Jorgen Strand Larsen is hoping Wolves can start to match their performances with points after coming into Saturday’s Premier League off the back of a first win of the campaign.
Having spent the last 10 days away with Norway on international duty, in which he helped his country earn promotion into the top tier of Nations League football, the striker has returned to a happy camp at Compton Park, with the players in positive mood ahead of a trip to Craven Cottage to face Fulham this weekend.
Although it’s taken Wolves 11 games to earn their first win, in a performance which Strand Larsen admits was not the teams’ best, he believes the squad have the ability to not only put together a winning run in their upcoming games, but to do it by playing high quality football.
On Norway topping their Nations League group
“We had a good break, we won both our games and won the group, so that was a nice feeling, but it’s good to be back, as always. We knew we needed some luck, because Austria would top the group if they won their last game against Slovenia, but we knew that we just needed to do our job.
“After we lost 5-1 against Austria away in a tough game, we knew we needed some luck, but we got it. Austria were one up at half time, and we thought that although we can’t win the group now, at least we did our job as we were 3-0 up at half time, then we won 5-0 at the end.
“But when our game ended, we saw that it was 1-1 [between Austria and Slovenia] and we were watching the last few minutes of their game on the pitch, and it was a good feeling. I know we're not in the World Cup, but it helps our hopes to get an easier way towards the World Cup in 2026.”
JSL enjoying his time with Norway 🇳🇴 pic.twitter.com/DjqgoOJitN
— Wolves (@Wolves) November 18, 2024
On representing his country once again
“From the beginning, it’s been a dream come true. I’ve been dreaming about that since I was a little kid, and now I’ve almost got 20 caps for Norway, but most of them are with 30 minutes or less because of tough competition. But I think the reason why I play more now is because I'm doing better and doing well in a tough league.
“I think the coach [Stale Solbakken] also wants to play me more, but he cannot start with three strikers. I understand that. But hopefully in the future, I can play even more with Erling [Haaland] up front because we have a good relationship, we're also good friends off the pitch. But he’s not one of, but he is the best striker in the world, so I'm not complaining, but I think if this was 10 years ago and I was around at that time, I would play every single minute in the national team.
“It's a bit sad, because you always want to play all the minutes, but to come there and compete against these guys, and then playing the same team as these top players, it just makes you think about yourself as a little kid and like that's really a dream coming true.”
On returning to a positive atmosphere at Compton
“I’ve only just come back for my first session today, but I think the group has had a nice week off from the football. Of course, they've been training too, but to get that win in the locker is nice to feel that a little bit.
“That was a really important win, although it wasn't our best game of the season, but you know, at some point you need to win, and we did it. Hopefully we can put what's been in the past behind us, and then just look forward. Now, we are three games unbeaten, from three tough games, and we're just going to look forward.
“We know it's going to be tough, it's never an easy game in the Premier League, which I’ve understood now after 11 games, so it will be tough at the weekend, but we're going to build on the good things we had from the Southampton game, and we also have some players coming back from the national team with a good spirit.”
Well that escalated...
— Wolves (@Wolves) November 20, 2024
❄️😆 pic.twitter.com/uINzOIhH9a
On trying to match points with performance
“For us now, we're thinking about performance because we know that performance is the main key to win the games. Against Southampton, we were a bit too much into that ‘win at all cost’ mentality, and although that was really important, because we needed that win, I think we can build on our performance.
“We had a really good performance against City at home, where we had to defend a lot Brighton away, we showed a winning mentality to come back and get a point, and against Crystal Palace, I think we were the better team in big parts of the game, and we have to build on that. Performance is the key to win the game and that's what the gaffer wants us to do as well.”
On the challenge Fulham will pose
“It will be tough. They have a good team, they've been doing well this season, and Raul [Jimenez] is still scoring goals. I remember watching him playing for Wolves when I was actually still in Norway playing football, so time’s going fast, and he's scoring goals there.
“I'm happy for him, even though I don't know him, I know the Wolves fans still love him, but hopefully he will not score too many this weekend, so we can win the game. They're in good form, but I think we've showed in these first 11 games that we can beat anyone. Even though we have only one win, we have been really good against many of the tough teams, it's just some small details that we can win more games.
“It will be a tough game, it can go either way, but we will prepare well, and then hopefully Raul and Sander [Berge], which I know from the national team, will not have their best day at the office.”
