The Arctic Circle giant-killers out to upset Postecoglou again

The 55, 000 residents of the Norwegian national team’s town could fit inside the Premier League team’s stadium because of the disparity between Bodo/Glimt and Tottenham.

However, the two teams will play side by side on Thursday and attempt to reach the Europa League final.

Bodo/Glimt have swept aside larger teams from Europe to join Spurs, Manchester United, and Athletic Club in the final four because their supporters are known for bringing giant yellow toothbrushes to games.

They have won eight of their last ten two-legged ties, making them the first Norwegian team to reach a men’s semi-final in a European competition.

It is a remarkable accomplishment for a team that was only content to leave the Norwegian second division ten years ago.

Bodo/Glimt are the less well-known and, arguably, the more intriguing of the four remaining teams in the Europa League.

The nearest city is a 10-hour drive away, located in the small fishing village of Bodo, which is located 200 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle. Their remoteness, which is incredibly remote, has arguably contributed to the formation of a community bond between the residents.

The team’s members frequently take their families for walks or dine in nearby restaurants.

Chris Shaul, who has followed the team since moving from England to Bodo around eight years ago, described the team as “like a big family.”

They are close friends, they say. Many of the players have adultered and socialize together here.

A strong relationship between the team and its fans can be very effective on the pitch, as has been the case with underdogs frequently. Bodo/Glimt have done that in recent years.

Jose Mourinho will undoubtedly still have nightmares from the time Bodo/Glimt’s disastrous managerial debut, when his then-Roma side lost 6-1 to Norway in a Europa Conference League game with Bodo/Glimt, with him in the joint-largest defeat of his distinguished managerial career.

In his 1, 008th game as manager of Real Madrid, Mourinho’s side conceded six or more goals in a single game, and it was on par with Barcelona’s 5-0 defeat.

Bodo/Glimt rose to the top of the standings in 1976 despite being denied promotion to Norway’s top division until 1972 due to existing rules.

But their story actually picked up speed when the club was on the verge of bankruptcy.

The Bodo/Glimt supporters group’s Thomas Solberg remarked, “Economically, we were a mess for years before this success.”

The club was saved despite the fact that we went bankrupt in 2010. We were a split-second club at the time, but we changed our minds when we hired our current manager in 2017.

Kjetil Knutsen, a coach from Bergen who had previously had mediocre success with smaller clubs in Norway, was the key player in that role.

He was Aasmund Bjorkan’s assistant at the time, but he took over the position the year after. It initially appeared to be a failure, but it turned out not.

Morten Gamst Pedersen, a former Blackburn Rovers midfielder and Norway international, claimed that they were considering sacking Knutsen but they lacked the funds to do so.

Knutsen’s concepts involved developing a purpose-driven, intense possession-based game.

The 56-year-old previously stated that dominating does not just mean scoring but also having possession of the ball and dictating the game’s rules.

We want to have a cohesive team identity that includes fans, staff, players, and fans. To be able to develop this “Bodo model,” we must confront ourselves.

Bodo’s goal was to change the players’ mindsets as well.

They had become used to playing in the top two divisions without much real success. However, the club also hired Bjorn Mannsverk when Knutsen was in place.

He trained as a performance and mentality coach after working as a fighter pilot. Mannsverk had extensive experience developing mental resilience as a leader of the Royal Norwegian Air Force squadrons in deployments to Afghanistan and Libya.

Former Bodo/Glimt player Ulrik Saltnes used to have stomach issues and considered retiring, while vice-captain Patrick Berg was ready to leave a club that his grandfather, father, and two uncles had played for.

Working with Mannsverk helped both transform their mentality.

Without Bjorn and the mental effort we put forth, Saltnes, who previously called their play “kamikaze,” said: “I don’t think it would be possible to play that way.”

Bodo/Glimt transformed into a team thanks to Mannsverk’s work on mentality and Knutsen’s coaching methods.

After avoiding relegation for the first time in 2018, they would eventually win the domestic league title in 2020, and they would do it once more in three of their subsequent four seasons.

They were also given a spot in Europe thanks to those championship victories, where they hoped to compete instead of just be happy.

They faced a Celtic side led by Postecoglou, the current Spurs manager, in the Europa Conference League in 2022.

Bodo/Glimt not only shocked the Scottish giants in their knockout round play-off tie, but also thumped them 5-1 on aggregate, winning the first leg 3-1 and the second 2 2-0, to advance to the last 16.

Pedersen remarked, “Knutsen plays attacking football.” They play similarly to Tottenham and like high press.

Knutsen is a very nice person, but the group is strong.

They have excellent training and are very fit. They are aware of their role, and Tottenham will face a difficult match.

Postecoglou said Spurs will not take them lightly because they have previously been detested by Bodo/Glimt.

The Australian described the Australians as “a good football team.” It’s irrelevant where you come from. I don’t underestimate anyone because I’m from another country where football is the fourth sport.

It makes no difference if you say the club is small or the club is big. They have the right to play in the semi-finals of a European competition between us and two other clubs.

Bodo/Glimt will be hoping Postecoglou’s defeat in Europe will set a new precedent.

They will want to go back to Norway, where they are tied, knowing how to use the conditions there to their advantage.

Due to their northerly location, opposing teams can encounter snow and wind as well as a determined, talented side.

Jostein Gundersen, a defender for Bodo/Glimt, told BBC World Service, “I don’t think we are the most sexy team to face.”

The artificial grass and cold, windy weather make up the artificial grass, which we don’t have the biggest stadium.