– It has been fun meeting new faces and getting to know the boys better. Markus Solbakken smiles from ear to ear during the press session with selected national team players at Ullevaal on Tuesday. He is one of eight players who were made available to the journalists, and it was easy to observe that he was probably the most popular. Just about every medium should have a word with the newly minted national team player. Not so strange when dad is the manager and national team coach. Refuses to say “daddy” But “daddy”, that word he has decided to avoid in the coming period. – I will say “Steel” on the training field. I have to try to put the father-son relationship aside here now. We can turn that back on when the meeting is over, says Markus Solbakken to news. In progress: Markus Solbakken has completed his first session as an A national team player – with dad as the big boss. Photo: Frederik Ringnes / NTB – What is it like to experience Ståle as a coach, not a father? – It is of course new. It is the first time my father is a coach. I have to try to think that he is first and foremost a coach and not a father. I think he is himself and the Ståle I know. There haven’t been any big surprises so far, says the Viking profile. – Now we just laugh about it. It wasn’t long ago, at the beginning of August, that he told TV 2’s elite series podcast “Spiss Vinkel” that he had made an agreement with his own father. If he was possibly good enough for the national team, they had made an agreement that Ståle would have to step aside. “We’re not going to have a father-son arrangement like that in the national team”, said Markus then. – At that time I felt that I was relatively far away from a squad. Things have happened quickly, and I have made good progress at Viking. Now we just laugh about it, actually, says the 23-year-old. – Would you wish he wasn’t national team coach? – No, I shouldn’t. – Will still get to talk about how Ståle Solbakken was, when he met the press on Tuesday, again peppered with questions about the zone. The national team manager says that he presented the five new players to the rest of the squad on Monday evening. – Then I presented the four as non-family, one as family. I have spoken to the captain’s team. I brought it up in plenary yesterday, and then we put it to rest. They should still be allowed to talk rubbish about me even if I’m not there, says Solbakken. – What did you say to them? – I guess I just said that Markus is here as someone who will try to make as good a figure as possible together with others. It was nothing special, I think. – Has already noticed a change In the “Footballrådet” podcast, the midfielder recently said that he has noticed that the father-son relationship has become different now that they will work together professionally. – I have already noticed a change. He has already gone from the role of father to national team coach now. There are not many phones from there now. Before, there were often 1-2 calls a day, but now it’s quiet here. I think he has already started to change to being a national team coach and not a father, said Markus in the podcast. – I think he deliberately calls a little less to connect a bit of the father-son relationship. It’s probably not a good idea to take it with you to a national team. Now I’m like all the other players here, he says when news takes up the topic on Tuesday. – Gets to talk to his mother Ståle Solbakken smiles when he hears that his son has spoken about the decreasing number of phone calls. – I go into my hole a bit before gathering, it’s possible he hasn’t registered it before. I don’t think it’s that much different. I spoke to him both Saturday and Sunday, I think. Maybe he needs more, but then he has to talk more with his mother, says the Norwegian boss with a smile. NATIONAL TEAM PLAYER: Markus Solbakken. Photo: NTB Markus Solbakken had his first physical training session with the team on Tuesday. The meeting with Erling Braut Haaland and Martin Ødegaard will be extra interesting. – I’ve probably been to a few gatherings with Erling, but it’s been a few years. But there is a completely new Erling who is here now than the 16-year-old I played with. Getting to play with one of the best soccer players in the world (Erling) will be fun. I think all Norwegians have realized what he has done in recent years. I have never played with Martin, he says. The first opportunity comes on Thursday evening when Jordan is waiting for a practice match at Ullevaal. You can hear the match on news Sport.
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Refuses to say “daddy” – already notices a change in the relationship – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
