Vale (Netafsen): Valerenga took three very important points in the battle for the bottom on Sunday evening. A 3-1 home win against AaFK sent the Oslo side over the line.
After a terrible first half of the season, VIF are now unbeaten in their last six Premier League matches. In this summer’s transfer window, the club brought in four established players to help overcome the difficult situation the team found itself in.
– They were good all the time. They were very good in every game, which is good and we are happy about that,” Johnson told Netafsen.
Since the away encounter against Stromsgodset at the beginning of August, new signings Elias Hagen, Ennio Petri, Andre Ilicic and Martin Kreuzrigler have all contributed well. On Sunday, Ilicic scored twice, while Hagen, a former Bodo/Glimt and IFK Gothenburg player, slotted a shot into the net.
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-We have completely changed our strategy
Albanian Petri was brought in from Czech Republic’s Banik Ostrava, while striker Ilicic arrived from Serbia to Valerenga from Latvia. The signatures indicate a kind of separation in Valerenga.
Under former coach Dag Elif Fagermo, the club recruited players largely from Norway or players with experience in Norwegian football.
– We have completely changed our strategy, says a clear sports director.
– We see “all over the world” and on a larger scale. We have also changed the structure of Scouting. We now have four people, one full-time and three part-time in larger jobs than we did in the past. There are foreign scouts. We have changed the structure significantly.
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VIF recently appointed a chief scout from Croatia. In addition, they joined many scouts from Eastern Europe. Along with Johnson, they are responsible for having a complete overview of the double-digit number of countries and leagues in which the club has appeared.
Johnson makes no secret that it was he who was clear about the changes the club needed to make.
– I’m the one who decides that. Which is something we wanted. Of course, we talk to the technical staff of course.
-We must hit much more than we miss
At the same time as Ger Bakke was appointed as the club’s new coach, Johnson moved to senior sporting responsibility at Oslo FC. Johnson says he himself, along with the coaching staff, was there and saw the new players before they were bought out.
He does not want to speculate on whether the new strategy would have been implemented had there not been a change in coach this summer.
– I don’t know, but at least these are the players who will be suitable regardless of the system or formation they play in.
– Firstly, they are nice, hard-working boys. They complement our other players. The most important thing is that they work hard and they will get better.
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Buck believes the positive performance of new players is important for several reasons.
– For them, it is important to feel that they are in the right place and to succeed in getting a good feeling personally, he tells Netavisen.
Buck continues:
-For the club, it is important to get players who we feel we can rely on based on their profile.
The VIF coach points out that he is still relatively new to the job after his move from LSK, which shocked Norwegian football.
-We have to use the tools we have and be precise enough so as not to make too many mistakes. We have to hit a lot more than we miss. It will always happen that you miss football, but we have to feel safe. We have a scouting team that Joachim runs and builds with people who work on the sidelines.
– This is how it works. We have to eliminate a number of players and get a few more on the map so that we have more at the same time in the day when we know someone is attractive to us. “Then we already have a shade layer ready with several layers all over it,” Buck says.
Very interested in something specific
In an already tough market, it is more important than ever for clubs to find investment. After several years of neither sporting success nor European football’s millions to come into account, the focus is on ensuring the quality of potential new signings.
– When we look for players, we care a lot about personality, says Johnson and continues:
-We have a lot of nice boys, but we are missing some “types” on the field. Hopefully the total will be better.
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The Swede does not hide the importance of the three points he obtained at home in front of the table. The relief was palpable in the corridors of VIF Stadium after the match.
– You don’t have to do anything in this world and we wouldn’t have gone down if we lost, but you can’t hide the fact that it was important to win. It was a bit choppy and it wasn’t a great game, we’ve had much better games without winning in the past, but we’re winning and that’s important.
Coach Ger Buck is clear about the importance of three points.
If we had lost, I feel that we would have begun to put our feet in the grave. The three points were very important, says the VIF coach in conclusion.
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