Relentless: – Disappointed

Intelligence Arena (Dagbladet): – I wasn’t good enough. And that is just how it is. And that affects me, says the head of VIF for Dagbladet.

– I didn’t get enough of the players I had. The group has more potential than we have achieved. This is my responsibility.

But:

– Keep what I like. I’ll do it until he finally goes to hell. It’s not worse than that.

Vålerenga prepares for the first leg against Sandefjord on Sunday. Tenth place after four rounds isn’t much to cheer.

But as Fagermo emphasizes: The Elite Series 2022 is young. Only after five or six more matches – which will actually be the end of May – can it read where Vålerenga will position himself this season.

– I’m frustrated from the start. Fagermo points out that we weren’t as good as I thought.

– This winter we were very good. We can defeat anyone. For some reason we got worse 14 days before the series started. Here we are still a little

We are at Intility Arena. The sun is shining outside. Fagermo is honest about what he thinks doesn’t work while looking at his artificial turf.

We had half an hour at home against Haugesund (April 10). Then the level was high. But that’s it. We’ve become very open defensively. It’s very easy for us to end up. We are also not dangerous enough for the potential we create to have enough goals.

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We weren’t so lucky with injuries. We lost speed and creativity. Then we have players who are not up to the level they should have been.

One positive thing is that Aron Dønnum (24 years old) is starting to shine in training once again. It is on loan from Standard Liège until June.

Vajirmo thinks he may have used Dønnum differently when he returned from Belgium.

– You led Aaron directly into the team. He was completely without self-confidence, and maybe I should build it up gradually. But now he is really starting to get better in training. Aaron is coming, coach says.

Rejected bids

– I decided to play it in shape. But he was deeply affected by the ordeals there. He is completely honest about that.

The first man at the Intility Arena started with bronze in the Elite Series in his first year at Vålerenga. Last year, team number seven was created.

The goal is to win the gold medal with him. If that doesn’t work, he won’t be the first to fail. Martin Andersen, Kittel Ryckdal and Ronnie Della have failed since 2008. This was the last time the club won the Gold Cup.

Among the excuses put forward was the “difficulty of training Vålerenga”.

But Fagermo says:

– It’s not that coaching Vålerenga is a bit more difficult than coaching other clubs. There are a lot of great people here. There are strong support groups. But that’s how it should be at a big club.

Fagermo understands that Vålerenga is the best in supporter culture. In two home matches, the team received an average of only 6,777 spectators. But the volume at Intility Arena is phenomenal.

The stadium is great. Very intimate. Our fans are raw. But we also face the challenge of getting ordinary people into battle.

Sunday’s opponent, Sandfjord, comes from a 5-0 win over Stromsgodset.

I expect we will have eleven players ready. We didn’t have that when we lost 5-1 to Bodo/Glimt, says Vagermo.

Desired love

Aron Dønnum – who went to Standard Liège last summer – says the professionalism at Vålerenga is second to none.

The Belgian League got very good reviews. I’ve seen how it’s done, but he thinks it’s good here.

– I like what Vålerenga is doing. Fagermo’s identity is clear. We lost two games, and of course we should have done better. But it’s early in the season. In short, I think it was a good start.