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Episode 11: Superliga transfer window special w/ Casper De Linde & Kasper Pedersbæk
516 Plays2 years ago
Danish Dyna-Mic is back to pick through the bones of a crazy Superliga transfer window with Casper De Linde (@casperdelinde) and Kasper Pedersbæk (@kasperpeders) as we look at all the major comings and goings in the league.
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Support
00:00:08
Speaker
This is Danish Dynamike, the Superleaguer podcast, brought to you by footballingdenmark.com. Welcome back to Danish Dynamike and I'm feeling pretty good. The Superleaguer is just over two weeks away. The transfer window has slammed shut and Arsenal are top of the league. The last point is something for a different podcast entirely, but the first two points are very much the topic of discussion on today's pod as we pick through the comings and goings of another mad transfer window in Denmark.
00:00:37
Speaker
It's a bit of a relief that all the rumours can stop and we can reflect on what's actually happened. As ever, if you want to support what I'm doing at Football in Denmark, please consider heading to Patreon and signing up at patreon.com forward slash football in Denmark and a belated shout out to the latest Patreon, Kyle Bullen. Thanks for your support,
Guest Introductions
00:00:56
Speaker
Kyle. It's really appreciated.
00:00:58
Speaker
So let's get into the show and with me to discuss everything that's been going on. I've got a couple of returning guests, always nice to have returners. It means I didn't upset them too much the first time around or the second time around. So I'd like to introduce the two Kaspers, FC Nordsland superfan Kasper de Linde and Bromby Data Wizard Kasper Headersback. Lads, welcome. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Why is January Dramatic?
00:01:22
Speaker
Is it just me or does the January window seem a lot more dramatic than the summer one when it comes to the Superleaguer? I think that the January window, it's not open for a month. It's only open for one day, the last day. Yeah, I do wonder why teams wait till the last minute. I saw a report that Peter Christensen from FCCo was sort of holed up in a hotel doing deals on the final day. I think you've had the whole winter break to plan for this. What's going on?
00:01:51
Speaker
I think basically all the football clubs are just run by teenage boys from high school doing their homework the last day before turning it in.
Team Transfer Ratings
00:02:01
Speaker
Before we get into talking about individual teams, just you two on a personal level, how do you rate your team's windows out of 10, say? Kasper, you get the honour to start.
00:02:13
Speaker
Well, from 1 to 10, I say pretty much an 8. An 8? That's pretty good. How about FC Norjland? Yeah, I'm in between an 8 and a 9. But as Kethbo says, 8, then I'm going to beat him today, right? So now it's a 9. It's a 9. Wow. OK, well, let's start with these two teams then, because it sounds like there's lots to talk about. So if we talk first about FC Norjland,
00:02:41
Speaker
big sort of in comings look like sedans said to me who turned a lot of heads this is a young guy who had head over to the boonders league was playing for leather cousin and he's been brought back to the super league and this was this came as a complete surprise i didn't see any rumors.
00:02:57
Speaker
nothing about that. And on top of that, Emiliano Marcóndez came back to Nordsland, bit of a cult hero and his unveiling was pretty special. And then there was some backup in the goalkeeper space with Carl Johan Ericsson. How do you feel about those incomings? Are they going to be players that
00:03:15
Speaker
can help propel Nordsland to the title?
FC Nordsland's Key Signings
00:03:17
Speaker
I think if you start with Mark Kondis, he's of course the obvious replacement for Sjellorp. I think he has early on showed that he has the level to make a difference. I think his biggest problem is now he's not delivered that value for quite some time.
00:03:35
Speaker
There is a bit of a question mark on how his level is now, but at least he's shown earlier that he can be a proper, proper signing to FC. I think it was like 17 goals in 17 games or something like that.
00:03:51
Speaker
I think we saw in the summer with Wahid Faghir that he was perhaps a bit of a distressed asset in terms of he left for the Bundesliga, really didn't get much of a chance there. And so coming back to Nordsland was a kind of chance to get his career back on track. Do you see that being the case for some of these signings?
00:04:08
Speaker
Yeah, I think especially if we stick with, uh, if we stick with Vakandes for now, then I think he needs to figure out what he wants to do. The agent said he had quite a few different options. Six months in safe haven in FC Norschland, probably not too bad to figure out if he's going out for a last resort or if he's going to stay in Faom. And I think with Fakir, yes, no doubt, he also came back with a similar plan.
00:04:32
Speaker
And I also think that that is what if Sörschland can provide a plan, playing time and attractive system. You mentioned that was a six month deal. Zidane said to me, I believe signed a four year contract, which is a lot more of a long term commitment and perhaps a sign that he sees this as being maybe the chance to get another big move in the vein of Sheldrup. Yeah. Zidane is interesting. A bit of a blessing and a curse with that name, huh?
00:04:59
Speaker
So it's a three-year contract because he's still under 18, so that's the maximum that he can get. So I think with him, he will sit on the bench for the first six months. I think he's going to wait his chance to see if he's better than Jakob Steenkrestensen, Bistropp and Diamande.
00:05:18
Speaker
But I don't think he is intended to start now.
Goalkeeper Dynamics
00:05:21
Speaker
He needs to be better than the three that's been absolutely brilliant. And then when summer comes, we talked about the last time, the big reset button will be pushed in FC Neuschland and then they need the right players for the future. So I think with Sidan, it's all about being ready for
00:05:38
Speaker
for the summer 2023. But he's an interesting player. And I've seen a lot of these under 19 games. I can see a lot of people on the internet like talking like they've seen him a lot. I've actually seen him in these youth games. And he's he's an interesting player because his technique is extraordinary. And he has a pretty attitude, pretty cheeky attitude on the pitch. So I think he's going to be exciting to watch from a Super League perspective.
00:06:06
Speaker
Brilliant. And Ericsson, talk to me about what you see his role being in the sort of remaining six months of the season. Yeah, I think hopefully he'll have absolutely no role to play, because that means that Andreas Hansen hasn't gotten a red card, hasn't been injured. And I think if Sinoshina just learned from their mistakes, which was that they put in a two-week goalkeeper, yeah, a little more than a year ago now, right? And we've seen the consequences of that.
Sheldrup's Impact and Departures
00:06:36
Speaker
and we will do our utmost to play to win the championship and in order to win the championship you need a goalkeeper with two arms, two legs, a proper height and a bit of a senior experience and I think that's what he'll be contributing with if we need him.
00:06:51
Speaker
Fantastic, yeah. And on the flip side, there were some pretty significant departures. I know that when we spoke last time, you had anticipated that there might be a monster bid come in for Sheldrup. And sure enough, he's gone to Bemfica, actually, to link up with Kasper Tengstedt, who also made the move from Rosenberg. How do you feel about him moving mid-season? Is this the sort of... I think the talk was around 15 million euros up front. Is that the kind of fee you were expecting for him?
00:07:21
Speaker
Yeah, so honestly speaking, I'm not really concerned about money anymore. I feel like we've done quite a bit of these big sales. For me, I would have lowered the price with let's say 5 million euro if you could have stayed. But of course, the money in itself is fine. But the consequence for the team is probably pretty severe.
00:07:39
Speaker
because he was, as I saw, the best player in the Super League in the last six months. He's been pretty amazing going down the flank, and he offered something that if Snorchland do not have now, and that's of course the problematic part of Schiller or believing. But again, it's very much down to how you see it, because you could also look at it and say,
00:08:02
Speaker
It's pretty crazy that FC Neuschland didn't also sell Nuama with the amount of bits coming in, like a low with the amount of bits coming in. So, it's all about the perspective and I'm a fan, right? And I'm fairly positive here. So, I'm going to say I'm just happy with it only being Schiller of leaving and not the rest as well, like we've seen before.
00:08:21
Speaker
Well, you say only Sheldrup leaving, but there were a couple of other departures who might not have been starters in Leo Valter and Oliver Antman. But those were guys who I saw playing a significant, well, a fairly significant role in the second part of the season. You know, Antman in particular looked like a real talent. And I found that move a bit baffling because he's moved to Groningen in the Eredivisie. I think at the bottom side in the Eredivisie, it's a six month loan. It just seemed a bit puzzling to me because I felt like he was going to get
00:08:51
Speaker
Yeah, so I follow you on that. I think with him, you can say this on the wingers, there's quite a bit with approximately the same level. So Newkrain, Mascastian Hansen, one of the new guys just coming in from Ghana. So there is opportunities and they needed to let someone go because they were too many.
00:09:12
Speaker
then they let Ant-Man go and if it had been my choice, I wouldn't have let Ant-Man go, I would have let one of the others go. But on the other hand, he's had now five seasons in FC Northland, 76 games, he's had his fair chance and it doesn't really seem like it's going to be
00:09:32
Speaker
I mean, a starter anyway for the next six months. So give him a chance in going see if he can play himself to a starter there. And then let's see how the game plays out. We have a lot of offensive players, so I'm not concerned about the depth at
Is Nordsland Stronger Post-Window?
00:09:49
Speaker
all. And when you then mentioned Leovalta, it's a similar picture. We brought in Sidan. He's an 8. Leovalta is an 8.
00:09:56
Speaker
the consequence of sedan coming in meant that leo must go on to more playing time and as we talked about last time i freaking love this player so it's sad to see there's not enough space for him now but on the other hand um we're reaching out for the title and if they feel like this is two three five percent better game on
00:10:16
Speaker
Makes sense. And I guess the million dollar question is, do you think that FC Nordsland today are a stronger team than they were on the final game before the winter break? No, not at all. I think status quo would have been a better call because I believe that the best player leaving the league, even though McCondis is probably going to be good for us, I don't expect him to be the best player of the league again.
00:10:37
Speaker
New dynamics, it's also going to change the game slightly when you take out one player and it's been really working. So if I could have chosen, I would have chosen to stay with what we had. But again, it wasn't unfortunate in my decision. Maybe it will be one day in the future. But for now, I just need to say that it's completely OK that Schillerob went, because he also deserved the move and he was too good for the Supreme. Got it. And who's going to take set pieces in his absence, do you think?
00:11:08
Speaker
Um, for penalties and yeah, well, I would say my kindness is going to take them. Okay. He did when he was here last time. So I would, uh, I would think it's going to be him again. So just to be clear, you, you've said that this is status quo at best and you rated the window and nine out of 10.
00:11:28
Speaker
Yeah, that's the that's that's how it is with FC Neuschland, right? Because you sell players to a level where you can never buy these players. It's impossible to buy these players. So therefore, you can say on the scale, it's already an FC Neuschland scale. The 10 out of 10 would have been that Scheller would have stayed. But I have no concerns about Johan Storpe coming in as the as the coach. It's predominantly the fact that
00:11:56
Speaker
Schiller opens out, that is a bit mind-boggling to me. But let's see, I mean, quite a few games left to get ready for the season and we're still looking for the final three up front, so it can go in a few ways from here on.
00:12:11
Speaker
Cool.
Bronby's Transfer Insights
00:12:13
Speaker
And at the other end of the table, Casper P, we're going to be talking about Bronbe now, who've brought in some pretty interesting looking players, actually. What's been the overall fan reaction to the window, do you think?
00:12:28
Speaker
It ended with a little bit of disappointment and a little bit of, yeah, people asking questions about the transfer, the loan of Viente, the Danish central defender, which was brought in on loan from Augsburg. And it is all related to this ownership thing with global football holding, owning,
00:12:52
Speaker
like a minor minor minor share of Augsburg and then people see this loan as you know like a some sort of farmer club thing but and you know I say that the fans are positive for the window because
00:13:11
Speaker
We did some business done, had some business done both in and out. The only thing is, yes, we could all have wished for several more players to go. Currently, we're like the Nottingham Forest of Denmark with a squad like beyond 30 players. But as I also discussed with the Linde, it's hard to, you know, sell the deadwood. It's not always like, you know,
00:13:41
Speaker
those players are the most wanted and with some of them having contracts running out within five months now, it's okay for me because on the inside we addressed some questions and we also came out stronger in the general view.
00:13:58
Speaker
I think some of the incomings can be explained by looking at the outgoing. So there were two transfers to the MLS actually, which is becoming a bit of a next port of call for Super League players at the moment. But Sigurd Rostad went to Toronto and Andreas Maxo went to Colorado. Were those departures you were both expecting? Most definitely. Maxo, it was like, you know, when was he going to go? Because
00:14:25
Speaker
He's been on the edge of leaving for the past three windows with the moves to Rosto in Russia, Bordeaux in France and then finally Colorado Rabbits. And I also think that this sort of club was the right pick for Markzware because
00:14:44
Speaker
I know he's still young, he's only 27, I think it is, but the level he was playing on was declining. He wouldn't be in consideration for the national team. He had too many flaws or lack in his strength.
00:15:05
Speaker
to be a real consideration for the clubs in the big five leagues and I think he also himself wanted like you know an adventure and he knew he's a clever guy.
00:15:22
Speaker
I'm pretty sure that he knew himself, you know, he wasn't going to like this top club. And if he was staying in Europe, it would be like, you know, middle club, Holland, Belgium, which, which wouldn't be so different from clubs in, in, well, from Point View in Denmark.
00:15:40
Speaker
So I think he got the adventure he was looking for. And the same for Rooster, 28, going for 29 this year. And I also think that this is pretty much also, it says a lot about the way that the squad was built, the players that was leaving now, because
00:15:59
Speaker
these aren't players, they are too old to be like the Shiloh cell or the Victor Nilsen transfer a few years ago from Copenhagen to Galazizalai because they're too old. So I think it was the right decision to sell them. Both had contracts running out.
00:16:18
Speaker
And if you look at what was brought in, yes, we brought in Rasmus Laowudsen, an experience from Sweden, Croatia, with a lot of the same strength as...
00:16:32
Speaker
And then this loan of Frank Winter was also, if we look away from the fact that he was from Augsburg and all this ownership thing, I think he basically fits the bill because he's a passing central defender.
00:16:50
Speaker
young experience from the Super League, but with not so much playing time in Augsburg, and he can fit this role, probably behind Cembe. If Jesper Sanderson wants to play with a central duo, then Cembe, and I expect Laotzen would be the preferred partnership, and then Vinta will stay behind Cembe and probably Hekheim behind Laotzen.
00:17:18
Speaker
Brilliant.
Copenhagen's Questionable Moves
00:17:19
Speaker
Okay. I look forward to seeing them in the league. A player who also came in is Hakon Evgen from AZ Altma. And this is a player who a Bronbee fan I know reached out to me and said he was so excited about this play. He thinks he's going to be the best player in the league. That's how excited he was. Do you share this excitement? To call him the best player in the league and yeah.
00:17:42
Speaker
I wouldn't go that far, but no doubt he's good. He was good in a border glimpse back in, I think it was 2019, where this border glimpse team was basically blowing up the Norwegian league, playing this aggressive, attacking, high pressure style of football. He had a not so well-fortunate spell at the asset Alkma in Holland.
00:18:08
Speaker
And that's also, again, basically what made him available for Pompey. But he addresses a lot of the challenges that Pompey had in the central midfield. They need this player who can go box to box, who can
00:18:23
Speaker
move the ball by his feet who can be a threat arriving late in the box generate a lot of shooting and by that generate goals and also being a guy who can work in this high pressure that you'll probably want to see well i hope to see one be more and more dig into and do you see him being a starter from the very first game back
00:18:47
Speaker
Yeah, most likely. I would be very surprised if Gen wasn't a regular starter from the beginning. Fantastic. Were there any positions in the team you think weren't perhaps addressed in the market? Any sort of glaring needs that you think you had that weren't taken care of?
00:19:06
Speaker
Obviously, you can always strengthen the team. There's always a better player. But if you look in general, I think almost all positions are well-covered. You can say the right bag. You have this young guy, Sibylonsen, who had a tough start at 1p, with a lot of game time, then injury, kept him out for the rest of the season until now.
00:19:33
Speaker
And as a backup, you have the possibility of bringing out Daniel Vess as a right back. Even though that he's preferred midfielder, he can cover that position as a right back. If there was a position where I'd say, okay, you could have might brought in something different, it would maybe have been like the number six, like this deep position midfielder.
00:19:57
Speaker
But again, a lot of it depends on what the new coach, how he wants to play, how he wants to set up the team. Does he want to play with one single deep-lying defensive midfielder? Well, probably yes, because then Radozevic has some legs in his
00:20:13
Speaker
playing style, of playing short style. And Bell here will probably have some problems covering the ground. But if Jesper Sanderson decides to play with two deep midfielders, like side by side and double pivot, then it would easily be possible to fit in Bell with a partner as a deep lying midfielder. But again, it depends very much about what Jesper Sanderson wants.
00:20:41
Speaker
And like you say, the squad is pretty big, so there's probably quite a few combinations he has to try before deciding to move anyone on. He will have no problem about setting up drills, playing 11 and voices 11.
00:20:56
Speaker
Fantastic. I wanted to move on to another team now in FC Copenhagen. And this was a really strange window, I think, for them. I guess from a financial point of view, the sale of Victor Christensen was fantastic. They got close to 20 million euros.
00:21:12
Speaker
for a player that they have decent cover for in Jelert and Sorensen and that they got that Premier League money, which always allows you to charge more. But beyond that, I found the business slightly puzzling. So Matt Ryan was sold or let go. I didn't see any communication about a fee, but he headed over to AZ Altma where he's now a starter.
00:21:33
Speaker
And the only sort of major incomings were Goncalves from Benfica, who's a winger that by all accounts is good, but not spectacular. And Jordan Larson, son of Henrik Larson, the famous Swedish striker, he's come in on loan for six months, but it feels like
00:21:52
Speaker
They were strengthening in positions where they already had lots of players. They had a very bloated squad and they didn't manage to move lots of people on. So if you think about it, you know, Babakar is still on the books. Makaira is still on the books. Karamoko, Amu, so many attacking players still on the books. And yeah, it just feels like a puzzling window for them. And you wonder where all these guys are going to fit in.
00:22:13
Speaker
I think they had the same difficulties as one boo you had about cutting off the deadwood from the squad. But if you look away from that point, I think they have put together a pretty strong squad and I see them as the main contender for the title.
00:22:31
Speaker
Wow, okay. I think they had a lot of experience from last winter window when they went crazy, right? They bought in six or seven players and they really saw the consequence of that.
00:22:44
Speaker
and that's what they're still dragging around with now I think the talent in the squad is really high so yes you're right even though they didn't get in another left back and even though they look a bit weak on the number six position where they've been looking for what let's call it the Delaney type then I still think that they have a pretty good amount of players I'm with you in the sense that it's a little bit weird that they brought in both
00:23:12
Speaker
Did you can call this and jordan lassen which in some way in form looks a bit alike but i believe the. Diego do you can solve this transfer makes a bit more sense.
00:23:28
Speaker
because it's a bit like Evgen in A set. He comes from a very good school of football. So if I had to say out of these two, he would be the one I would have the most trust in. But most definitely. I'm actually pretty excited. And also you probably could see John Larson maybe as a replacement or backup for Cornelius when he's not playing or not fit to play. And if you look in general, as Kasper said,
00:23:54
Speaker
you know, taking to the consideration about the amount of talent and also like the experience plays because, you know, yeah, they sold Victor Kristiansen to Lesnar.
00:24:05
Speaker
But it's less than seven months ago, they brought in maybe the best left-back from last season in Christian Staunson from V-ball. So they were looking forward. We took a chance and covered. And now, yeah, in the autumn, they had this two brilliant players for the left-back. Now they
00:24:26
Speaker
like only have one, but they have cover for the one. So if Kazan Sjansen isn't playing, yes, there are players that can cover in for him. But, you know, in a short spring, he will be expected to be the main guy and also be the guy who can play the position. Yeah. I'm just wondering how you fit in all these guys in a starting lineup when you got Victor Claesen, you got Cornelius, Rooney, Dharami, Concalves, Larsen, you know, like something's got to give.
00:24:56
Speaker
But yeah, it's going to be interesting to see how they manage it. If I may, I think on the how they're going to fit it in, I think on the wingers, there's no doubt there's at least two good wingers on the right and two good on the left. So I think it's going to be pretty dynamic who plays and who doesn't. And if Nistro is as good as they say, then he's going to be able to choose the players depending on who they play against as well.
00:25:20
Speaker
Nice problem to have. And you can also use Klassen. He's so intelligent that he can also be used as in a more central advanced midfield position or even as a striker.
00:25:32
Speaker
Yeah, so I don't see it as a weakness. I see it as a strength because they have the option to, as Kasper says, to pick and choose so much. I mean, last night everyone was at the Marriott Hotel getting ready to sign someone big. PC was on the phone with Kasper in his transfer window day. We heard that live through the studio. I think they were getting ready to really announce someone and then something fell on the floor, most likely, I would say.
00:26:02
Speaker
And this is a whole another Casper. It's a third Casper. So to all you guys in England listening to this, we are not all named Casper and Denmark. It's just like...
Midtjylland's Future Focus
00:26:16
Speaker
Another team who probably did the most business of anyone in this window was FC Michelin with four in and eight out, I believe. And as ever with FC Michelin,
00:26:29
Speaker
The people that came in came as a bit of a surprise. I mean, of course, we knew Gigavitch from Obi. I think I was still slightly surprised that he made that move. Emiliano Martinez, that was alone, and he really impressed so far this season. So they turned that into a permanent deal. But then there were a couple of players who arrived yesterday. Astrid Selmani, a striker from Apple Beer Shiva, and Emam Ashur, who's
00:26:55
Speaker
central midfielder who can also play on the wing from from zamalek and yeah two players i knew absolutely nothing about i did a bit of research spoke to a zamalek fan who who had some pretty interesting things to say about about ashore in that you know he can play a number of positions he's uh
00:27:15
Speaker
Got a great long-range shot, very good passer, but can be a bit hot-headed on and off the pitch, so he should be an interesting one to watch. But yeah, what did you make of these sort of assortment of incomings for Michelin? We'll talk about all the various players who left in a second, but do you see this as a positive few signings for them?
00:27:34
Speaker
I'm very happy we have Casper Persping in the room because I know he watches a lot of Egyptian football. If we just start on the tour, then I'm going to leave back. I think it's very classic Michelin, right? They get in a few of these players that no one knows, but it's still
00:27:52
Speaker
For me, it's underwhelming what they've done. Normally, they also bring in some talent where at least the clubs they've been at come from somewhere where we say, wow, this is good. With both of them now, of these two, I guess the biggest sign is the striker and the Egyptian midfielder.
00:28:12
Speaker
I'm extremely puzzled on is it good enough for Denmark? Are they gonna show us in six months that we were all idiots for doubting them or are they gonna be exactly what I expect? Just a bit of a bad fit to the Super League.
00:28:26
Speaker
Yeah, well, I think that Gigavich and Martinez, they're 20 and 23 respectively, and they're kind of tried and tested in the league. We know that they can step in, slot in alongside Olsen in midfield, and they're going to be good. I think the wild cards are, of course, these two players who came in on deadline day.
00:28:44
Speaker
And I think Selmani was alone and Ashoor was a transfer. But yeah, they've got big boots to fill because if we talk about the outgoings, Evander, I mean, it's a transfer we've been talking about for ages because it happened so long ago, but that was this window. He went to Portland, Portland Timbers in MLS. Then they also lost Anders Dreier, obviously a huge player for them. He went to Andalect. And on top of that, I know he wasn't very good, but sorry, Cabba went out the door along with Victor Lind, both on loan.
00:29:14
Speaker
And so it was getting to the final day of the window and I thought, hang on, they have any strikers left in the squad? What are they going to do? And so, yeah, these players coming in have a lot of goals to fill between Dreyer and Evander.
00:29:28
Speaker
Yeah, at the moment, you know, as Casper said, we can always be, you know, all surprised within five months when these guys have blown away the league. But at the moment, I would be a little bit concerned as a F2M fan if I was looking at the things right now, because before Christmas,
00:29:47
Speaker
that half of the season, Mitterrand had had an attack, which was among a little bit below average. If you look at the expected goals, what they created, and they also didn't manage to make a lot of goals. It was basically a lot of anastraia, transferring low value shots into goals and
00:30:15
Speaker
This transfer window, I don't think that at the moment they got to address the challenges they had because it's also basically about producing these chances. And you lost Evander, the main creator at the team, and they got these box-to-box midfielders or defensive midfielders, but are one of those, the one or those, several of them,
00:30:44
Speaker
can they create what's necessary for them to generate chances, even though they brought in Astrid Silmani or whoever is playing up top? Do they have the players able to create and generate the chances at the moment? I would be a little bit concerned as I have Sumitulan fan.
00:31:05
Speaker
Who's the player you think who's going to benefit most from these two big hitters leaving? Is it one of the wingers, one of the younger players? Who can you see being the biggest beneficiary?
00:31:20
Speaker
I don't know. Basically, if you can say one thing, you can put on this perspective, it would be that all the play, all the passes don't have to go through Evander anymore.
00:31:39
Speaker
he was like a magnet to the ball, and the one who was distributing all the passes from basically the last third of the pitch. So if you can put on a positive mind, it would be like another one, cut off one, the head of the snake, another one, two will grow.
00:32:04
Speaker
Yeah, I know it's not the most well-built argument right now, but it's pretty much it as I see right now, because I think they have some problems, some work to do, and maybe that thought stroke me today.
00:32:22
Speaker
that's maybe they're building for next season maybe these loan signings meant to be seen the way that okay we're gonna run through this spring we're gonna make it to maybe the top what for which provides european football
00:32:38
Speaker
And then we're going to do the real build this summer. That's probably as I see it instead. They just want to limp to the goal, to the finish line, and then do some stuff in the summer instead.
00:32:53
Speaker
I actually have two players in mind. So, I think Frélic Heichlebert, who is their own striker, they brought him back from Fallesche, who scored plenty of goals when he was young. He then went injured, then tried to get him back into shape again in Fallesche. Hasn't been perfect, but he scored a few goals here in the startup, and I think there is a very good chance
00:33:16
Speaker
that he might start in front of this Kosovoian Swedish striker. So I'm not sad yet that they haven't chosen their own person. So that's of course one. The second thing is that Dreyer out, even though he plays on the other side, it might be an opening for Belemard Buscon, who's another one of their big talents, playing from the left, pretty quick, pretty good on the ball.
00:33:40
Speaker
So hopefully they will utilize this chance to say we didn't get in exactly what we wanted and what we needed. But we have a few of our own players who actually has a very decent level and they give them a shot for the spring. But let's see.
00:33:57
Speaker
Great. Yeah, they're going to be, they're going to be one to watch. And I'm heading over to Denmark in a couple of weeks for the first game
Viborg and Aalborg's Strategies
00:34:04
Speaker
back. And I'm going to V-Borg against Michelin. So I get to see these guys in the flesh and I'll report back to you on how our guy from Zamalek is looking.
00:34:14
Speaker
The team that Michelin are playing there is obviously Viborg and they're a team who also had an interesting window. There weren't any major outs, although I think we're still expecting J. Roy Grot to head over to Japan, which would be an interesting transfer for sure. But the players they brought in, beyond Vestigard, who we know from Lingu,
00:34:33
Speaker
There were a couple of players who, again, I knew nothing about whatsoever. A Portuguese guy, Paulinho, came in and, you know, he came, it looks like he has a reasonable pedigree. I think it's nine goals in 12 games in the Portuguese second tier. So, you know, I could, I could see him doing something. And then a Brazilian guy called Renato Junior. And I looked at his record and I mean, I know that numbers only tell you so much, but I looked at his top flight record.
00:34:56
Speaker
He's played 18 games in the Brazilian top flight and 17 in the Portuguese top flight. Bear in mind he's a striker. He's only got two goals. So over 30 games and two goals. So is he going to be the savior up front? I'm not sure. But the jury's out. But how big a loss do you think Grott will be? Biggest loss in the league for a single player?
00:35:18
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. If you look at the people's numbers in the first half of the season, they had a really strong performance, both in actual results and also, you know, like if you look at the data behind the performances and Grud was like,
00:35:36
Speaker
I made the reason for him because he was converting a lot of chances into goals. He was good at getting to these chances. So losing him is like a big question mark for the team. Do they have what is needed to keep up the pace, to keep the teams behind them? Yeah, to keep them behind them.
00:35:58
Speaker
So no pressure on the guys coming in. But basically, people, they are in a position where nobody was expecting this from them. And if they end with a season where they end like number six, they don't have this huge fan base that says, oh, it's too bad. They would be happy for it. And also, of course, happy if they finish high up the league.
00:36:24
Speaker
they have like a good shot at it right now because nobody expects them to finish top three so basically they have like the free yeah no no pressure on. But if they manage to get in a striker that works now I just dig out some data on Paulinho yesterday and I mean it's pretty solid he has a in the
00:36:46
Speaker
uh in in the 2022-2023 season he scores 1.17 goals per 90 minute he plays uh he has a very fine contribution which comes to like touches in barks dribbles so all in all and shots on goal so he actually has pretty good numbers uh the thing about polynesia has a bit of an overperformance on x goal versus actual goals but i guess that tend to happen a lot if you score 1.17 goal per game but
00:37:16
Speaker
I think if they get in a player that actually has the level to play a decent gold role, I think they will stay in top three. Okay. And I think this is a, it's quite a big window for them just in terms of Jesper Frobel was so, such a big presence that this is the first window without him there. And, you know, bringing in a couple of guys that aren't on people's radars, you know, this could be a,
00:37:44
Speaker
a sort of line in the sand to show like what the next iteration of the recruitment team can do. What been your impressions of Vestigar by the way? I think he had six months left on his contract at Loongbu, so made the move for a relatively small fee. But is he going to be a player who can just sort of slot in and hit the ground running? He surprised me. It surprised me that we both brought him in.
00:38:14
Speaker
Not that he's a bad player, but it's not that he was that significant. And maybe a little strange age also, 24, I think he was. Oh, yes. I don't really know what to put in this transfer because do they want to keep out one of their own talents? But, you know, yeah, as I saw one of the people fans wrote on Twitter, he says that he trusts the hiring process. So guess that. Yeah. They see something in Vista guard that I doesn't.
00:38:43
Speaker
I would never have brought him in, but I also think this LinkedIn team has been so weak. So you might actually have been good and you might need to be a scout to really see how he contributes because they basically all look bad at this point. Yeah, that's a fair point.
00:39:00
Speaker
One other team I wanted to sort of dig into a little bit was Albor, given their precarious position in the table. It was really key that they brought in some players and they sure did. They brought in a goalkeeper on loan in Mantle.
00:39:17
Speaker
most significantly they brought in or brought back Nicholas Hellenius from from Silkeborg who I guess they're banking on to start scoring some goals because their strikers weren't scoring throughout the season and they tried lots of different combinations and on top of that they brought in De Lander who again is a returning player and Jorgensen. So some quite significant business. Is it enough to survive and what do you make of Hellenius sort of leaving his mentor in Silkeborg?
00:39:45
Speaker
I think the transfers in OBE, it's like going back to your ex-girlfriend, it can be good, it can also be bad. You know her, but it can go both ways. Will you fall into the same rhythm as before or will the relationship blossom into something new and perspiring? Interesting.
00:40:06
Speaker
I like the analogy. Yeah, because, you know, again, they brought in Celenta, he's been there before, was good. Yeah, he can be good again, but Helene has been there before. Yeah, he can be good again, but they have the guys
00:40:22
Speaker
needed to produce the chances. Does Lucas Anderson, does he has a spring in him with no injuries? Can he make the deliveries of assists? Can he create the chances? Anybody else? That could concern me a little bit. It seems like they really go for this knockout punch to survive in the league. Yeah. I like the fact that they have invested.
00:40:51
Speaker
I'm very concerned about everything around OBE if they don't because it looks like they've poured in cash like there's no tomorrow. But I also think that they have increased the level of the team significantly. And it's okay with Telenda. I'm not concerned at all because Telenda
00:41:10
Speaker
is a central defender, he'll slot in, he'll play like he's played the other 15 years of his professional career and he will be good. But I'm with Kasper on, it is going to be a bit interesting to see, he's been really good when people have been really good at linking up with him and creating chances for him.
00:41:27
Speaker
Yeah, he's not creating himself. Exactly. So it's going to be very interesting to see if Sousa or Fossum or Lucas Anderson or Pripp will be this guy, but someone needs to be this guy for them to survive.
00:41:42
Speaker
Then I think it's a little weird with Kasper Jansen. Kasper Jansen is for me a good right wingback, but he's a wingback. I think like when I've seen the startups now of the new season for Obing, they've been playing with four in the back four. So for me, there's a little bit of a mismatch.
00:42:05
Speaker
But yeah, let's see. I think they've invested heavily. I think they actually have a fair chance of surviving. Before the Trentwood window, I would have given them 0%. But now, let's lift it to 230. But it's all down to how good this mental goalkeeper is, because Teo Santa was definitely not good enough for the Super League to survive.
00:42:26
Speaker
I think I said last week or whenever I last did the podcast that I felt sorry for him that he was being put in this situation because, you know, it being stuck in a relegation scrap isn't the place for a 17 year old keeper to grow and develop. So I think this I think signing mantle is essential just for Sanders development, but also for increasing their chances of survival. But yeah, it's interesting what you say about Hellenius
00:42:50
Speaker
thriving on service because you know that Silkeborg team when it was at his best they were so that front three was so dangerous each of them were dangerous that they were all drawing the you know defenders away. I feel like Sousa has that in his locker but beyond that I think he's going to be quite closely marked so I don't think he'll get the same freedom as he had in Silkeborg he's going to certainly have to scrap for chances more than he did there.
00:43:14
Speaker
And it's the AGF that they play in game one, right? It's going to be such a tight game. If they win this, then okay, let's see. If they lose the first year against AGF, I think it can all be over before it even started.
00:43:29
Speaker
Just in terms of out of the door, a player, Nadrani, who joined to help them out at the back, then had a big falling out with the teammates and has now been binned. That was a bit of a disaster signing. And Makaric also, a player who came in with a lot of goals under his belt, but never really got cracking. Both of them are out the door. And I don't think either come as a huge surprise.
00:43:52
Speaker
I think if I was Obie Fehn, I would be a little bit disappointed about Inge and I Wilson. If you look at what he brought in and the amount of success these players have got, it's very limited.
00:44:08
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I looked at the 18 goals or whatever, Makarich scored before he joined. And I could say none of these 18 goals would have been a goal in the super leaguer. It was like running on his own from the central part of the pitch all the way down to the goal. Shooting once, hitting the goalkeeper, falling out to him again, shooting twice again, falling out to him again, and then putting in it at the end. It looked like a donkey football.
00:44:33
Speaker
So I think the level needs to be a little bit higher on the players that they bring in. And that's also why I guess they have brought in solid Danish guys in Teleta and Heleneus and Janssen because they know what they get. They get players who speak the language, who does need to adapt to Danish culture and to being in a Danish Super League club.
00:44:57
Speaker
I want you both to put your neck on the line and tell me how many goals Hellenius is going to score between now and the end of the season.
00:45:05
Speaker
I would say five, but it's a top cast, but I'd say seven. Okay, I'm going to hold you to those predictions. Just before we wrap up, there were a few other moves around the rest of the league.
OB and AGF's New Directions
00:45:20
Speaker
Stop me if any of these were interesting to you, but I thought that a six foot seven striker in Kenneth Zohora coming into OB was interesting.
00:45:30
Speaker
Kenet Suhoa, he's actually the Danish version of Ubafemi Martins in the old football manager games. Never gets older. I think this Suhoa, he's been there forever and he's just like, he's only, what, 27, 30? I don't know. 29. 29, he's still playing? It's like Ubafemi Martins, he was 19 and I'm telling 10 games in a row.
00:45:50
Speaker
Yeah, he I was I was at that game back in the day where Martin scored a hat trick at Highbury for for Inter and I think he was 18 then and yeah, he seemed to haunt me for the rest of my life. He's still 18. But yeah, they just they just took a try to hit because signing Sohor is like, you know, going down to buy a lottery coupon.
00:46:19
Speaker
I mean, he's not played for a year, right? And my guess is he's probably still hovering around like 100, 110 kilo or something like that. So he's also a big guy to get into shape for a short season. So that would be my primary concern, as I think he has like one or two games in the last year. But there's no doubt. Sohoa has real quality when he's fit, when he's not injured or that. But it's a big... Can they keep him fit? Exactly.
00:46:49
Speaker
Yeah, and he's got big shoes to fill because he'll be taking the place of Jabali who left for Japan as well, I believe. He had quite a good World Cup, obviously got on the radar of people and he was out of there, but he's been a big part of their success. So yeah, no pressure, Kenneth, but get on the treadmill and get ready for a couple of weeks' time because you're going to be needed in Odense.
00:47:15
Speaker
Samuel Brolin also came in at Horsons, a goalkeeper with quite a bit of pedigree. And I think given what happened to Matei Delac, it was probably necessary for them to just sort of have a bit more backup there. I can't see him necessarily being a starter unless Delac isn't quite ready to start the season. But, you know, Horsons have been great. And I think that they just see the opportunity to stay in the Superleaguer. And that seemed like a smart signing.
00:47:42
Speaker
Yeah. And I think Jacob Boox as well, that they brought in on right back. He was a proper player when he played there last time. So I think they've done well with keeping Gomez and the backs as well, getting in an additional right back that has quality and they're trying to play it safe with an extra goalkeeper. So they don't want to go down. On a limited budget, they've done well.
00:48:08
Speaker
keeping the assets, adding a little bit where needed. And finally, AGF got rid of a couple of players in Hausner and Groening. I know that the latter never really got much of a chance and never really sort of showed that he deserved the chance and he's gone to Crete, I believe. But Hausner going was certainly notable.
00:48:32
Speaker
What did you make of Adam Sorensen leaving from Loongbu? He's another player who I know you said that no one's been good there. He came in with a big reputation and he's gone to Boda Glimt and they've certainly got a knife for talent so he must have shown something. Looking at Loongbu's transfer window,
00:48:55
Speaker
It tells me that they have accepted their fate. They know they're going to be in the first division after the summer. Yeah. And I think Kaspar Janssen also did a fine job, right? So I'm putting on a bit thick here. So I think all in all, the best players have left and now the rest is left. So good luck and God grace.
00:49:14
Speaker
Part of the thing with that is I think that probably as a super-league club you can command a bit of a better feed than if you're sat in the first division, maybe. But yeah, it certainly seems like they're starting to get their house in order for next season and I respect the pragmatism of that. Yeah, there's not really a lot more to say. I think, yeah, get ready for first division.
00:49:36
Speaker
I just saw, I have one thing, Henry, that I noted down, which I thought was a bit interesting to the listeners. This winter window, all in all, if you look at transfer marks, there's been brought in players for 17 million euro, which is the highest ever in a winter window.
00:49:55
Speaker
When you then at the same time look at the outgoing transfers, there's been sold players for 50 million euro as well, which is also the maximum. So I just think it's a pretty good signal around that the Superleaguer is really blossoming at this point, both a lot of expenditure in and a lot of expenditure out. So just a bit of if you're not already watching Superleaguer, get going.
00:50:20
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. And I also think that, you know, if you look at some of some of the moves that there's more and more players going straight from the super leaguer to the big leagues, what we saw a dingo go, go to Brighton, this window, Christiansen to Leicester. And I think that the scouts at the
00:50:36
Speaker
big five league teams are sitting up and realizing, hang on, why are we letting these players go to middleman teams in Belgium or Holland and then picking them up for twice the price and sort of going direct to source. So yeah, that is very exciting. Well, that was a whistle stop tour. Was it a whistle stop tour? Actually, it was about an hour. So maybe not whistle stop tour, but that was a look back on a window of madness.
00:50:59
Speaker
Thanks so much for joining me and sharing your opinion, guys. It's really been a pleasure to catch up with you, hear your takes on the transfer window, and I cannot wait to see how some of these moves pan out on the pitch. But thank you. I hope you'll come back and join me. Did you enjoy yourselves? We can answer, like, at the same time, you know, as being Caspas. Really? Yes. Yeah, it was fantastic. Good fun always, Henry.
00:51:22
Speaker
Brilliant. Well, thank you guys and look forward to chatting to you again in the coming weeks, months and good luck to both of your teams. Thanks. Thanks.
00:51:35
Speaker
That wraps up this episode. I'd like to thank both of the Caspers very much for giving up their time. I know they're super busy, so being able to come and talk transfers with me was a great pleasure. As ever, please look in the show notes if you want to see their social media handles, so you can follow them on Twitter. If you're not already following me, you can at footballindk. Head on over to footballindendmark.com if you want to have a look at some of the other Danish football content that I have put together.
00:52:02
Speaker
It's always a great pleasure to get feedback and hear how you guys are enjoying the episodes. So please do drop me a message. Let me know how you're enjoying it. So thanks for listening. Stay warm and look forward to talking to you next time.