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Episode 17: AaB's relegation battle, Superliga action w/Jesper Simoni & a Danish football quiz w/ Jonas Hagemann
479 Plays1 year ago
Part 1: Looking at what has gone wrong at AaB as well as looking at all the major talking points from Superliga rounds 24 & 25 w/ Jesper Simoni (@JesperSimoni)
Part 2: A special head-to-head Danish football quiz w/ Jonas Hagemann of Pundit Games (@punditgames).
As ever if you want to support the podcast and the website please head to Patreon and sign up!
And use special code DANISH at Pundit to get a discount on your order.
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Arrival
00:00:16
Speaker
Welcome to episode 17 of Danish Dynamite and we're very much at the business end of the season. Every game has consequences and the narratives are forming. Before we get into the show, I just wanted to thank everyone who's become a Patreon during the course of the season.
00:00:29
Speaker
your support of the show and of all the other bits of content i've been doing is very much appreciated and of course if you want to join this illustrious group of legends you can head over to patreon.com forward slash football in denmark to sign up for the price of a coffee a month so let's get into today's episode and i'm
00:00:45
Speaker
delighted to be joined by Jesper Simoni, Alborg fan extraordinaire, who is going to help us delve into the wonderful world of Alborg and kick around some of the goings-on in the Super League across rounds 24 and 25. Jesper, welcome.
Alborg's Recent Performance
00:01:00
Speaker
Hi Henry, thank you for having me. It's a great pleasure. Well, let's get straight into talking about Alborg. Last season, the team were a few penalty kicks away from reaching Europe. What went wrong other than letting the goalkeeper take the first penalty in the shootout?
00:01:13
Speaker
Oh, where do you want me to start? Everything went wrong. All the problems, in my opinion, all the problems that we have this season started in the last season. You could see all the stats, all that. We performed, we overperformed to our stats. So, well, if you want to know what went wrong, yeah, we missed a lot of penalties that match that would have secured us a spot at Europe, maybe securing us
00:01:43
Speaker
a few more cash to improve the team even more. But, well, yeah, don't get me started. And there have obviously been a number of managerial changes. In the context of what happened under Eric Cameron, is it possible to think that perhaps Lars Freis wasn't the problem and should have been given more time? Well, if you ask like that, I have to say, Lars Freis was definitely not the problem.
00:02:08
Speaker
every oboe supporter could see that you saw on the stadiums and television that they made banners that you can't sack you out of your own miseries that was too, too, that will be bought. So definitely mistake firing last week, definitely. Yeah. And what did he bring to the team when he came in in terms of fresh approaches? Was there anything you noticed tactically or in terms of training or anything like that that struck you as being interesting?
Managerial and Tactical Debate
00:02:39
Speaker
Well, I have to be honest, the tactical thing about football, that's not where I'm the strongest one, but I think that he tried to pick a bit up where Jakob Friesz, now a people manager, lift off. I know that a lot of my good friends who are better in the tactics would say that they don't play exactly like that.
00:03:06
Speaker
The pressure on the field, the way we tried to attack, I think that was some of the elements that I saw. But the biggest problem was that he probably forgot a bit about the defending part.
00:03:44
Speaker
quite important.
00:03:52
Speaker
I think that it would be a lack of respect for the other teams just saying that it's a frequent coincidence that the OB players don't perform. There's definitely something wrong. If you look at our squad, I, in my opinion, we have a great team if they would perform like a team, but in my opinion also they've been performing a bit
00:04:14
Speaker
individually, sorry for my English, and I don't think that we've been playing like a team, and I think that's a great problem, because you can see all the stats, you can see the missing goals from Luca Crip and Eva Forsomow that we are way behind last year.
00:04:33
Speaker
And where do you think the real level of this group, this squad is? Because I don't think it's 12th, it's not third, it's somewhere in the middle. But I'd be curious to know, where do you think if everything had gone as expected, where would this team be finishing?
Ownership and Relegation Speculation
00:04:48
Speaker
If I look at teams being around six, seven, eight, I don't think that when all will play to their best, that they are worse than one. I don't think that.
00:05:00
Speaker
I would say the same about Odin, but we just lost twice, so perhaps a bit of... I'm going to jump over them, but I think that if the team that have now played to their best, I would say...
00:05:12
Speaker
six, seven, eight, but that's, you know, we're 12 now and that's what we have to look at. Also during the course of the season, a new ownership group has come in. Thomas Hitzelsberg has been sort of the publicly known face of it, I guess. Is that being a positive or a negative, do you think, in terms of bringing in fresh investment? How do the fans view that? I think it has been perhaps a bit negative in that way that it has been taking way too long.
00:05:42
Speaker
And if you hear the chairman now, and also Thomas Baelen before the former CEO, before he stopped, that things went quite slow. They couldn't do anything. They couldn't hire a new sporting director after Egan Die Ulsen got sacked. So the thing with the SSE-22, the new ownership, has been taking way too long. But now they're here, and I think
00:06:12
Speaker
And I can see that my fellow Obie supporters also think that it's a great thing. They seem to have some knowledge bringing to the table. They got the smart money. They don't bring a lot of money. We have been laughed a bit after that. Obie is a cheap job. I don't give a s***, so to say. We need to have the smart money. And I think that Thomas Hitzelsberger, Bernard Peters, Jan Peters,
00:06:36
Speaker
bring that to the table. So looking into next season, whether it would be First Division or Super League, I think that's going to be a great ride. But where does it start? Is it the Super League or is it the First Division? That's the main question. Yeah. Yeah. This might be a difficult question to answer, but in the cold light of day, could playing a season in the division below actually be a positive, you know, a chance to build momentum? We've seen both Vborg and Silkeborg both really benefited from, you know, having a season where they
00:07:05
Speaker
tore the league up and came up and the players who had helped them do that continued to perform at a really high level. Well, if you could guarantee me that we would go back to the Super League after one season, I would probably say yes. We've seen, like you said, a lot of teams do it, always have done it three or four times. But I'm not ready to take the risk and I am not
00:07:28
Speaker
quite sure what kind of team do we have. If we get relegated, I'm not quite sure how we're going to look. So I'm not ready to take the chance. And I do believe the new ownership could bring the knowledge that even if we only finish 10th and stay, I think the new ownership brings some good to the future.
00:07:51
Speaker
And if you had to get your crystal ball out, if Albo were to go down, who do you think is going to stay and who's going to go? And I'd be curious to know because I think with this new investment as well, there's a chance that guys like Sousa would probably be the most saleable asset. There's a chance that they now have the money to hang on to him, but I'd be curious to know who you think will stick with it should the worst happen.
Player Performance and Financial Issues
00:08:13
Speaker
Yeah, well the question is, even if they have the money to tell the players they have to stay, will the players respect that or is there going to be some trouble in the squad? I'm not sure that Sosa is the type of player who takes a no for a no.
00:08:27
Speaker
So I think players like Lars Karmer will be gone, Mel de Heuhel also, because they have some assets too, and we do need the money to send. I think that he's gone, even if we stay there, he's very talented, he's having a rough time in the last few months, but I think
00:08:49
Speaker
those are some of the players who definitely would leave. He's a fantastic player I think, quite underrated in the league and I think obviously he hasn't had the chance to really be noticed as much this season but yeah he's a really really exciting player. I agree, yeah totally agree. Before we dig into the the previous two games I just wanted to ask about Pedro Ferreira because he was a player who
00:09:16
Speaker
last season was, was really, really important. I was really impressed with his, uh, his kind of inspector gadget, you know, go-go gadget legs that seem to stick out and intercept the ball. And it seems like he's kind of fallen out of favor and I'm not really sure why. Is it just, um, well, there was the error the other week, uh, that led to the goal, but before that, was there, was, was there a significant drop off in his game? Yeah. I think that.
00:09:39
Speaker
To be a bit harsh on Ferreira, I would say he's a great defensive midfielder, but he's a footballer. He can't do that. He's not good on the ball and the way it will be placed now, the midfield, they have to play football. They have to play the ball fast. Ferreira, he's like he's doing all the cleaning up when everyone else fails and also having trouble
00:10:06
Speaker
will be having trouble playing both Heuhel and Ferreira and definitely I think Ferreira is a great player but a great asset to Obi but he's not that good of a football if you know what I mean yeah. I guess that idea of having a number six who just is strong defensively and not so much on the ball I guess that's a bit of a dying breed you know you've got centre backs who can play 60-yard passes onto someone's foot so I guess yeah I see what you mean.
00:10:32
Speaker
I would also say that perhaps Pedro Ferreira is a good mirror of something that's wrong. We're not able to sell players when they kind of peak. There were talks about selling Ferreira for like 3 million euros at some point and now some crops might want money with him.
Match Analysis and Upcoming Games
00:10:54
Speaker
And sometimes we have to bring the pass to the table just to get rid of him. And we've seen that a lot. We've seen that with Asper Celenda. Now he's back again. We've seen that with Jua Fossum now, who is the most expensive foreigner we have in OBE in our entire history. And so the board definitely thought that we could make some great money off in Jakob Reine also. So I think those players, they also kind of mirror what's wrong in OBE that
00:11:22
Speaker
We haven't been able to sell players, therefore our economy is, to say the least, bad. Just going into the previous couple of games, it feels like since Hamran's departure there's been a visible uplift in terms of the team's belief, performances, whatever. It hasn't necessarily translated to points that there was a very frustrating 3-2 defeat to Odensor where
00:11:47
Speaker
It felt like Alborg were just shooting themselves in the foot. There was that Ferreira era that led to the first goal. Sander gave away a pretty poor penalty. And 3-2 wasn't what you deserve from the game, I don't think. And then 1-0 up against Michelin, a late equalizer from Isakson. And so taking, you know, one point from a potential six. Was that the result against Michelin that put the nail in the coffin? Or is there still hope that a seven point gap can be made up given that you are playing better than under Hamron?
00:12:17
Speaker
Yeah, well, I think the biggest problem at the moment now is that we don't win enough football matches. That's pretty clear. And also that we have to look at how does Horstens do, how does Lindbury do, but especially Horstens. We play some great football, but we don't do it for 90 minutes. And that's a great problem.
00:12:38
Speaker
The match against Odin's first half, some of the worst I've seen all season for Olbo. You have to remember, they go into the match with some confidence. I do know that they lost 1-0 in B-Bop, but they went through to the semi-finals in the Cup. They should have a bit of a high going into the match, and they just started out like they were killed in the match before.
00:13:06
Speaker
And then all due respect to the team. The second half, they played very well, had Theo Sander not there, committed that foul, that penalty. I do believe that we all won it because we were hammering down Odinson. But again, those small marginals, that's always against the bottom teams. And we get what we deserve, in my opinion. I'm not going to sit here and cry. And that's unfair because we get definitely what we
00:13:36
Speaker
I will say that we've not been lucky against the Mitchell and the nil nil a few months ago at home. We played very, very well. Very well. Some of the best football I've seen in all but for years, not only this season, last season, definitely for years, we played them very well. We got a nil nil and now we played, I think, a great match down in Hanning. But again, it's won all and it's one point and now we can celebrate that Horton's lost.
00:14:05
Speaker
But we need to celebrate that we win our own matches. Yeah. Yeah. If you had to put your neck on the line, what would you say? I was staying up or a season in division one? I don't think we're going to stay up. So I think it's going to be division one. I think seven points, seven matches, definitely in doing all the math, it's possible. But we've had, we have at the winter break, it was eight points, I think. So we just got one points on horses and we just keep talking about,
00:14:34
Speaker
doing great, horses, they have been so bad. I don't believe how bad they've been. And we only picked up one point. So I can't, lack of respect for what horses do and what they're doing at the moment.
00:14:48
Speaker
to say that I believe that the Old Boy is going to stay up. I definitely hope, but I don't believe it. Got it. Well, the next test is going to be Friday night. A way to Silkeborg, who I feel like a bit of a fading force this season. It feels like not making it into the championship group has sort of taken the wind out of their sails. So might be a good time to play them.
00:15:08
Speaker
Yeah, it might be not a great time, you never know. Honestly, they have a half the sport has former all ball players and some of the players that perhaps, I'm just going to say some things that lift on a bad note, they always do well against the all ball. The way they play, even though they're playing at the moment, not good, I have zero confidence that we're going to get points out of it.
00:15:32
Speaker
But I have to say that if we're ever going to do a good down in Silgebo away from home, it should be Friday night. I really, really hope. If you don't mind, I'm going to dip into a couple of the other games. And actually, before we do that, there was a question from Twitter where Boss asked, how much of a surprise has Odense's season been? To me, I think it's roughly what I was expecting. But I'd be curious to know your thoughts. I'm so sorry, but I'm so sick and tired of Odense.
00:16:01
Speaker
I'm just, you know, if you look at the squad, I don't think they have that grade of a squad. But again, they get the point. And just I just I wish that that although would get those points, I think orders of the place they fight at the training ground, they do everything wrong, but they get their points. I respect that.
00:16:21
Speaker
thinking of how much money they put into the squad. Every year they underperform again and again and again. So the question is, are they underperforming or is this just the new normal? I'm not impressed, but they're not going down, so they should be happy. All right. That was pretty comprehensive.
00:16:39
Speaker
I'm so sorry. I'm so tired. We just lost twice to them in a month. I'm just, oh, I'm so tired. Let it all out. AGF are probably worth talking about because they've been on a bit of a resurgence this season. Around 24, they won away 1-0 at V-Borg. A very nice goal by Jakob. I'm not sure that there's a more satisfying goal in football than a half volley. But then they lost 1-0 away in Bronbe this weekend, despite having 19 shots.
League Standings and Team Critiques
00:17:06
Speaker
The question is, their one point off the top three,
00:17:09
Speaker
Dookie on Twitter said, who do you see winning gold, silver and bronze? And do AGF factor into that? For me, I have enormous respect for all who they are definitely some of the top three rivals for all, but I should be hating them. And just between you and me, I really do hate them. Don't get me wrong, but I have a lot of respect for what they're doing, the whole club with the finances.
00:17:33
Speaker
The way they play, I must say, the wrestler, the new manager, has been doing some great stuff for Egi if they are collecting a lot of points. I really don't know how they lost their point yesterday. They played some massive football and they definitely deserved better.
00:17:55
Speaker
If they had a strike-up besides Patrick Mortensen, they would be a contender for perhaps even second place or even more on years where Copenhagen or Michelin doesn't top-perform. So I definitely think that Aarhus are in for the third, because the rivals before I see them, well, it's a bit up and down, and I can't see some of the other teams do anything
00:18:29
Speaker
take the Bronx medal and I know for sure they will celebrate it like they won the league. Well after after narrowly avoiding relegation last season I think the celebration is probably justified and on that game on Sunday when the 19 shots so that is what it is but Patrick Mortensen had a header from six yards out and it went straight at Hermanson and I would have bet my house on that going in because he doesn't tend to miss those so a nice three points for Bwomby really.
00:18:49
Speaker
more than they're doing at the moment.
00:18:59
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, definitely. Because the way I've never, if you read on Twitter, I've never seen one defense so sad. So, you know, some of them even angry of how they played. They got a new coach, former assistant coach, who knows the clock, but they are really, really tired of the way he always plays like defending. So some bloke on Twitter,
00:19:26
Speaker
writing that they ended up with nine defending players on the field and only two attackers with Oki and Valis. That's not that's not Bronbry. That's not how I know Bronbry. They are all out attack. Now they play like they are the ones fighting for relegation. Kudu is forgetting the three points, but everything else. Wow, that was not good.
00:19:48
Speaker
Yeah. And the strange thing is that they're in this kind of no man's land where they can't finish below six, but they've also got almost no chance of reaching a European place. So why not go gung ho? Why not play attacking? And, you know, what's the worst that can happen that they face? Exactly. But I think that, I think that also perhaps you, some of the young players don't understand why a player like Kalkbierkje joins the team before Suato.
00:20:14
Speaker
who's a million dollar sale, I would say, in the future. And Jesper Sandson talking about also having to getting the right height into the next season. And I do respect that because everyone, if I have to talk about OB,
00:20:31
Speaker
said that we didn't win the last eight or ten games last season. Next season, it's a new season. If you start next season also losing, you're going to be where we are now. I do respect that one. We also are looking that they cannot just lose ten matches in a row in the top league and then start on scratch for the next season because that's difficult. When that's said, I agree they should do better than
00:21:00
Speaker
playing like a relegation team, as they do. And what do you think they need to do in the summer? Well, they always talk about, especially after the new owners, that they have a lot of cash to splash. I've not seen it yet. I've seen a lot of 22-year-old Norwegian players joining from Viking or where they joined from. I do believe they're going to have to buy into the squad because
00:21:25
Speaker
The starting players definitely have the level to play, but the players from the bench, it's way too...
00:21:35
Speaker
They're not good enough if they want to beware when they want to be. Two more teams that I wanted to touch on. Firstly, relegation rivals, Loongby. You said earlier that you don't think that Alborg are going to survive. Do you think Loongby have a chance of surviving versus Horsons? They've been playing very well since they sold a bunch of their key players in January. Yeah. Talk about selling out in January. Everyone said they just sold out.
00:22:02
Speaker
get collecting all the cash getting ready for the first division and now they play really great. I must say, if I had to bet right now, I would say that they would stay up and Holborn horses were to go down. Lüngbü, well, horses also, but especially Lüngbü, they know how to fight their way out of relegation, they know how to play in the bottom league
00:22:25
Speaker
None of the over players know how to perform under that kind of pressure, because none of them have ever been in a relegation battle before. And Lungbu, they just, in their minds, I believe, they've said in January, we're already down just gung-ho, like you said, and it's working.
FC Copenhagen's Title Campaign
00:22:43
Speaker
So I do believe they have a chance to stay up. Can I just say Marcel Röhm, wow, just kudos for him.
00:22:52
Speaker
all the bad history of him losing his wife a year ago. You could see all the emotions yesterday when he scored that goal. That was just goosebumps all over. I would also like to thank him for the clearance on the line in five minutes at a time to secure the victory yesterday.
00:23:13
Speaker
Yeah, great guy, great guy. And for anyone who didn't see Loongbi won 2-1 against Horsons on the weekend, a result that reduces the gap to safety to six points. Their level on goal difference now with Horsons, seven games to go, so obviously 21 points left. So all to play for there. And I know the fans feel like the momentum is definitely in their favor. At the other end of the table, I also want to talk about FC Copenhagen. They lost last week to Rana's 1-0, and that was
00:23:42
Speaker
a game that i think maybe the performance warranted it you know so they came into this game against v ball glass weekend a lot of pressure on them they came away with a 2-1 victory and this to me and i i got i got a lot of uh negative responses on twitter about this but i said that this result to me felt like this was them putting their stamp on the title because i think when you can beat a rival without playing
00:24:05
Speaker
anywhere near your top level, that's always a good sign. So I wanted to ask you, are these last few performances for them a bump in the road or do you think that this is kind of symptomatic that perhaps they won't last a distance? Well, before losing away the runners, they won nine in a row, so they know how to win. They are in a winning streak, they're in a winning mood. Of course, there will be
00:24:32
Speaker
bumps on their way and I do also agree with you in saying that they didn't play that well against people but they got their three points and that's just what championship teams do. So I must say that I do think that Copenhagen is going to take it.
00:24:51
Speaker
Yeah. And it really just, the point that they've got so much strength in depth was just made so clearly yesterday when you saw they're bringing off the bench guys like Cornelius, Rooney Bardagie, you know, Christian Sorensen. These are guys who- That should be illegal. Definitely that should be illegal. How can you do that? Wow. Yeah. So it's kind of crazy. But before we wrap up for this week, there was a question from UDLP fan DK who said,
00:25:20
Speaker
After the league split has been introduced, I've seen some debate on whether the current format is the most appropriate since a team could finish eighth with more points than teams finishing above.
Danish League Format Discussion
00:25:31
Speaker
How fair is the seventh versus third or fourth playoff for a European spot and is there a better alternative? Well, if you ask me, the last two years, Obie, we have lost the playoff match from number four spot.
00:25:48
Speaker
against number seven and we also lost it from number seven against number four, all who's at the time both on penalty kicks. So what do I think about it? I think if you have to have the league split, you have to have something for the lowest six to play for otherwise it would be for some of the teams 10 matches that they can't use for anything.
00:26:15
Speaker
Should it be a spot at Europe? I'm not sure what other alternatives there is. So I'm going to say, even though we lost twice in a row, that I do believe it's OK. And talking about that the lower six teams could have more points, the top six teams will. Top six teams play each other. It's a better team.
00:26:39
Speaker
Of course, some of the, let's say, Mitchell and this should be able to get more points than perhaps one because Mitchell and play all of all the plays in England, they play horses and one be playing North Zealand, a give Copenhagen. So that's just the name of the game that the clubs have decided. Yeah, I'm I'm a bit of a weird hybrid on on football when some things I love tradition and some things I love the more modern aspects. And I think that, you know, as you say, when
00:27:08
Speaker
If you are going to implement a league split, then you do need a carrot for them. And I actually really like the fact that a team like Vball can get into Europe and they certainly weren't a disgrace when they got in there. You know, I was at the game at the Olympic Stadium, they played a really good game against West Ham. So I think that
00:27:28
Speaker
to give teams in the relegation group that chance. And, you know, they've still got to be a team that's third in the league. So it's a tough ask anyway. So I'm all for it. Could I just say that I think it's a bit weird because one of the reasons why we made the split was to also to make Danish teams perform
00:27:50
Speaker
even better in Europe, the top six teams playing each other, getting better, getting ready. And now we have a situation where we could send a bottom six team out in Europe and letting perhaps even Ege if not the playing. I do know that Ege if haven't been doing that well in Europe, to say the least. But we also we are in a situation where the better team will not go to Europe and
00:28:15
Speaker
would not get those points that Denmark needs to get a higher up on the ranking. So it's a bit some for, some against, well, I just want to survive the supranly chronic season.
00:28:29
Speaker
Absolutely. Well, listen, yes, it was a huge pleasure talking to you. And I hope that Lady Luck shines her light on you for some of the next few games, if anything, just to make it a bit more interesting.
Pundit Games Segment Introduction
00:28:43
Speaker
I think that a close relegation battle is what everyone wants to see. So I hope that your guys can step up and put some points on the board. Thank you. Thank you so much, Henry.
00:28:54
Speaker
And if you want to follow Jesper on Twitter, he's at Jesper Simoni. Thanks so much for your time. I hope you enjoyed it. Definitely. Thank you. Brilliant. So we're going to take a break now. When we come back from the break, I'll be joined by the founder of Pundit Games, Jonas Heyman Jensen, for a little Danish football quiz. So look forward to that and catch you after the break.
00:29:21
Speaker
Welcome back, something a bit different on the show. If you've been listening for some time, you'll have heard me mention Pundit, a football trivia board game that blows every other board game out of the window. And not just because my win rate is three and oh, but the founder of Pundit is not just a Dane, but a Dane who loves the super leaguer. So I thought I'd bring him on to test my knowledge and test his in the process. So I'm delighted to welcome Jonas Heyman Jensen to the show. Jonas, welcome. Thank you. How are you?
00:29:46
Speaker
I'm doing pretty good. I'm doing pretty good. The season's coming to an end, which is going to be sad. But I think that I think my wife will appreciate the break from there being constant Super League of football in the kitchen. Oh, yeah, I agree that the pain of following my team, it's also I'm done with it. It seems like it seems like you guys are safe for the season. It can can put your feet up and just enjoy the last few rounds.
00:30:09
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. But in contrast to growing up with a team that was winning all the time, it's been a painful 10 years. Hopefully the good times are coming back. But I've wondered if you could just talk a little bit how you got into Danish football in the first place and why you love Odin, so why you love the Super League?
00:30:28
Speaker
Yes, definitely. So I think the right place to start is just to say that I love Ubi Unze. And that's I didn't have a choice. My dad is from Fun, raised there, moved to Copenhagen. And then as soon as he had the chance, he moved straight back to Funen Unze and had not me, I was born in Copenhagen, but
00:30:53
Speaker
Like I had no choice, he was bringing me to the stadium, Lars Hu, Hemings and brothers, Thomas Hilvie, there was absolutely no choice for me. And yeah, it just so happened to be the greatest league in the world. So that's lucky. At least we know brainwashing does work. Exactly.
00:31:15
Speaker
And in all your time as an OB fan, what's been your favorite memory, would you say? So this is going to sound like I don't know my history, but I will just say as a fan who was actually there, the Champions League qualification matches against Villa Real, Panetinaikas in the late, well, early 2010s, late 2000s was, I mean, those were amazing, amazing nights and I wish we could get those back.
Origins and Design of Pundit Games
00:31:44
Speaker
Yeah, I remember as an Arsenal fan playing you guys in the mid 90s I think it was and and that was one of my first experiences of European football So their names always always been in my head and then when I got into the Super League I realized that I realized why yeah, exactly No, my dad all like that's what he would always tell me Oh back when Owens was in Europe. We met we played Arsenal We played Liverpool and of course the Real Madrid games is his big big thing that he would always Hammer us with remember we beat Madrid in Madrid
00:32:16
Speaker
So we can do a bit of a quiz today but before that i wanted if you could talk a little bit about funded it's definitely one of my finds of last year i'm looking for anything that isn't a video game basically and this was at this scene perfect so i wondered how did the idea for the game come about what was the thinking.
00:32:33
Speaker
behind I don't know going for a board game format rather than something digital. The story goes that me and a colleague we met each other in New York where we were working together and we sort of had like a classic paper pusher job and in between
00:32:48
Speaker
pushing the papers we realized that oh we can actually challenge each other in in football quizzes as well and and I don't know our mind just immediately went to oh this could be a board game where other people might have thought this could be like a digital something but we were just
00:33:07
Speaker
completely immediately aware that this was going to be an analog game where you can sit with your friends and just talk about football, essentially. And that is the idea. The idea is, of course, to play against each other and get the right guesses and all that. But it's mostly to start a conversation about football nostalgia, taking you on a journey through the players that you forgot and the games that you forgot. And then you can talk about those again. So that was the idea.
00:33:37
Speaker
Yeah, there's something brilliant about when I last played it, we just got talking about particular players who came up. So who's the missing left back from this, this Brazil lineup and you just start sharing memories and it's, yeah, it's really nice in that sense. Exactly. Well, then you got the right gist of the game. That's exactly what it's supposed to be. Like you're supposed to forget about, you know, oh, it's only 45 minutes. You're just supposed to talk about the players.
00:34:01
Speaker
Yeah. If you don't stop midway through to put on a YouTube video from the mid nineties, you're doing it wrong. Exactly. You clearly placed a lot of emphasis on the design aesthetic, which I love, but I wonder why was that element so important to
Trivia Competition Begins
00:34:16
Speaker
you? I think that's such a good question. I think at the beginning, actually me and Sajiv, we didn't really think anything of it because we were more focused on like that the content needed to appeal to people.
00:34:28
Speaker
But we had a third person come on the game, Godfred, and he immediately said, okay, okay, we also need the aesthetic to match that feeling. And we just like, we totally agreed. And we placed a lot of emphasis on creating that sort of throwback feel, vintage feel to the game so that you not only get it when you read the questions, but also when you look at the game, definitely. Fantastic.
00:34:55
Speaker
Well, let's start testing your knowledge and I'll see if I can match up to the quiz master here because you've obviously spent a lot of time knee deep in football trivia. So let's see how we go. So how it's going to work is I'm going to ask Jonas eight questions. He's going to ask me eight questions and whoever is the winner at the end of that process gets to choose a charity for us both to donate to. So some good will come out of this. So I'm going to kick things off.
00:35:22
Speaker
And I'm going to ask you, who is the all-time top scorer in the Super League? That is Morden Duncan Asmussen. Fantastic. Straight off the bat. I thought I'd give you an easy one to start with. But yeah, he played for Egyef, Gromby, Mitchell and Dinalborg. So he's done the rounds in the Super League. Vicious goalscorer. I hated him because he was so good, you know. His question too.
00:35:48
Speaker
Of the current Super Liga teams, which is the furthest north, east, west and south in the country? Oof, wow. So north must be Albon, Obie? Correct. Most southern, I think it's Ounse, my team? Correct. Most west, that's got to be Midgeland? Correct.
00:36:11
Speaker
And most East... East is a tough one, right? Yeah, that's a tough one. But I'm inclined to say FC Copenhagen. Oh, nailed it. Oh, that's good. Two out of two. Okay. Lars Ho is the all-time appearance record holder for OB with a staggering 817 appearances. But which players are second and third in the list?
00:36:35
Speaker
Oh my God, that's so unfair and I should know this. Damn, I think we have Michael Hemmingsen. Correct. And oh my God, my friends are gonna laugh at me that I don't get the third one. Could it be Ellen Hansen?
00:36:53
Speaker
I'm afraid not. It was Steen Medigard. Of course. Oh my god. No. Lewis cut this out though. Let's see if you can get back on track with this one. Who is the player who was sold for the biggest fee by Obie? That's Pip, who doesn't. I believe not. I believe it's Fall. GB Fall, yeah. Okay. To Locomotive Moscow, 2009.
00:37:17
Speaker
Yeah, okay. I guess if you adjust for inflation and all that. But okay, yeah. I think you're right. He's the official one. Definitely. Number five. In 1993, Odinson played Arsenal in the Cup Winners' Cup, a game that is very close to my heart. The tie finished 3-2 on aggregate to Arsenal, but who scored the two goals for Odinson over the two legs? I'm going to say, did Alphonse Chami score in that one? He did not. And the other one in 1993,
00:37:50
Speaker
I'm afraid not. This was a bit of a trick question because one of the goals was a Martin Keown own goal. Alan Nielsen, who of course went on to play for Spurs. I wonder how much scoring against Arsenal helped that move to Spurs. And he also played for both FC Copenhagen and Rombi, which is a
00:38:09
Speaker
limited number of players, you can say that. Yeah, if it's okay to talk about him. He's had such a weird career when you look at it. It's like he starts out as a youth player in Espia and then goes straight to Bayern Munich. And then he has, like, I don't think he plays for them. And then he comes home and in the span of one and a half, two years, he plays for Ubi, Von Bienvenzi, Copenhagen, and then leaves again. It's such a weird career.
00:38:37
Speaker
Question six, I believe you've got three out of five now, is that right? Yeah. I'm going to give you two out of five actually. Two out of five, yeah. He doesn't was wrong. Two out of five. Can you name three British players to have played in the Superleaguer? Yes, I should.
00:38:55
Speaker
be able to uh leon miller technically leon miller's from ireland oh damn so you're not gonna even take that uh yeah that's true he's he's i thought it actually he was scottish so that's my bad i'll give you a helping hand one of them was last season you had you had a brit playing in in the the super league last season it's embarrassing no i gotta forfeit on this one henry
00:39:17
Speaker
Jack Wilshire. Oh my god, yes. Ah, he was so forgettable that I forgot him. But there were a number of interesting names there when I was looking at the list. There was Chris Kewormier, obviously ex-Arsenal. Oh, I got one. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
00:39:46
Speaker
But I can't give you the points for that one, I'm afraid. So how about this one for number seven? Who holds the record for the most goals scored in a single Super League season?
00:39:56
Speaker
I think it's Wilbert's goal, right? Oh, it is Wilbert's goal? 29 goals in the 2018-19 season. What a strange career he's having because he's come from being a goal scorer to sort of like a wing back in Germany. Yeah, I think you're right. I think he was just two levels above everyone else in the Super League. So he could have played that left back and still back the 30 goals. Yeah, he was just so good.
00:40:23
Speaker
Right, final question. This is a chance to go 50%. OB Stadium has a capacity of 15,633. Where does this place it in terms of stadium size in the Super League? I think we're fourth largest.
00:40:39
Speaker
Correct. Yes, good. Four out of eight. Pretty good going. Yeah, I think there's one of my questions that now needs to go out because you actually mentioned it in your question. So I'll see if maybe we can pause it when we get to there and I could like come up with another one. I'm worried about this because I've only been watching the Super League for about four seasons now. So I'm going to really be putting my knowledge to the test here.
00:41:09
Speaker
I mean, to the listeners out there, I'm sure this is going to be, you're going to feel this is so unfair. And I'm sorry, Henri, in advance, if you're going to hate me after this. But let's try, right? Let's try. Yeah. Okay. So my first one is, so who has played the most games in the Superleaguer for Wipo? Yeah, but Groening.
00:41:32
Speaker
That is incorrect, I'm afraid. Yeah, he's up there. But there's this one guy and you should check him out after he's called Jakob Lirub. He's like a 90s cult hero, redhead. And he stated that he never had an agent. He's like Paul Skoles. And he was just like, I'm never going to play for anyone other than people. Just like basically.
00:41:56
Speaker
Yeah, you got me there. Yeah, sorry. Okay, so I'm an Ube fan, so my next question is, who's actually scored the most goals for Ube in the Super League? So that's in the modern era from 1992. That's a tough one.
00:42:16
Speaker
I'm going to have to go with one of the, who am I going to go with? Shall I say, Steen Nedergaard? Oh, no, I'm afraid not. He was a defender in midfield, but there's this one guy called Mwapemiti. You should look him up as well. Oh man, you're killing me. Yeah, sorry. They will be easier, I promise. But he's a
00:42:37
Speaker
definitely worth a look up in your Google search as well. He came from Zambia with another friend and they just had
Danish Club History and Milestones
00:42:45
Speaker
a ride at OB. He scored I think 70 goals for OB in the 90s and 2000s. All right, so speaking on OB, I'm gonna ask you who was the two coaches that won the three silver medals from 2009 to 2011?
00:43:02
Speaker
Oh man, this is before my time. I'm really struggling here. I'm going to have to pass on this one. Okay, so one is actually, he won the 1992 European Championship with Denmark, Lars Olsen, and the other one is him like Clausen, so that was a tough one as well.
00:43:20
Speaker
Give me some more recent stuff. I need to put some points on the board. Damn. Okay, it's coming. I promise you. You will get some of these. Okay, so my next question is about Ubi, up in the north. And I'm gonna ask you, which goalkeeper holds the record for most games?
00:43:40
Speaker
for Ubi. I can tell you that he's second of all time appearances with Erasmus Würz being number one. Is it someone who's still playing? No, I'm sorry. And he's actually in the US now, but I will say he has a past at Millwall. Okay.
00:43:58
Speaker
Danish goalkeeper, X Millwall, currently in the US. Now I'm afraid I'm going to have to pass on that one as well. Oh my God, I'm so sorry. His name is Jimmy Nilsson. Jimmy Nilsson, okay. Oh man, this is a rough one, I'm so sorry. But I also have an unfair advantage to you, so that's on me. How many championships have Aggie if won?
00:44:26
Speaker
We're talking titles post super legal launch or all time, all time. Yeah. So like how many times have they been named Danish champions?
00:44:36
Speaker
I'm going to go with five. That is correct, sir. There you go. You can still draw me then. Um, so, and the latest one, it was in 1986. So, uh, it's even longer than Owen says. Wow. Yeah. I'm very happy about that. Okay. Question number six, what year was FC Copenhagen formed? That was 1993.
00:45:06
Speaker
90-92. Was it? I thought Super League was 92 and FC Cup was 93. Damn, I mean let me check while we're on here. I want this to go down and correctly but I'm pretty certain they're formed. Yeah, I think it was 92 actually, now I think about it. And Super League of first season was 93, is that right?
00:45:30
Speaker
I think you're right. Yeah, exactly. I thought the one was an open goal. I've missed it. I'm so sorry. Okay, this one, I think you're going to have a good guess at. Name the top five clubs with most European matches. So I think we can straight away say FC Co, Michelin, Bronby and OB. Yeah, definitely. And OB, which one?
00:46:00
Speaker
Odin, sir. Yeah, definitely. But then the fifth one. I'm thinking.
00:46:07
Speaker
Aalborg had a period where they were in Europe quite a bit. AGF have been in Europe. Nordsland have been in Europe. I think Aalborg. Definitely. Yeah, you got it. You got it. All right. So I'm going to pose the last one. My last question for you is about the current season. And I want to ask you, who is FC Copenhagen's current top scorer in the SuperLika? This should be an easy one, shouldn't it? I'm going to say Victor Claesen. Correct.
00:46:37
Speaker
There you go. Nice. Well, 4-3, rescued it at the end. It's a creditable defeat. I now realize how unfair I was. I was shooting in the wind for the first few questions because my Super League of Knowledge, beyond about four or five years ago, is thin on the ground.
Charity and Upcoming Matches
00:46:59
Speaker
It's not completely absent, but there wasn't a question on Jon Jenson, for example.
00:47:05
Speaker
I know I should have included that. It would have been an open goal, but I'll take the 4-3 defeat. And would you like to select a charity for us to both donate to? Yeah, I think we should do, stick with the Danish stuff and then donate to Kavtenspekembelser, which is a battle against cancer, I guess. I don't know what the English word is, but I'll send you over the name of it.
00:47:30
Speaker
Fantastic. Sounds good. Great cause. Happy to lose if that's the result. And yeah, really enjoyed that. Really enjoyed putting our knowledge to the test. I've got some homework to do on the 90s.
00:47:43
Speaker
And I'm sure there's plenty of people who are going to help me with that. That's my favorite era of the Danish Super League Henry. Jonas is wearing an Obie Adidas shirt from, I'm going to guess that's early 90s? It's actually late. It's from the season they got relegated, 1998 season. Vintage era for football kits, that.
00:48:04
Speaker
Fantastic. So thank you so much for coming on the show, Jonas. And where can people go if they want to pick up the copy of the game? Thank you so much for having me. So we actually have three websites, three domains. So if you're in the UK listening, you should go to punditgames.co.uk and use Henry's code that I'm sure he's going to mention in a minute. And if you're a Danish listener, it's punditgames.dk with the same code that Henry has.
00:48:30
Speaker
Fantastic. Yeah. And if you put in the code Danish in all caps at checkout, you will bag yourself a nice discount there. So hopefully you can do better than four out of eight when you're playing with your friends. But yeah, it was a real pleasure having you on Jonas. Keep up the great work with Pundit and look forward to talking more super legal with you in the future. A pleasure.
00:48:54
Speaker
That's all we've got time for. The league is back Friday, Sunday, Monday after last week's change for Easter. So it all kicks off on Friday with Silkerborg taking on Alborg and a huge game Sunday lunchtime as V-Borg and FC Nordsland face off in Jüland. Thanks for listening. Look after yourself and catch you next time for another edition of Danish Dynamite.