FC Zurich, Bodo/Glimt’s opponent, won the league this spring for the first time since 2009.
It stands in stark contrast to the way this season has started.
The club lost successful coach Andre Breitenreiter to Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga. The new manager, Franco Voda, who came straight from his job as Austrian manager, had a terrible start.
The team comes second after the last in the Swiss series, without a win, but with two draws and six defeats in the first eight matches. In the Europa League, they lost their first home match against Arsenal.
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– Special
New to the team is former Rosenborg player Ole Selnais.
– It wasn’t easy. It has been up and down. It’s common, especially when you have a new coach. We know we have quality in the team, and whatever it takes to change it,” Selnæs said at Wednesday’s press conference at Aspmyra.
– It can get ugly
The 28-year-old says that despite being abroad for several years, he follows Norwegian football closely, and knows the Bodø/Glimt team well.
– They have an insanely high standard, especially at home, everyone should be aware of that. We know it will be a tough match.
– You have played in both the Swiss and Norwegian leagues, which is your favorite team?
“In my opinion, the Swiss league has a little higher quality, especially in terms of individual skills, but it will be an equal match, so we’ll see on Thursday,” Selnæs answered.
responds to criticism
– Equal
At Glimt’s press conference on Wednesday, Glimt coach Kjetel Knutsen said Robert Hauge, who is in the Nordic coaching staff, had seen Zurich live. He cautions against using performance in the Swiss league as an indicator.
The Swiss league is good. But our best context is their matches in Europe. They beat Linfield, and had a fun game against Arsenal. Arsenal were the best, but there weren’t many chances in front of the Zurich goal, Knutsen explains.
“I think we are two equal teams, so I hope that with the advantage of home and the smell of Europe and all that it takes, we can exploit their weaknesses, without going into what they are,” he continued.
Knutsen also praised Selnæs’ role on the team.
– Very good player. He is very central to their attacking play from a midfield position. They are a good team on the counter-attack and obviously good individually, Knutsen praised the former national team player.
I spoke: Uli Selnais with Zurich coach Franco Voda. Photo: Henrik Myhrvold Simensen / Dagbladet
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Special case
The 28-year-old has been playing Chinese football from 2019 until this summer. He also spent a lot of time without playing matches during the Corona pandemic. He has been a key player in Norway’s national team for several years under Lars Lagerback, but has not been in a squad since 2019.
For my part, I feel better and better. I’ve been going a long time without playing, but I feel like I’ve been able to show my qualities in the last few games.
Prepare: – deaf tone
He was also asked if he had had any dialogue with national team manager Stal Solbachen.
– It was something special for me with things like that in China. Now I’m back in Europe, and I have a goal of playing myself attractively again. I just want to focus on what I do at the club, play well, that’s the focus, and then we have to do other things at the end, Tronder answers.
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