In a recent interview with media channel, Nettavisen, Nils Johan Semb, reflects. Talking about his own career in football, “Landslaget”, and more.
A major hot topic of course on the agenda, will Norway ever return playing at the highest level? Euro 2000 marked the last time the world would witness “Landslaget” at a major international tournament.
The interview, being staged at Grand Hotel, in his own home town, Åsgårdstrand. A nice location close to the beach harbour. Another son of the city is the world known painter, Edvard Munch.
Nils Johan Semb is primarily known as a skilled football expert. But he does not sit in a sports bubble in his home without catching up on what is happening outside. I follow the political agenda both in Norway and the world community, where there are rather troubled times. He believe and says, it is quite frightening, to see how polarized it is in some places and which way the wind is blowing.
Semb om trenerlegenden: – Det irriterer meg hvor sur og gretten han er https://t.co/LG366yWjUY
— Nettavisen Sport (@NettavisenSport) November 10, 2024
Semb has been running a farm since he was 20 years old. He would not describe himself as “handy”. He does a lot of rough work. He likes to paint, doing a bit of building maintenance, but when it comes to carpentry and such, he do not describe himself as “handy”. His son and daughter are very clever, he says.
Although he is still in the limelight in the form of the TV job in Viaplay, it does not storm like it once did around the former top football manager. Around the employer Viaplay, however, there has been strong wind in recent months due to expensive subscriptions and most recently when the group acquired the rights to Saudi Arabian football. Semb admits that he was a bit taken back by the latter news. Within the TV industry, this is business and managed from the outside by what we have at our disposal. His agreement and focus are on English football and Norwegian football in the European Cup. He also gives lectures and is still hired out to the NFF, where he, among other things, trains coaches on the highest coaching training, Uefa Pro licence. He finds it rewarding to spar with coaches who are operative at the highest level in Norway, both on the men’s and women’s side.
He places Pep Guardiola, Jürgen Klopp and Carlo Ancelotti on the “podium” when asked which coaches inspire the most internationally. Semb believe in Pep. He has been the innovative figure, starting with Barcelona. It was a football revolution. Diego Simeone also gets an honorable mention for what he has done at Atletico Madrid. The conversation turns to José Mourinho, who was recently given a hard time by Semb and Jan Åge Fjørtoft in the Viaplay’s studio. Semb describes Mourinho as an innovative coach, but also that the Portuguise has lost a lot. He do not recognize the Mourinho identity and get irritated by how angry and grumpy he is.
He particularly enjoys working with English football now, with Erling Braut Haaland and Martin Ødegaard among the Premier League’s most influential players. Semb says you have to pinch yourself, because it may be that this is “once in a lifetime”. It is not certain that it is, but that we have two up there competing to be named player of the year in the Premier League, I don’t think people should think that it is a habit. The 65-year-old thinks it is sad that Oscar Bobb fractured his foot before the season, which meant that he has had to watch the Premier League season from the sidelines for the time being, after a promising start. It would have been terribly exciting to see Oscar Bobb. What had he achieved at Manchester City? Pep Guardiola recently stated “Oscar Bobb was our most important player before the season. We miss him very much in our team today”.
In addition, you have Antonio Nusa, the 19 year old has started well in Bundesliga since joining RB Leipzig. Norway have young players who are at the top in Europe. It is taking the last step from there, to get to where Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard are. You can become a Premier League player, but becoming such a leading Premier League player, I think that the Norwegian football public must enjoy it.
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