Rekdal with a clear Vålerenga message: – Much bigger

– Two bad teams meet.

Rosenborg defender Erlend Dahl Reitan said what most people would think about Saturday’s game in Lerkendal.

Because although there is a file bigcompromise, it is by no means a summitsettle for now.

At Rosenborg, the criticism is pouring in after scoring just three goals in its first five league matches, especially after losing 0-2 to Brann where the team sometimes played at home.

Vålerenga’s start to the season is, on paper at least, even worse: one win and three losses means the blue shirts are relegated.

In other words, there isn’t much to suggest that the Norwegian capital team meets the team from the Norwegian football capital historically.

But where is it worse to be in adversity? For Kjetil Rekdal, who has coached both venues, the answer is so obvious that he starts laughing out loud when asked the question.

– Of course here. Not hard to say, Chief Rosenborg laughs.

– He says that the expectations and demands are much greater.

Adding puzzles

Although in a good mood. He admits the pressure is overwhelming when neither results nor a match go his way in Trondheim.

– Here you have a criterion in addition to winning matches, which is that we have to be fun, offensive and entertaining, says Rekdal and adds:

We receive criticism when we cannot show what was done 20-30 years ago. We haven’t succeeded in that yet.

The way he decouples is to put puzzles in the house, to “make his head think of something else”.

– It’s something I’ve done before. I haven’t done that in a few years. But now he says I brought it up.

– How big is the pressure difference for the Rosenborg and Valerenga coach?

– It’s huge. In Oslo there are a lot of people who don’t support Vålerenga, who care about many other teams and other things. In Trondheim, everyone cares about Rosenborg, for better or for worse. Here, the dimension is probably much larger, Reckdahl says.

– If they feel that there is real pressure in Oslo…

The voice of RBK captain Markus Henriksen.

– I don’t think there is any doubt about that. It is quite clear. It is in Trondheim. If they felt there was real pressure in Oslo, they would not have played here, he says and gives an example:

– I think it’s easier after a miserable Sunday game to go out in Oslo on Monday, have a coffee and enjoy the sun, than it is here in Trondheim. Here, you won’t get your coffee quiet until it rains on what they think of yesterday’s performance. But that’s part of the charm.

Ole Sæter, who could return to RBK’s squad for the match against Vålerenga, contributes in his usual candid way:

– Obviously, there is the greatest pressure here. Kjetil asked what time it was, but you wouldn’t understand it here. They got it right at Vålerenga. They have seven consecutive years of seventh place there.

It must be said that there is some leniency in dealing with the facts, given that VIF finished third in 2020, but it is not far from the truth; VIF has finished between sixth and twelfth in 11 of the past 12 seasons.

– You’ll never get that here. They talk here about the coach having to leave when you win a bronze medal. This did not happen in Vålerenga, at least, says Sæter.

He questions the commitment to football in the capital.

– As I understand it, only the clan has a strong desire to appear there for battle. Unless the opponent is good, they will probably play before 3-4000. Fortunately, there are more than 10,000 of us here. I should be happy to play here now,” says the RBK forward.

Strandberg accepted

One player who has felt the pressure as a Rosenborg and Vålerenga player is VIF captain Stefan Strandberg.

And those who were hoping for a war of words about it will be disappointed.

There is probably more pressure to win in Rosenborg. It comes naturally from the fact that they win more. They are expected to be there all the time, says Strandberg.

Note this during his time at RBK from 2012 to 2015: Even if a team leads 2-0 or 3-0 at half-time, they may be booed because the game did not live up to the expectations of the Lerkendal crowd.

But he adds:

– But I feel the opinions about the club are similar here (in Vålerenga). There are many who care.

Strandberg describes Rosenborg as a “fantastic club” and that he “wishes everything well”.

– As long as Vålerenga can’t win the series, of course I hope Rosenborg wins, he says.

Love for the old club is not strong in Rekdal.

– I don’t sympathize with Vålerenga at the moment I am the coach of Rosenborg, says the man who led Oslo FC to the league gold in 2005.

Fagermo: – The beginning of the crisis for RBK

What about Dag-Eilev Fagermo?

– It might well happen. I haven’t coached Rosenborg, and he’s coached both, so he knows he’s better than me, the Vålerenga coach answers when asked if the pressure is more on Trønders.

– How is the pressure in Vålerenga now?

The pressure as a top coach is tough anyway, but we paid the price for it and are ready to take on the job. The pressure at Vålerenga is even greater, and is perhaps among the biggest in Norwegian football. He says this is how it should be.

– But at the same time, Valerenga is a club that sits mostly in the middle of the table. Vålerenga is a club that is talked about as being better or worse than we really are, and we have been. When we won a medal with me in 2020, it was the first medal in ten years, Fagermo points out.

It takes care of putting a little extra pressure on the opponent:

– For Rosenborg, this is the beginning of a crisis. the He should Wins!

– But we should too. So it’s a tough match for Vålerenga and Rosenborg, says Fagermo.