FREDRIKSTAD STADION (Nettavisen): The sun shines again with the performances in the “Plankbyen” on a Wednesday afternoon before the FFK players get a well-deserved football holiday.
The skeptics of coach Mikkkjal Thomassen have now turned into great optimists, because the spring season has been a great success for the old greatness.
The defense has been tight with six behinds in 14 games, and in the last few games the attacking player has also loosened up. It provides a combination that will frighten most of the competitors at level two in Norwegian football.
– We were clear that we had a goal of playing important games during the season, and it looks like we will do that, striker Riki Alba tells Nettavisen in the summer weather, and continues:
– We are on track, even though we did not get much positive feedback from the supporters after the start of the season. We won games, but not in the way people wanted us to win them.
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For Alba’s part, in line with the team’s attacking play, things have looked better recently. The 28-year-old has two goals in the last three games and is starting to find his form.
– On the other hand, it has been a clear plan on our part that it should be like that, because it is more difficult to be robust at the back than to play good offensive football. Now it has loosened more offensively, so it looks very good.
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Faroese Mikkkjal Thomassen has come in with new eyes, and has been a breath of fresh air in the corridors at Fredrikstad Stadium.
– Mikkjal was adamant that 50 late goals, which we had last year, is never enough to move up to the Eliteserien. The idea was therefore immediately to become a team that is difficult to score on, because then it usually results in a minimum of one point. The offensive has of course taken a little longer than we had hoped, but now the offensive is also working.
Alba admits that he can tell on his body that he is playing in a big club, on a level two scale.
– There is no hiding the fact that nothing is good enough in Fredrikstad. If we win 7-0, we should have won 8-0, so three points usually don’t count here. We now notice that there has been more optimism after the bigger victories recently, so it’s fun that we get recognition for the work we put in.
FFK’s tough regime
Nettavisen attends the last training before the top match against Kongsvinger, which was the team’s last game before a longer break. There it became apparent that head coach Mikkkjal Thomassen is doing everything to push the players a little extra.
After a longer session with eleven against eleven on a large track, all players ran four or five hard sprints. The message was clear from the former police officer:
– I want you to empty the last bit of juice in your legs. You should be completely empty after this!, runger det ut over Fredrikstad stadion.
The players were scattered afterwards, but if we are to believe Riki Alba, this is everyday food in the new regime.
– What you saw today was a “medium hard” session, so we are starting to turn to the hard drive. We have had some long and heavy days this winter and throughout the season. There are days when we come in and are completely devastated, wondering “how the hell are we going to get through this”, he explains, and continues:
– Mikkjal says he likes to move barriers, so if you feel you have reached the breaking point, he will move that point further to endure more. It has been difficult, but it does give results because we are often better than the opponents towards the end of the games.
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If there is anyone who can withstand the training in the FFK squad, it is Riki Alba. The striker has been the best in all endurance tests over the past three yearswhich is often unusual for a striker:
– In Fredrikstad, the striker must be well trained, because it is often us who run the longest and have the most high-intensity runs during a match. I have therefore had no particular choice but to be well trained. I also feel that it is becoming more and more the norm in international football as well, and the typical goal sneak is dying out more and more.
Didn’t get the chance in Vålerenga
Alba has reached the age of 28 and is in his fourth season in FFK. At a young age, he was considered a super talent in Skeid, and was brought to the big club Vålerenga.
There he became the youngest ever, at the time, to sign a professional contract with the capital club, and was predicted to have a great future. However, things did not go quite as expected:
– I sat with the feeling that I never got a fair chance in Vålerenga, with people like Mohammed Abdellaoue, Yssouf Koné, Marcus Pedersen and Vidar Örn Kjartansson ahead of me in the queue. There were big names, so it was almost impossible for a youngster to get in.
The striker was loaned out to Nest Sotra, Bærum and Asker, among others, where he impressed and scored goals. However, it never became the big thing in VIF, and it took a long time to digest.
– My contract ended when I was 21, and then I’ll be honest and say I was bitter. I was actually bitter about the treatment for a very long time, so then I just had to restart my career and get my confidence back. I see how young people get away with it today, but it wasn’t like that when I was there. It took time to get rid of the bitterness.
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He still keeps a close eye on the old club, which is currently in sporting trouble. Dag-Eilev Fagermo is gone, and VIF lost the following match against Viking.
– It is interesting to read about it from the outside. Now, Vålerenga is a club I am very fond of, and can in many ways be considered my mother club. It is therefore not pleasant that things are going the way they are, but it is, if nothing else, good reading material for those of us who follow along.
Now the Obos league has a longer summer break, but on 4 August FFK will travel to Nordre Åsen and Skeid.
2023-07-21 09:57:42
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