ULLEVAAL (Dagbladet): Kjetil Rekdal and Rosenborg made a breakthrough ahead of Friday’s Elite Series. The team lost 0-3 to the OBOS Raufoss team.

1-2 to Troms and 0-3 to Ranheim are other results in the run-up. The team beat Kristiansund 3-2 and played 0-0 against Haugesund. But in short, March was a small earthquake in Lerkendal.

Rekdal – who has been Rosenborg’s top player for three months – faces a huge challenge.

– This winter is not looking good, said Mathisen, who commented on the private international match between Norway and Slovakia yesterday.

Rosenborg opens the away season against Bod/Glimt on April 3.

– There must be some concern in Lerkendal. I thought so too, though they would never say so themselves. No coach or player would perform so badly in a training match. “The decision on how they work this winter, we get after five or six rounds in the Elite Series,” said Mathisen.

But he emphasized:

– Rekdal has a lot of pressure on him. And it’s possible that he managed to turn things around, that he was triggered and liked that more people were skeptical of what was going on.

The TV 2 expert has a clear message:

– I hope he makes it happen. It was important for Norwegian football that Rosenborg appeared again and is where it belongs. There’s no way Bodø/Glimt went into gold after gold. That’s not fair. I hope Rosenborg gets up and fights at some point.

Man:

– There is reason for skepticism. Anything else would be a lie.

Nor does Rekdal paint a bright picture of what is happening in Lerkendal. Asked by eavisen’s address after yesterday’s game – if he was worried – he replied:

– Yes it’s ready. No one here is high on himself and brilliant now. The most important thing is to breathe with your belly and look at some simple grips that can make a big improvement. We played below our level every time we played the game. There’s no doubt about that.

Message to the experts

Rekdal – who took over from ge Hareide – admitted he was shocked by what he saw. On what needs to be done, he points out:

– This is to make sure that we get the shape. That we get a structure that makes us comfortable. That we stop letting goals from every possible team go in. We conceded too many set pieces. We have lost the ball in our own half every time. We weren’t right, we spoiled ourselves with sloppy passing. We didn’t finish when we had the chance to shoot. We turn the sheet over and hold on to the back. Most of what we do, we do the reverse. Quite surprising what I saw, to be honest.

Rekdal took over Rosenborg in the period when Nils Arne Eggen died in January. When Dagbladet was at the memorial service outside Lerkendal, Espen Viken – spokesman for the Kjernen support group – was very clear:

– Now I hope Rekdal picks up series gold as a parting gift to Nils Arne in 2022.

When Dagbladet met Rekdal the next day, he was very clear about what the top job at Lerkendal meant to him:

– I have worked quite hard and long to get such an opportunity. Now I have a chance. So I am willing to sacrifice everything for my success.

The legend of RBK extends

For note:

Not a single point has been awarded yet. But it may not help Rosenborg that they meet Bodø/Glimt early in the series.

– It would be great to follow Rekdal and the team. “For Norwegian football, it’s amazing he’s at Trondheim,” said Mathisen.

Sports commentator at Nidaros, Otto Ulseth, refers to ge Aleksandersen’s famous verse after 0-3 to Raufoss. Title in comment quite simple:

“When the darkness has subsided now.”

He continued:

– The attacking game is even a little worse than expected. Defensive play is very unambitious and passive. Rekdal usually doesn’t accept this.