo team started to find their shape at a critical point towards the end of last season before it culminated with a total collapse in the last game of the year.
– When they scored further in the second half, all the mechanisms kicked in. I think it was a group that stood up for each other throughout the season, even if the bottom line is that we went down.
Vålerenga got rid of many players this winter and has announced that new ones will be coming in. In Marbella, the two African players Idumba Fasika from Congo and Fidel Brice Ambina from Cameroon are with the Oslo club. They are both expected to get playing time against Rosenborg.
– I think they have looked great and both will be on the pitch on Wednesday, says Bakke to Nettavisen.
The match between Rosenborg and Vålerenga starts at 16:00. You can watch it at Nettavisen directly direct sports.