Ståle Solbakken has been a popular football coach in Denmark and, most recently, in Norway. He hasn’t managed to qualify Norway’s national men’s football team for any major campionships, though, and he’s been on the defensive himself, resulting in a temper tantrum of sorts at a press conference in Oslo this week.
Solbakken has recently resorted to challenging or blaming the press, even lashing out at individual reporters when he doesn’t like their questions. That’s what seemed to have happened during a session on Tuesday, when he singled out a sports reporter from one of Norway’s largest newspapers, VG.
Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) chose to call it a “tirade” by Solbakken when he responded to questions from VG‘s Mats Arntzen. At issue was why the recently injured star Norwegian player Martin Ødegaard was deemed to be in good enough shape to play 95 minutes in a match for his pro-team Arsenal against Chelsea on Sunday, but not for training or matches for his national team, Norway, against Slovenia and Kazakhstan later this week.
“Is it possible to say that Arsenal has now become more important, when we see which matches get priority?” asked Arntzen.
Solbakken flatly denied any implication that Arsenal has higher priority than Norway’s national team. He said the decision to spare Ødegaard from traveling and playing for Norway this week (first in Slovenia on Thursday and then back in Oslo against Kazakhstan on Sunday) was made by qualified physio-therapists and medical experts after Ødegaard himself said he’d had “a reaction” after the Arsenal match. Norway’s medical team simply determined, according to Solbakken, that Ødegaard, who had flown to Oslo on Monday, isn’t fit to play for Norway right now.
In a press statement on Tuesday, Norway’s National Football Federation (NFF) also claimed Ødegaard “isn’t well enough to play against Slovenia and Kazakhstan.” NFF went on to report that the national team’s own “medical team” had examined Ødegaard in Oslo during the preceding 24 hours and concluded that he “needs time to be clear for a match again and treat the injury he has had after a lengthy period without matches.” He must therefore continue his “rehabilitation, which means he can’t play in Norway’s next two matches.”
Dr Ola Sand, the national team’s own doctor, added that Ødegaard had suffered “a complicated ankle injury. With very few training exercises with the team over the last nine weeks, it’s natural that (his) body isn’t 100 percent at this stage. After thorough examinations and conversations we’ve agreed that Martin won’t be ready to play in the matches against Slovenia and Kazakhstan. In agreement with him we have agreed that it’s better for him to travel home to London to continue the rehabilitation there.”
Ødegaard, who’s also team captain for Norway, was quoted as saying that he “loves to play for Norway and with this team,” but that “unfortunately … the situation isn’t good enough to play these matches.” He added that he needs to fulfill his rehab-process “and get the foot back in good shape.” Ødegaard also said he had hoped he could play in the national team matches, indicating that even if he hadn’t played in the league match (for Arsenal) on Sunday, he still wouldn’t have been able to play for Norway.
Coach Solbakken, meanwhile, stressed that “Martin’s health must come first” and claimed that “we knew there was a risk that Martin wouldn’t be able to play in the upcoming matches. He’s had a strong wish to (play), but we can’t risk his health.” Solbakken ended his statement on Tuesday by saying he was certain that the other men on the team are ready for the matches ahead.
None of that seemed to sit well with the Norwegian journalists who confronted Solbakken in Oslo on Tuesday, and Solbakken went on the defensive. In response to repeated questions about how Ødegaard could be ready to play for Arsenal last weekend but not for Norway this week, Solbakken fired back with what amounted to reprimands and insults.
“Don’t be so aggressive!” Solbakken told Arntzen from VG. “You’re taking this as a personal defeat.” Solbakken went on to sarcastically propose that “I include you in the team of doctors, because you’re absolutely superior.” He also called Arntzen “completely hopeless.”
When Arntzen asked Solbakken not to answer with a technique meant to belittle others, Solbakken claimed he wasn’t using any such technique. Solbakken also accused Artnzen of having “an agenda all the way.” Arntzen denied any “agenda,” prompting Solbakken to insist that he did, and add that “you were exposed a long time ago.”
It was the second time in two days that Solbakken, who was standing throughout the entire exchange on Tuesday while chewing on a toothpick in his mouth, had lashed out at reporters and commentators. On Monday, he accused them of being “suspect” after criticizing NFF’s communication on various other issues. He did apologize for how Norway’s other star player, Erling Braut Haaland, had refused to answer questions during the team’s last gathering in Norway, even though Haaland was acting captain in Ødegaard’s absence. Solbakken targeted both VG and TV2 in that six-minute-long verbal scolding. Arntzen thinks he and the other sports journalists are merely doing their job and asking questions, which the press must do.
Carl Torp, football commentator for state broadcaster NRK, thinks it’s good that some media dare to challenge Solbakken. “Ståle feels that the pressure is rising and things aren’t getting better, so then his fuse is shorter,” said Torp. “That’s what we’re experiencing with Ståle lately.” He added that “the situation around Martin is difficult,” also how it can be addressed, “and there have surely been tough discussion with the players and their support personnel. It’s clear that Ståle wants him (Martin) to play for the national team.”
While some are criticizing Solbakken’s behaviour and view him as arrogant, others think his verbal explosions this week are positive. “For me it shows an offensive and energetic Solbakken,” Kristoffer Løkberg, another Norwegian football commentator, told NRK. “Ståle must tolerate critical questions, and the press must tolerate the response. That creates engagement and interest.”
NFF defended Solbakken on Wednesday. The football federation’s secretary general Karl-Petter Løken told NRK that “we are glad we have a national team chief who gives of himself and creates engagement around the team. We can well live with a bit of temerature now and then.” Haaland, meanwhile, was due to join Solbakken in another meeting with reporters prior to the Kazakhstan match and is expected to answer reporters’ questions this time.
NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund
