ULLEVAAL (VG) Martin Ødegaard (23 years old) grew up on artificial turf and thinks he got better precisely because of it. Now he prefers grass.
The grass fields I play on are mostly very good. The problem with Norway may be that it is not good. When I was in the Netherlands there were slightly different courses, says Odegaard, who gained momentum in his senior career at Vitesse in the 2018/19 season.
“There I noticed a big difference in terms of timing and how the ball was going,” he says. Six out of the 18 clubs in the Eredivisie had artificial turf when they were playing there. At home at GelreDome, Vitesse plays on a hybrid variant with 10 percent stitched artificial turf.
In recent years, the Dutch Series 1’s pure artificial turf pitches have been reduced to three, and there will be fewer when Sparta Rotterdam and Campor switches to natural turf. Only Heracles refuses to replace artificial turf.
On Monday, national team coach Ståle Solbakken had one Four minutes against journalists, coaches and managers. The national team manager received a vision boost, though Many Elite Series tops have indicated other challenges From getting turf in Norwegian stadiums
Ødegaard grew up in “Kjappen” – a 1,350 square meter ring of artificial turf a few meters from his childhood home. Break through for Strømsgodset in Marienlyst. Artificial grass is there too.
– When I was young, I really enjoyed playing on artificial turf. With the climate in Norway, I think you rely on artificial turf pitches for young players. There are no resources or weather to get natural grass.
On the other hand, the captain thinks there is another discussion about the junior and senior level.
– I definitely prefer playing on the grass today. It’s a different kind of football, I have to admit.
He thinks it wasn’t difficult to transition from artificial turf in Marienlyst to natural turf in Spain. He faced some tough conditions in his first year for Real Madrid’s B team. Like when he was substituted when he was 16 on a break in a mud farce against Amorebieta.
– I don’t feel like my game has changed much, but the grass courts I played on were mostly very good. That may be the problem in Norway – where there aren’t many good grass fields, says Martin Odegaard, with wins in six of Arsenal’s last seven games.
For example, it gets a little weird. It is in a class of its own. Had he been playing on gravel, he would have looked like this, as Ståle Solbakken comments about the national team captain.
Ståle Solbakken spoke in more detail about Turf’s sermon at Tuesday’s press conference.
What should young Norwegian players know?
– It’s a little different game on artificial turf especially when the artificial turf pitches are worn. You have to play pretty much on foot and you’ll get other places in combat situations, says Solbakken, before he starts a new little sermon:
– What I added yesterday – I could have used this whole group in this discussion, and that’s exactly what I want. We can’t give up on that match, we have to play on the same (roof) as the others. For example, Rosenborg and Lillestrøm do very well, and there’s no reason why Viking and Molde shouldn’t do so.
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