NORWAY ALL STARS

COACH: Egil OLSEN



The best ever Norwegian players 23 man squad



GOALKEEPERS:

Erik THORSTVEDT
Frode GRODÅS


DEFENDERS:

Thorbjørn SVENSSEN
Roar JOHANSEN
Rune BRATSETH
Stig Inge BJØRNEBYE
Gunnar HALLE
Ronny JOHNSEN
Henning BERG
John Arne RIISE


MIDFIELDERS:

Arne BRUSTAD
Reidar KVAMMEN
Per BREDESEN
Asbjørn HALVORSEN
Roald JENSEN
Hallvar THORESEN
Erik MYKLAND
Kjetil REKDAL


FORWARDS:

Einar GUNDERSEN
Jørgen JUVE
Odd IVERSEN
Tom LUND
Tore André FLO

MY BEST XI

RESERVES:



GOALKEEPERS:

Henry JOHANSEN
Thomas MYHRE


DEFENDERS:

Per SKOU
Øivind HOLMSEN
Otto AULIE
Nils ERIKSEN
Terje KOJEDAL
Svein GRØNDALEN
Einar Jan AAS
Kai Erik HERLOVSEN


MIDFIELDERS:

Gunnar ANDERSEN
Olav NILSEN
Sverre BRANHAUG
Per Egil AHLSEN
Harald BERG
Roger ALBERTSEN
Øyvind LEONHARDSEN
Arne PEDERSEN
Lars BOHINEN
Mini JACOBSEN
Roar STRAND


FORWARDS:

Gunnar THORESEN
Gøran SØRLOTH
Harald HENNUM
Knut BRYNILDSEN
Arne Larsen ØKLAND
Jostein FLO
Jan Åge FJØRTOFT
Steffen IVERSEN
John CAREW
Ole Gunnar SOLSKJÆR
Sigurd RUSHFELDT

Who should replace?

Ok, what other members think about this change?

I suggest also Tore André FLO in place of Ole Gunnar SOLSKJÆR, I think Flonaldo has been more important for Norway NT.

No Johnsen, he could replace Harald Berg...Agree for Flo..

Asbjørn HALVORSEN moved in first team in place of Harald BERG.
Tore André FLO moved in first team in place of Ole Gunnar SOLSKJÆR.

IMO needs updated.
some infos: https://sportmob.com/en/article/912778- ... f-all-time
https://eu-football.info/_players.php?id=149
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_N ... ootballers
http://cfernandoblog.blogspot.com/2016/ ... toria.html
Solskjær must be among the 23.
Martin Ødegaard and Haaland may be among the 23 also because they are future promises...

Of course this team needs an update. All old threads for All Stars NT are being updated. Solskjær can be in the first team and I wouldn't mind Haaland at all. If he keeps his current scoring rate, he may become Norway all-time top scorer within the end of next year. I'm not sure though about Ødegaard in the first team yet. He can be in the reserves for now.

I think it is way too early to add Odegaard to the first team. He is doing very well at Arsenal, but until that he was very inconsistent. Haaland is a no brainer. I agree with Solskjaer too.

Suggestions:

I agree regarding the goalkeepers. The third reserve should be Sverre Andersen who was considered the best goalkeeper in Norway for many years. After all, Norway didn't have remarkable heirs in the role before the arrival of Thorstvedt in the early 1980s.

In defence you added Svein Grøndalen who played as centre back and left back. In my opinion, the team needs another right back and he's the one to be replaced. I was thinking about André Bergdølmo, considered one of the best of his generation, but he was deployed mostly on the left side even though he preferred the right. So, my choice is to keep Gunnar Halle.
In the reserves I'd have André Bergdølmo, Anders Giske, Svein Grøndalen, Alfie Haaland, Brede Hangeland, Kai Erik Herlovsen, Roar Johansen, Ronny Johnsen, Harry Karlsen, Terje Kojedal.

I don't understand why Arne Brustad, mainly a left winger, is in the midfield. Of course he deserves a spot but among the forwards. Per Bredesen, he as well mostly a forward, was a great player but his stint with the national team was cut short due to his transfer to Italy. If you want to keep him it's fine, but I rather give the spot to someone else. I'm not sure about Asbjørn Halvorsen, sure a legend of Norway early football, although he didn't win too many caps in his quite short national team career. Instead, I'd have Reidar Kvammen, Øyvind Leonhardsen, Erik Mykland, Alexander Olsen (apparently one of the most dominant and complete midfielders in Norwegian early football), Morten Gamst Pedersen, Kjetil Rekdal and Hallvar Thoresen.
The reserves can be Gunnar Andersen, Harald Berg, Lars Bohinen, Asbjørn Halvorsen, Mini Jakobsen, Roald Jensen, Tor Egil Johansen, Olav Nilsen, Martin Ødegaard and Arne Pedersen. I took into consideration also Per Agil Ahlsen and Ståle Solbakken.

The forwards can be Arne Brustad, Tore André Flo, Einar Gundersen, Erling Haaland, Jørgen Juve, Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Gunnar Thoresen. I'm aware that I left out Tom Lund, who is considered one of the greatest Norwegian players and by some the greatest ever, although his national team career doesn't seem as good as that of the ones I selected.
The reserves can be Per Bredesen, Knut Brynildsen, John Carew, Jan Åge Fjørtoft, Harald Hennum, Odd Iversen, Steffen Iversen, Tom Lund, Arne Larsen Økland and Gøran Sørloth. I'm not sure about adding Joshua King yet. I'd choose even Jostein Flo over him for now.

Here's my two cents:

GK: 100% agree with Thorstvedt and Johansen. Those are the two I have in my squad.
DF: I think we all agree with H. Berg, Bjørnebye, Bratseth, Riise and Svenssen. So, we need one more CB and a RB. Having a CB who can play as RB also works IMO since Norway don't have great RBs outside Berg.
MF: I can't agree with Halvorsen out of the first team. He is just too big of a name. Yeah, he doesn't have too many caps, but we need to consider the context. Back then, it was normal for the player to stop being called up to the NT when playing for a club of another nation due to logistic reasons. The fact he was good enough to move to a big club in Germany should count in his favor, not against him. Also, I believe he earn a cap when Norway went to Germany to play against their NT.
FW: Lund is ahead of Gundersen IMO. I feel really bad not seeing him in the first team. I also see Roald Jensen ahead of Gunnar Thorensen.

The fact is that Grøndalen was CB and LB. Berg could play as RB and CB, so we don't need another centre back. I stick with Halle.
Regarding Halvorsen I expressed my doubt but didn't exclude him categorically. Leonhardsen may be out then.
I mentioned that Lund is considered ahead of most Norwegian strikers and he can surely be in the first team. My selection was based on my thought that his NT career doesn't look as good as the one other players had. Roald Jensen would make sense to have another winger but much like I said for Lund, Thoresen's NT career was more successful than Jensen's.

I agree with you on everything, I think it's possible to update based on these two analyses, possibly the most notable players were the ones from 1998 when norway stood out in a cup, the others didn't have the same success, so I agree with your ideas, by me ok.

I've been working on Norway NT recently, and have some more cents:
DF: Halle does indeed seem the best option for a 2nd RB choice, but should Grøndalen be ahead of Ronny Johnsen?
MF: I think we can move Jorgen Juve here. Keep Thorensen, Halvorsen and Rekdal. Mykland is probably the next best choice. I'm very undecided between the last two spots though. There are some very good names, but none stands out from the others. We also should start considering Ødegaard here. In terms of talent he is a no-brainer, but so far he only achieve failures with the NT.
FW: We should probably have Brustad, Flo, Haaland, Kvammen and Solskjær. One RW between Bredesen, R. Jensen and G. Thorensen. And instead of choosing between Lund and Gundersen, we can add both and keep only 6 midfielders.

EDIT: I ended up with this: