Egil Olsen

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Egil Roger Olsen (born April 22, 1942) nicknamed "Drillo", is the most successful manager in the history of the Norwegian national football team. He coached the team from 1990 to 1998, guiding them to World Cup final tournaments in 1994 and 1998, Norway peaking as number two on the FIFA ranking. As of 2005 he is analyst for Vålerenga I.F.

Olsen was a successful player with 16 caps for the national team, earning the nickname "Drillo" from his dribbling skills.

In June 1999, the then 57-year-old Olsen made his appearance in English football when he was named as manager of Wimbledon F.C. He remained in charge for less than a year, and was sacked just before the club slipped out of the Premiership, having been top division members since 1986. He has since returned to Norway.

Olsen was a member of the Norwegian Worker's Communist Party (known as AKP(m-l)). He is also known for his immense knowledge of geography trivia.

[edit] Football philosophy

Olsen has sometimes been called a football professor for his scientific approach to football, and was arguably one of the first managers to use video analysis of matches. He has collected statistical data to find out which playing styles are the most efficient. As Norway manager, he argued that as Norway didn't have the players to beat the best teams, they needed a smarter playing style than them, and one that fit Norway's skills. Ironically, his preferred style of football has historically often been called primitive.

He has found that breakdowns, losing/gaining the ball, played an important role immediately prior to many goals, and that counter-attacks after breakdowns should be carried out as fast and directly as possible before the opponent can organise their defense. According to Olsen, only few goals are scored against what he calls an "established defense". As a large number of transverse passes or trying to play out an established defense with short passes and combinations increases the chance of a breakdown against, often in dangerous positions, his philosophy was to always make long passes against an established defense. More precisely, defenders should in these cases always play high, long passes towards attackers or flank players (and never short passes along the ground to central midfielders, as is often seen in international football). His use of a player with good heading abilities as a target man on the flank, such as Jostein Flo, was a major break with the established idea that all flank players should be small, quick and good dribblers.

He is opposed to stationary offensive players, and argues that offensive runs (also for players that do not possess the ball) should be carried out as often as possible when one's team has the ball, as multiple simultaneous runs are very difficult to defend against. He also holds the idea that breakthrough passes to the area behind the opponent's defensive line (bakrom (backroom) in Norwegian) should be seeked out very often, and that frequent offensive runs towards this area is important. He also coined the quote "he's best without ball" which gained some fame in Norway. It was originally said about Øyvind Leonhardsen, a player doing an exceptional number of runs during games.

He is also an ardent supporter of zone defense, as opposed to man-to-man marking. He also argues that players with extreme skills (extremely fast, extremely good headers, extremely good dribblers, extremely good passers etc.), as opposed to players with only good all-round skills, are important in football.

His long-ball philosophy, use of the 4-5-1 system and his teams' often extremely successful defending earned him a bad reputation of boring football, even during the period when his results as Norway manager were astonishing.

His thoughts, together with those of Nils Arne Eggen, have had a strong impact on Norwegian football. Norwegian club sides generally make many runs without ball, play zone defense and are very focused on fast counter-attacks. The idea of playing long balls against an established defense, however, has become increasingly unfashionable in Norway over the latest years.

[edit] Playing career

  • Østsiden (1958-65)
  • Vålerenga I.F. (1966-67)
  • Sarpsborg (1968-71)
  • Frigg (1972-74)
  • Hasle/Løren (1975)

16 caps (1964-71)

[edit] Managerial career

Statistics for the Norwegian national team with Olsen as manager: 88 matches; 46 victories, 26 draws, 16 losses. Goal difference: 168-63.

Norway Norway squad - 1994 World Cup Norway

1 Thorstvedt | 2 Halle | 3 Johnsen | 4 Bratseth | 5 Bjørnebye | 6 Flo | 7 Mykland | 8 Leonhardsen | 9 Fjørtoft | 10 Rekdal | 11 Jakobsen | 12 Grodås | 13 Rise | 14 Nilsen | 15 Løken | 16 Sørloth | 17 Eggen | 18 Haaland | 19 Strand | 20 Berg | 21 Rushfeldt | 22 Bohinen | Coach: Olsen
Norway Norway squad - 1998 FIFA World Cup Norway

1 Grodås | 2 Halle | 3 Johnsen | 4 Berg | 5 Bjørnebye | 6 Solbakken | 7 Mykland | 8 Leonhardsen | 9 T. Flo | 10 Rekdal | 11 Jakobsen | 12 Myhre | 13 Baardsen | 14 Heggem | 15 Eggen | 16 J. Flo | 17 H. Flo | 18 Østenstad | 19 Hoftun | 20 Solskjær | 21 Riseth | 22 Strand | Coach: Olsen
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