Patrick Karlgren, the under-21 champion, lived a somewhat unknown life after taking the gold medal in 2015.
But now he has had success in Denmark, where he ranks as one of the best players in the Danish league.
Sportbladet had a chat with the former AIK player who is now hoping to break into the A national team.
– I think I deserved the chance, he says.
Patrick Karlgren He became a big hero when Sweden won the gold at the European Under-21 Championship in 2015. After leaving AIK In 2016, his career continued at Turkish Konyspor and Danish Nordsjelland before finding the right Dalmatian at Randers FC. He lived a relatively unknown life until a few years ago. He is currently ranked as one of the best Danish league players with a savings rate of 91%, and he was also nominated for August’s Player of the Month award. He has also made Team of the Week five of his last seven matches.
In other words, football life plays for Karlgren.
– I’ve been here for four years, and the year I came here, Randers was about to leave. But then they changed everything and brought in a new board of directors, a sports director and a coach. It was the athletic director and coach who recruited me here at the time.
– Now things have gone well in recent years. We won the cup in 2021, made the top six and go to the playoffs every year, he says.
With the cup win, it became a crucial match against Galatasaray for a place in the Europa League group stage before last season. But there they lost a tough double and it was a Europa League match instead. There the team met Leicester in the round of 16, in a match in which Kasper Schmeichel paid tribute to Karlgren.
– We lost 4-1 but I saved 16 balls. I was relieved and got a lot of credit after that match. These are the kinds of matches you want to play, Karlgren says, and it’s been an ego boost in a nice way.
The 2022/2023 season has started in the best way for Carlgren and Randers. The team is second in the first division with 15 points in seven matches. Karlgren has kept clean sheets in four of his last five league games. Meanwhile, Randers also took a nice scalpel when the team beat big investment club Copenhagen away from home 3-1.
We are just getting better and better and now we have the best start to the season in Rander’s history. This is a record. It feels really good and we have something really good going on.
Your own look looks decent, what do you think about that?
It’s been going well for a long time and it’s a lot of fun and I’m playing all the games. I feel like I’m getting better and better and everyone in the whole team is constantly improving and enjoying life. it’s a wonderful feeling.
Why did you get this development in recent years?
– It is enough that I always have a strong belief in myself. No matter what happened in football. I believe in myself. I’ve had great goalkeeper coaches who have a lot of faith in me and the club. The more matches I play, the better I look and I look like I’ve reached a new level.
What do you think of the national team?
Yes, of course you think about it. If I’m totally honest, I think I deserve a place given what I’ve achieved in the past two years here in Denmark. It’s not just a coincidence.
– So I hope to join the national team soon because personally I have never been better.
– But there is always good competition in the national team and Jan and Peter decide. They decide who will be there. I can only focus on putting in a good performance in the club team and I hope for the best. I hope the opportunity presents itself.
How often do you remember again the achievement that happened in Prague, by the way?
– Yes, but a little now and then. It’s a period you’ll always be proud of. But I can say that I am ten times better goalkeeper now than I was then. Consider what it is made of. But it was a great time when we won there and made lifelong friends from this team.
You guys are good friends with John Gedetti, what do you say about his start at your former club AIK?
Yes, he went well and scored in the derby. It’s great when things are going well for friends. I think it will get better and better.
You have been one of the best goalkeepers in the Danish league lately, what does your interest look like and how do you think about the future?
– Two years left on my contract, but I know there has been some interest from foreign clubs this summer, but I want it to be the right move for me. I still have high aspirations and high goals to get as far as possible and to be as good as possible.
– But I want to take the right step at the right time and at the right opportunity. For now, the focus is solely on Randers.
Björn Wesström and Andreas Alm enlisted you at AIK, both now in Odense. Do you have any contact with them?
– When we met them and played 2-2, I talked to both of them. They were the ones who bought me AIK once from Brage. I will always be on good terms with them and AIK.
If you compare the Danish league to the Swedish league, what would you say?
The Danish league is better, of course. It’s more physical, especially for me as a goalkeeper. It’s not often that I get a free kick with me in an air duel here, for example, so it’s the opposite of an Allsvenskan.
What is your goal this season?
– As always to get to the top six, we’ve done that in recent years. Then, of course, we want to be part of the challenge for the top three. The challenge is preferred over the title.