European Championship qualifiers: Norway-Georgia match could be fatal for Stal Solbakken

Experts expect Norway to win over Georgia on Tuesday. If not, things could quickly look bleak for national team manager Stahl Solbakken.

Birger Lowaldli, sports commentator at Adresseavisen, thinks so.

– There was not much discussion about the position Stahl Solbakken Yet, but he will start losing today. This could be the beginning of the end, I see, Lovaldelli tells VG.

The commentator is clear that Norway should beat Georgia in a UEFA qualifier at Ulleval Stadium on Tuesday.

Norway has four points from four matches and is currently behind Scotland and Spain in the standings. Two teams advance.

Solbakken surprises in team selection against Georgia by playing with Kristoffer Agger and Fredrik Bjorkan on the slopes.

In the VGTV studio ahead of the international, VG football expert Ketil Reykdal was clear that he believed Solbakken did not get enough from the team.

– We’ve never had a better situation. We have two stars in Martin Odegaard and Erling Braut Haaland. Reykdal says the results were disappointing.

Solbakin said in the press conference the day before the match that the national team was playing better football than it had played in 100 years, and that they had no luck in the matches so far in the qualifiers.

We could have been paid better, but football is ultimately about preventing goals and scoring goals. We were bad at both,” Reykdal says.

– The national team is not an arena for development, but rather an arena for results. We must not deceive ourselves. It can be very negative even if you win games, and it can be very positive even if you lose games.

-Why wasn’t there much discussion about it?

-He performed well in many areas, but he was poor in terms of results. But the way he talks and engages in various matters gives him a lot of “good will.” “It’s well deserved, and it gives the national team a lot of goodwill, so the patience was a little bit more than if it was a different kind of coach,” Lovaldelli says.

If there is no victory, the commentator believes that the focus will be on Solbakken’s sporting results.

– In the end, it’s about results, and Norway has to qualify for the qualifiers. Especially with the team and star players that Norway has now. That’s why he’s counting on results this fall, even if it won’t necessarily lead to Norway’s accession to the EU, he says and continues:

– It will be a real blow to the stomach if there is no victory tomorrow, especially after what has happened so far in the qualifiers.

On the other hand, NRK sports commentator Jan Peter Saltvedt does not believe that the loss to Georgia will have an immediate impact on Solbakken and his project.

– But the feeling that he was the best so far in press conferences during his time as national team manager will be strengthened further, Saltvedt wrote for VG.

The commentator believes that Solbakken created faith, but this in itself does not move mountains nor Norway in the direction of Germany and the European Championship next year.

– Solbakken’s Norway did not perform at all when it mattered most. If this trend indeed continues on Tuesday, it will mark an autumn of self-examination rather than new optimism, he writes.

It highlights one aspect which is the reason for the poor results.

– The national team management was absolutely unable to crack the code to create an effective defense in the national team, and this is what could ultimately lead to the end of the European Union dream much earlier than one would have hoped and expected.

Despite the possible loss to Georgia, the commentator believes that the role is not threatened.

– President Klavinis and his board have extended his contract until 2026, so the risk of him not continuing in the position remains minimal, unless he decides, contrary to conjecture, that he himself does not want more.

Aftenposten football expert and commentator Lars Tjarnas believes a potential points loss to Georgia would not threaten Solbakken’s role as national team coach.

– Solbakken’s position or job does not depend on three points today, writes Tjærnås for VG.

However, the football expert is clear in his speech:

– It is a battle that Norway must win. a point. It’s also a game in which the performance has to be good as well, which I think we have the right to expect, even though football is never automatic.

He believes it is important to see things in perspective.

– In this sense, nothing in his authority or position stands or falls with a single match. But there is no doubt that both Ståle himself and everyone else have a clear expectation that we must do two things: win all the matches against lower-ranked teams, and eventually consistently surprise, or over-perform, so that we can beat the now higher-ranked teams, he writes. like that.