Copenhagen manager Stale Solbakken has surprisingly been praising his side in the build-up to the Celtic game, despite a dreadful 1-1 draw at Silkeborg yesterday.
Their latest slip-up in the Danish Superliga came against the side sitting bottom of the table. Worse than that, Silkeborg had only won two games all season, yet were close to putting Solbakken’s side to the sword yesterday.
Copenhagen started both halves strongly, but still needed goalkeeper Karl-Johan Johnsson to save them on multiple occasions in the second half. The match ended with Copenhagen managing 28 shots to Silkeborg’s nine (Sofascore), as they dropped nine points behind Mitdjylland at the top of the table.
However, despite the woeful nature of the result and their recent form, Solbakken was still full of praise for his side’s efforts. Speaking on the official Copenhagen website, here’s what he said about yesterday’s shocker:
“We came out really well for the match and clearly dominated in the first 20-25 minutes, where we played them right and got several big chances. Towards the end we lose some balance in the team, as Nelsson has to go out and they get several big chances where Kalle saves us. But that’s how it goes from time to time.
“I can’t blame the boys today, because they came out well after the tough fight on Thursday. At least it’s a completely different match and a completely different performance than the Esbjerg match.
“We just have to concentrate on ourselves and start to win some matches again, but if we perform like today and in the second half on Thursday, I’m sure we’re going to take a lot of points.”
Does Copenhagen’s mentality differ to Celtic’s?
At face value, that was an abysmal result yesterday for our Europa League rivals. Considering it comes just days before our vital last-32 second-leg at Parkhead, you would’ve expected Solbakken to be more hard-hitting.
However, he seems satisfied because his team created chances. With respect, of course, surely that’s the least you would expect from them against Silkeborg. The fact they shipped opportunities must be a concern.
Let’s flip it the other way. The score at full-time is St Mirren 1-1 Celtic. We’ve had plenty of opportunities but been profligate. On the other hand, St Mirren have gotten in on goal on a couple of occasions and we’ve had to rely on Fraser Forster to snatch a point. Are we really satisfied with our manager giving it “ah well, we created lots of chances so I’m satisfied”.
Many of us would be furious. That suggests that Copenhagen’s mentality is a tad different from our own. Three games without a win would be a crisis at Parkhead. In Denmark, it’s seemingly acceptable if you’re to take Solbakken’s verdict.
It could be the case that he’s just trying to keep spirits high heading into Thursday night. Maybe they aren’t the kind of group who would react well to a rollicking. However, one thing’s for sure, their results have been poor, and their season looks in serious danger of imploding.
What have you made of Copenhagen’s recent form? Was there enough last week to suggest we should have major problems at Parkhead? Let us know in our discussion forum below.
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