On Sunday, Hammarby hosts an in-form IFK Göteborg at home at Tele2 Arena. Exciting, says coach Marti Cifuentes.
– It will be a fantastic match because they have done very well recently. They are the Allsvenskan’s best team in the last six rounds. They probably also want to give a victory to Marcus (Berg, who has announced that he is ending his career). I also want to take this opportunity to congratulate him on a fantastic career, says Cifuentes.
Cifuentes likes what he has seen of Jens Askou’s team since the Dane joined from Horsens. He points out that Blåvitt has combined a strong defense with sharp transitions.
– They have found their way to play. I know their coach from my time in Denmark.
– Recently, their defense with Salomonsson, Svensson, the Danish guy (Sebastian Hausner) and Wendt has been very stable. They are experienced back there. Then (Arbnor) Mucolli is a very good player and we know Astrit (Selmani), who I think fits in very well with what IFK Göteborg is looking for in a central forward. They have made it click.
Selmani faces Bajen for the first time since the move from the club and will now see Cifuentes again, with whom, according to him, it did not fully click.
In a recent interview with Aftonbladet, the forward said the following about the Hammarby coach:
– Sometimes you collide with each other with different personalities. I’ve tried to change my mind sometimes, but it doesn’t work. I can not. I am not the only one who is silent.
– There are so many other things that affect how you function as a player and coach. Sometimes it doesn’t work out. Fortunately, we don’t have to be friends for life. I respect him as a leader.
Cifuentes believes that it is nothing special to encounter Selmani as an opponent.
– He is a good player and a good guy. I wish him luck in a good club and I’m sure he’s one of the reasons why they (IFK Gothenburg) are doing so well right now, because I know what his character is like and how competitive he is, says Bajen- the coach.
– Hopefully we give him a bad afternoon now but apart from that I wish him the best.
What made him not fully successful in Hammarby under your leadership?
– I almost think it’s a myth that he wasn’t good here. It is as I said many times then: Astrit was very good for us.
– He is a big winner so maybe he wasn’t completely happy when he didn’t start all the games, but the fact is that he started most of the games during the time I was a coach here.
Cifuentes elaborates:
– He was unlucky during my time, because he had five or six frame hits that could have improved his statistics a lot. He is a very good player, especially when he gets areas to run on and when counter-attacking situations arise.
– That’s why I think he was very important the season before I came in, under Milos (Milojevic). Last season we were a team that had the ball a lot and attacked low blocks. Maybe it wasn’t that easy for him. But apart from that, I think his performance and work effort for the team was always good.
The Spaniard concludes his reasoning that Selmani did better under his leadership than people have expressed by saying:
– This is one of the myths that exist about Hammarby and me.
He says himself that your personalities clashed. Do you agree?
– We both have perhaps strong personalities, that’s how it is. But like I said: he’s a good guy. And I think he started 70-80 percent of the games when I was here. I had no problems with him and he knows I wish him the best of luck, says Cifuentes.
Selmani left Hammarby for Israeli Hapoel Be’er Sheva in the summer of 2022. He has since been loaned to Danish FC Midtjylland and is currently on loan at Blåvitt.
2023-10-01 07:48:00
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