Hugo Larsson in a big interview about his first time in Germany – and the new national team
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Hugo Larsson has already played for himself a regular place in Eintracht Frankfurt.
For Sportbladet, he now talks about the first time in Germany, the national team dreams, the promise to MFF if there is a golden match against Elfsborg, Janne Andersson’s message and thoughts about the future A national team.
– We are a good generation that is coming up now. If Sweden can take advantage of it, there could be great national team years ahead, he says.
Hugo Larsson has a day off when Sportbladet reaches him by phone at his apartment in Frankfurt.
Eintracht Frankfurt, who bought the 19-year-old for a Swedish record sum (the transfer was worth SEK 135 million in total), suffered their first league loss of the season last weekend, when Wolfsburg won at home 2-0.
Frankfurt is ninth in the table after six rounds played and the MFF product has gained a lot of confidence and has started the last four games.
He admits that things have gone quickly since he arrived in mid-June.
– It has been a very positive first period. I came down in June and it was important for me to get a full pre-season with the team when you are new. We had many new players, a new coach and then being able to be there and give him a picture of what kind of player I am right away was important. Because everyone starts from scratch when you bring in a new coach.
– I also enjoy myself outside of football, which makes it easier when you come to a new city and a new club, he says.
But you got corona there after a while, how was that?
– Yes, I played a lot in the pre-season and then everything would start. Then came the disease. There were many in the club who had corona and I was ill for about two weeks. We were probably some players who got it and some staff.
– Right then and there I was a little worried because it wasn’t the best timing to get it when the series was about to start, but it worked out.
full screenHugo Larsson has become a starting player in Eintracht Frankfurt. Photo: Alex Grimm/Getty Images
“Come down to earth when I got here”
You have now won yourself a regular place. Your thoughts on that?
– I have played four matches in a row now and it has been 90 minutes in almost all matches. I have come into it in a good way and gained the confidence of the coach.
– You develop the most from matches and they help you take big steps and I really felt that I did. It’s faster tempo and better players so I learn something new every day. But now I’ve been playing from the start for over a month.
Did you think it would happen so quickly?
– When you come to a new club like I did with a fairly high price tag on it, you come with great confidence. But once I got here, I came back down to earth. Here there are good players everywhere, then I got sick and then it didn’t look bright in my eyes, even though I trusted myself. But I got the chance almost straight away in the qualifiers for the Europa League and after that I’ve started almost every game.
– Then I would not have thought that it would go this fast, even though I am used to everything going up since the time in Malmö.
What is the biggest difference?
– That will be the simple answer. The tempo. That everything goes much faster, you don’t have as much time. You don’t get the ball as easily from your opponent.
Is there a player you’ve encountered so far that you’ve learned from or thought stood out?
– I always looked up to Mattias Svanberg when he played in Malmö FF so it was fun to meet him. It was a Swedish meeting. It’s just a shame we couldn’t win.
– Then learning from Mario Götze is not wrong either. I train with him every day and he is a class player that I watch a lot. There are a lot of good players here in Germany.
full screenHugo Larsson meets Mattias Svanberg in Wolfsburg. Photo: Selim Sudheimer/Getty Images
“Sold out every match”
Last year, Eintracht Frankfurt had an audience average of over 50,000 spectators per match. And being able to play in front of the supporters at home is something that Hugo Larsson believes is a special feeling.
– Every match is full. They have expanded the arena for this season so that it can hold 58,000 spectators. But every match is already sold out, I think.
– The supporters are awesome, it’s a nice pressure down here. It’s awesome to play in front of them and we have some of the best supporters in Germany.
Larsson has also been praised in the German press for his efforts and the newspaper Bild has written that Frankfurt aims to sell him on for half a billion in a few years. But for now, he can walk quite anonymously on the streets of Frankfurt.
– Yes, it is quite calm. There was much more in Malmö, says Larsson with a laugh.
He continues:
– It is sometimes, but then they come over and speak German so I have to improvise a bit. I usually understand what they want.
full screenHugo Larsson after the national team debut. Photo: Andreas Sandström / Bildbyrån
“Hope I’m in the national team”
What do you say about what Bild wrote about Frankfurt’s goal being to sell you on for half a billion in a few years?
– Of course it’s fun that it’s written positively, but I don’t understand much German. It’s probably good because then I can concentrate on mine and football. But I have seen that it has been translated and published in the Swedish media.
You were in the A national team squad a few sessions ago, how do you see playing with Blågult in the future?
– Of course I was a little disappointed when I didn’t come last time, but I was still able to buy a little that Janne didn’t take me out. The timing wasn’t good there as I had been sick and hadn’t played much.
– But since the last collection, I have played almost every minute, so now I both believe and hope that I am included.
What do you say about that Jan Andersson concluded that he will quit if Sweden misses the European Championship play-offs. So he is expected to leave in November?
– First of all, he has had a very good national team year, even though the last few years may not have been so successful, he has meant and done a lot for Swedish football. Now we can only hope that the national team and he can end his period as national team captain in the best possible way.
– It looks extremely tough to reach the European Championship finals, but we have to fight to reach it and fight to the end and we will try to win every game that remains, if I am now in it. It would have been fun to play in a championship, even if it feels far away now, in that case it may come in the future.
– Once Janne’s time is over, it is a good opportunity for the association to review the organization and make sure that the next association captain gets really good conditions to be able to do something special with the new national team.
fullscreenHugo Larsson is thanked by the MFF fans. Photo: Ludvig Thunman / Bildbyrån
“Good generation on the way up”
If you look at the A national team now and also the players who come from below in the U21 national team, a lot of those players play in the big leagues. Does the future still feel bright?
– Right now it feels like there is a very good generation coming up and if we in Sweden can take advantage of it in a good way, it can be really good. There could be some really good national team years ahead if we look at the players we have. There are incredibly good players who play in the big leagues.
What do you think about Malmö FF’s golden chances?
– The chances are good that MFF will win the SM gold this year. We started very well and now they have got everything back in order after we were a part that disappeared and they got some injuries.
– It was thought that it would end for Elfsborg at some point, but they have only continued. So it will be a battle.
– A golden match there against Elfsborg in the last round would have been nice.
Then you’re there, right?
– Yep. I have already checked. We have a match the day before, then recovery training the day after and then I fly directly to the match in Malmö.
2023-10-03 13:16:45
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