Only world stars such as Robert Lewandowski and Karim Benzema score more than Alexander Sørloth (27). That makes national team manager Ståle Solbakken cheer.
It’s not just Erling Braut Haaland and Martin Ødegaard as a major player during the day.
Last Saturday, Sørloth took first place Norwegian player with goals in five straight LaLiga games. He previously shared the record with John Carew, who had four goals in four straight games.
It is an achievement LaLiga expert Petter Veland thinks receives too little attention.
– I won’t be such a cliché to say that “people don’t understand how big it is”, but I definitely think he gets too little attention here in Norway. His performance recently has been absolutely incredible. Only Robert Lewandowski and Karim Benzema have scored 5 goals in 5 games this season, so he is in celebert company, says Veland to VG.
– Sørloth is part of a Sociedad team that makes its way through LaLiga during the day. They have now won nine games in a row, which Sociedad has never done before.
The 27-year-old’s eighth league goal means that he is number four on the top scorer list, just one goal behind Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema. At the top are Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski (13) and Espanyol’s Joselu (10).
– If he continues like this, he can without a doubt become number three on the top scorer list in LaLiga. Lewandowski and Benzema will probably reign at the top, but behind there it will probably be even, says Veland.
National team manager Ståle Solbakken also pays tribute to the power forwards’ fantastic form.
– What Sørloth does during the day speaks its own language. He is extremely good at exploiting the chances of a team that is in very good shape, says Solbakken to VG.
The national team coach has no doubt that an in-form “Alex” will be very important for Norway during the EC qualifiers in March.
– Getting Sørloth in shape for the qualifiers can help tip the most difficult games in our favour. For Norway, Sørloth has played a form of side forward, where he has to work a lot defensively. This is a role that I think he has dressed well, and he was very good in both matches against Sweden in the Nations League, says Solbakken.
With Sørloth, Ødegaard and Haaland in top form, many have longed for a line-up in which the Drammenser plays 10s, together with Haaland and Sørloth as a forward duo.
Solbakken says it is unlikely to see such a combination for Norway.
– You probably won’t see it, no. The reason is that it becomes difficult to perform purely tactically. Erling is used to playing forward alone, which we have seen at City, Dortmund and Salzburg. In addition, it is a myth that Ødegaard plays in a 10 role for Arsenal. In their constructive play, Ødegaard always pulls out to the right, and he is very involved defensively, he says and adds:
– The question of whether all three can play in their favorite positions at the same time keeps coming up. I think all three played very well together this summer, and I therefore see no reason to change anything.
On Wednesday, Sociedad will really test their winning streak when they play the quarter-finals of the Copa Del Rey against Barcelona at the Camp Nou. Away against the Catalans, Sociedad have not won since the 1-3 victory in 1991.
Can Sørloth and Co take a historic victory on Wednesday?
The match, and the Copa del Rey, you watch VG + sport Wednesday 21:00.
