MFF profile about the future
Brussels. Well Inge Berget is clear:
He will not sign a new contract with Malmö FF until he knows who will coach the team next year.
I’ve been here for seven years and I feel you have to start somewhere outside the team every year. The Norwegian says it’s not perfect.
Jo Eng Birgit He did seven seasons in Malmo FF And on an expired contract.
In June, he was open in the media about his desire to extend and end his career at the club. In this context, he also received an offer of an extension contract from MFF.
But when sporting director Andreas Georgesson became interim coach, negotiations were put on hold, and although Georgesson is now back in the sporting director’s chair, nothing new has happened, according to Birgit.
what do you want?
– I want to see what happens. It’s happened a few times now with new coaches wanting new players. We’ll see who he will be, what kind of coaches, what he wants and which players he wants to bet on before making a decision, says Birgit, who has had five different coaches and two interim coaches during his time at the World Cup.
Do we have to start over with a lot of young people and take the old from them again? Or how would it be? You have to wait to see how it turns out.
But should you wait for the new coach’s name, could it be a late decision?
– Yes, it certainly can.
He wanted to keep a hared
Under Åge Hareide, Berget was moved to the center of the field, as a sort of late striker. There, he is also expected to play against Union Saint-Gilloise in Thursday’s Europa League match here in Belgium.
– I’ve never been proud that I like to play central, Birgit smiles. Åge has known me for a long time and knows I work there.
Would it have been good for you if I had stayed Hared next year?
– yes. I like Åge and I think Åge likes me. So it’s a good “match”.
But Birgit does not think his compatriot will stay.
– No, it seems to be a solution for the rest of the season only.
Birgit is by no means alone in an expired contract. Up to nine players in the current squad sit in the same seat, including over 30 players such as Niklas Moisander, Martin Olsson and Ola Toivonen.
There is talk of MFF going through a generational change – how do you see that?
There is often a new coach and then you have to try some new players, but you end up being the same team anyway. It was a little hard on myself. I’ve been here for seven years and I feel you have to start somewhere outside the team every year. It’s not perfect, he says and continues:
– You can’t play with the same player forever. Sometimes you have to change a little, but it’s about how you do it and you don’t have to change everything at once either. I’m glad I didn’t take responsibility for managing all of that. No one should forget what made Malmö Malmö in the last 10 years here.
And those are the older veteran players, you mean?
– that it. When we went to Europe, they often had an old team. When we lose, it is also because it is an old team. It turns a little fast sometimes.
Birgit turned 32 last Sunday.
He is no longer 32 years old in football. You’re not done when you’re 32, I don’t think so.
MFF wants to extend
The fact that you still play a lot at the end as you add more each season – doesn’t that also give you security?
– That’s how it is. But at the same time, you like to know that you’re planning A all the time. Not that you should try everything else and end up with the same thing anyway. There were so many different ways to play and so many different situations for me. It’s been here and there and a little up and down. But looking back, it’s been a great year. If I hadn’t played as much as I did, I wouldn’t have been here seven years ago. So I’m really happy this way.
According to sporting director Andreas Jorgson, the MFF is not geared towards a generational change and they want to keep Berget.
He’s a player we enjoy very well and we think he’s doing for us. I hope we find the future together. But I also understand that he wants to make sure it’s a good decision in the end, says Georgeson.
Union Saint-Gilloise, the big surprise last year in the Belgian league, awaits when the newcomers, who went to Germany and defeated Union Berlin in the first group stage match, were on Thursday night.
Perhaps a provocative question, but do you have a chance in this group?
– We have a chance. But Braga was a degree above us. Then you can’t concede goals in corner kicks and penalties and you have to take advantage of the chances you get and have a little luck. We knew it and we had to prove it again, says Birgit.