CV: We have great faith in ourselves

Since the AaB match on 29 May and the celebration of another championship in 2011, eight weeks have passed and we are now one round into the new Superliga season. During pre-season, players, coaches and managers have been on annual leave, and we have had a concentrated and successful preparation for the new season. There have been a number of changes at the club, and I will briefly outline the main events, and also take a look toward Saturday's Superliga match against OB in PARKEN, and to our future European challenges.

by Carsten V. Jensen, Director of Sport

Roland Nilsson took over at the end of last season, replacing Ståle Solbakken, while John Lange and Martin Pringle have been named assistants. The rest of the coaching staff is unchanged.

On the player side, we said hello to Youssef Toutouh, Ragnar Sigurdsson, Johnny Thomsen, Christian Grindheim and recently Pape Pate Diouf, and we must also welcome back Bryan Oviedo, Morten Nordstrand and Soren Frederiksen to the fold, after spending spells on loan. The new coaches and players proved their worth with a 2-0 win over SønderjyskE last weekend.

If you sense a certain buzz around Copenhagen, you’re correct; since the game against SønderjyskE last weekend there has been a midweek visit from English Championship side West Ham United, in preparation for our European assignments that await just around the corner.

As the match was being played, it was revealed that we will meet Irish club Shamrock Rovers in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions league. The first match is to be played at PARKEN on Wednesday at 20:00, while the return leg will be played in Dublin 2 August.

Saturday's match against OB therefore is the perfect preparation needed to sharpen the team for future European matches.

Yes, we have had a high turnover of coaches and players, and yes, it can logically provide additional challenges and more fluctuations in performances on the pitch. But we will not let ourselves apologise for this, and for good measure, I would like here to reiterate that our season’s goal is to defend the championship and secure a new qualification for the Champions League group stage. I know it is, all things considered, an ambitious goal, but we have great faith in ourselves.