1: Welcome welcome, everybody! It’s 11:00 a.m. and welcome to Extra Time, at NSKB Radio. I’m Johnny Stromo and this program is sponsored by Healt, “your health is our business”, and Torres Wine, the best Bevene wine now available in Navish vineries. Very good morning for all of you amazing people listening to us in this Monday morning following the 28th week of the Superliga. For our debate today we have here with us the NSKB TV commenters Gustav Arntzen and Richard Kampen, and Magne Skora, former manager of 2014’s Harhalsen. Very good morning, folks!
Today we are going to discuss week 28’ scores, and project the final 10 weeks of the league. To begin with we have Høulding, Harhalsen and Aanvobar going to the Champions Cup and Hudenholm, Bersk, and Lhedvin going to the Asuran League. Thoughts on the current table, gentlemen?
Kampen: Johnny, all good so far, with the exception of Aanvobar, the biggest surprise of the league so far. They’ve been playing an extremely high class football, quite unexpected for a team with such little investment, you know? I’m not going to lie; I am impressed with their performance so far. Bersk has been doing a fine job too, considering their critical situation at the beginning of the season. On the other hand, I feel, and I think some of you might agree with me, extremely unpleasant with both Lhedvin and Brestrand, which is not even in the g6.
Arntzen: I do agree with everything that you said. The least you expected from a team that bought Dimitrios and Qashat for tons of Ducats is a place in the top 6. Brestrand to me is the biggest deception of this season.
Johnny: I think we can all agree that they haven't been in a good moment for a while now, am I right?
Arntzen: Not even a while, Johnny, at least 20 years of descending football! If I’m not mistaken, last time Brestrand won a Superliga was in 1997. How long is that for a team in the Navish big 6? Harhalsen recently won one title, Høulding and Lhedvin also did, not as much as they would like, but they have been in the top three for god knows when, and I won’t even mention Bersk and Dynamesk. To be frank with you, Brestrand is losing its room in the big 6, and soon enough, teams like Hudenholm or even Aanvobar will take its place.
Jhonny: Skora, what do you think about Brestrand’s current situation? What is your analysis?
Skora: Well, as mentioned by Arntzen, they did invest good in their attack: Dimitrions and Qashat are superb players, and i think they bring an enormous fire power to them. The thing is, Brestrand’s tactical formation does not work. To begin with, they have a heavy defense, so it’s extremely hard for them to cover the wide gaps on the field, plus Urgeles is not the best ball-playing CB, which makes the transition defense-midfield harder. In addition, going back to the attacking triplet, they are slow; Dimitrios is in an advanced age, and gets slow as the matches go. Truelsen has a terrible problem with injuries, and they have no back up! Brestrand does not have personnel nor funds to support Fuglestad’s innovative game.
Johnny: What would you guys project for Brestrand? Are they still fighting for the title?
Kampen: Definitely not. In fact, they were never fighting for it. In my opinion, they remain in the mid table, sadly. It’s sad to see such a traditional team descending like such.
Skora: It's actually surprising, Kampen, that Fuglestad haven’t lost his job yet. His team is doing terribly in the league, but their elimination in the Cup was even more shameful; tell me when a team like Brestrand loses against Aanvobar by a 6x2, score, in the Monumental Arena! That is unacceptable! I'm not diminishing Aanvobar, far from that, but it’s unacceptable for a team in the Navish big 6 to lose inside their home against a mid-table team that manage to get their things together.
Arntzen: And another important point is their expansive players, right? NavAir won’t be sponsoring them anymore and I doubt some big company will invest in such an unstable team. They will eventually lose money and won't be able to pay the high salaries in their squad.
Kampen: And not to mention their lack of investment in the base, Arntzen. I don’t remember a recent young star from Brestrand. Truelsen is, in fact, the only player in their starting XI that comes from their youth teams. When did he start, again? He is about 30 years, am I right?
Johnny: Yes, he is 27. His first official match for Brestrand was in 2010, against Union.
Kampen: Exactly! Almost 10 years of wasted youth talents? Instead, they keep on signing with extremely expensive players.
Johnny: Well, the discussion is good, but it’s 11:30. We will be back after the commercials!