Jonatan Tollås

Jonatan Tollås
Personal information
Full nameJonatan Tollås Nation
Date of birth1 July 1990
Place of birthÅlesund, Norway
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing positionCentral defender
Club information
Current team
Vålerenga
Number4
Youth career
1995–2005Blindheim
2005–2007Aalesund
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2007–2014Aalesund143(4)
2014–Vålerenga0(0)
National team
2007Norway U-1711(0)
2008Norway U-188(0)
2007Norway U-191(0)
2008–Norway U-215(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 August 2014.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 27 March 2013

Jonatan Tollås Nation (born 1 July 1990) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays for Vålerenga in the Norwegian Premier League, as a central defender.[1]

Club career

Tollås came to Aalesund in 2007 from local youth club Blindheim IL.[2] He made his league debut on 1 July 2008 appearing in a 3–1 home win against Strømsgodset IF. He made regular appearances in the following matches, mainly due to center back Benjamin Kibebe being injured.[3] Eventually Tollås would be a part of the a new up-and-coming generation of young players forming the backbone of the Aafk team. By the end of July 2008, ten out of eleven starting players were under the age of 22.[4] His decent performance led to him being scouted along with teammate Peter Orry Larsen by the Serie-A side Udinese, however no deal was reached.[5]

Ahead of the 2009 season Aafk's new coach Kjetil Rekdal signaled that he envisioned Tollås would be made the first choice for center back, pairing up with Daniel Arnefjord.[6] Both Rekdal and Arnefjord praised the youngster as a talent, and claimed he had even greater potential.[7] Despite plenty of playing time, the season however turned out to be mixed for Tollås, an injury kept him on the sidelines for most of the summer,[8] and he was jeered by frustrated home supporters during a home draw against Sandefjord Fotball.[9] Despite this, he was selected to start the 2009 Norwegian Cup final which Aafk brought home for the first time.[10]

The following season looked more promising for the young defender. Tollås himself hoped to be selected as first choice for the starting eleven for the entire season, as he admitted that the previous season had been "disappointing" for his part.[11] Coach Rekdal stated that Tollås needed to be more "daring" and "concentrated" for him to succeed.[12] After subjecting himself to a regime of strenuous physical exercise, Tollås delivered a stable performance in the season where Aafk finished at a record 4th place in the league.[13]

Tollås was made second choice for central defence throughout the first half of the 2011-season, most of the times with Daniel Arnefjord. His break came during the europa league match against AZ when he replaced Ville Jalasto who had until then been favored over him. the match was a disaster for AaFK, who were thrashed 7–1 on aggregate.[14] The second half of the season proved successful for Tollås, starting with the match against Sogndal Fotball,[15] AaFK and Tollås kept a clean sheet for five consequtive games.[16] The marked improvement in Tollås' gameplay earned him a new contract with the club, lasting out the 2014 season.[17] Like the 2009 season, AaFK made it all the way to the Norwegian Cup Final. This time facing SK Brann and just like in 2009, Tollås played the entire match, bringing the gold home to Aalesund for the second time.[18] His decent play during the 2011-season paid off for him by being selected to the Under-23 national team together with teammate Fredrik Ulvestad.[19] The 2012 season saw Tollås achieve the feat of being first choice for full back.[20] Sports commentators as well as the coach praised Tollås for finally stepping up and "cracking the code".[21]

International career

Tollås was first capped for Norway when he played for the under-17 team in 2007. He has later represented Norway at under-18, under-19 and under-21 level.[22]

Career statistics

As of 6 August 2014[23]
Season Club Division League Cup Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
2007 Aalesund Tippeligaen 001010
2008 17030200
2009 21030240
2010 17020190
2011 17060230
2012 29331314
2013 30011311
2014 12130151
2015 Vålerenga 000000
Career Total 14342121646

Honours

Club

Norway Aalesunds

Personal life

A notorious prankster, Tollås is well known for playing practical jokes on his teammates. In September 2011, he was a "suspect" when the car of reserve-goalkeeper Ole-Christian Rørvik was found covered in post-it notes. Tollås however, while applauding the initiative, denied having pulled the prank.[24] In another incident, Tollås secretly snapped a close-up photo of an unidentified naked teammate in the locker room. Tollås then proceeded to post the image on Twitter, which caused some controversy.[25] After being reprimanded by the club, Tollås jokingly responded to the controversy by stating that his goal was to upload one new nude photo "every day".[26]

References

  1. "Jonatan Tollås". Norsk & Internasjonal Fotballstatistikk (in Norwegian). Bergensavisen. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
  2. Halkjelsvik, Sindre (17 August 2007). "Landslagsfabrikken". Sunnmørsposten (in Norwegian). Retrieved 26 May 2009.
  3. Skuseth, Helge (2 July 2008). "Tvil rundt Aafk forsvaret i kveld". smp.no. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  4. Mauren, Arnfinn (30 July 2008). "- Feige trenere velger eldre spillere". 100% Fotball (in Norwegian). Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  5. Hjelvik, Eirik Nesset (11 September 2008). "Udinese følger Aafk-duo". smp.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  6. Skuseth, Helge (17 January 2009). "- Vi har kontroll". Smp.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 28 September 2012.
  7. Løvoll, Karl-Petter (2 February 2009). "- Har mer å gå på". 100% Fotball (in Norwegian). Retrieved 28 September 2012.
  8. Løvoll, Karl-Petter (25 May 2009). "Skadekrise for Aafk". 100% Fotball (in Norwegian). Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  9. Vågnes, Stig (5 October 2009). "AaFK supportere pep mot egne spillere". smp.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  10. Framstad, Anders Park (8 November 2009). "Aarøy benket i cup-finalen". VG NETT (in Norwegian). Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  11. Hjelvik, Eirik Nesset (9 January 2010). "Venter på gjennombruddet". Smp.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  12. Hjelvik, Eirik Nesset (13 March 2010). "Tollås må bli tøffere". 100% Fotball (in Norwegian). Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  13. Hallskjelvik, Sindre (19 May 2010). "Aafk-trio kjøres knallhardt". Smp.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  14. Redaksjonen (18 August 2011). "Tollås fra start". Aftenposten.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  15. Hjelvik, Eirik Nesset (9 September 2011). "Aalesund-stopper: – Dette kan være min sjanse". 100% Fotball (in Norwegian). Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  16. Nedregrotten, Sveinung (29 September 2011). "Tollås Nation tok luven av Tromsøs superduo". smp.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  17. Hjelvik, Eirik Nesset (29 November 2011). "Tollås og Morrison ut 2014". smp.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  18. Lyngøy, Roar (6 November 2011). "Her er finalelagene". 100% Fotball (in Norwegian). Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  19. Stenerud, Kristian (11 November 2011). "Ulvestad og Tollås hasteinnkalt". smp.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  20. Lilleheim, Pål Are (7 March 2012). "Tollås: – Mye å justere". 100% Fotball (in Norwegian). Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  21. Stenerud, Kristian (7 April 2012). "Tollås har knekt koden". smp.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  22. "Jonatan Tollås Nation's profil". fotball.no (in Norwegian). Football Association of Norway. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  23. "Jonatan Tollås". nifs.no (in Norwegian). A-pressen. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  24. Hove, Lasse Bjarte (19 September 2011). "Aalesund-keeper fikk bilen dekorert med post-it-lapper". tv2.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  25. Hjelvik, Eirik Nesset (16 April 2012). "Inn på teppe etter nakenbilde på twitter". smp.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  26. Stenerud, Kristian (16 April 2012). "– Nakenbildet var et overtramp av Tollås". Smp.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 29 September 2012.

External links