Fredrik Aursnes is by no means always a basic player at Feyenoord, but Arne Slot seems to be leaning more and more towards a place for the Norwegian in the first eleven. The midfielder started Thursday in the Conference League match with 1. FC Union Berlin (1-2) and made an excellent impression on the trainer against the Germans. “I thought a lot of players played well with us, but there was one that I really liked and that was Aursnes”, Slot was told afterwards by the General Newspaper quoted.
“The field was very tough, but you couldn’t tell by his game. He is so fast and light-footed.” Aursnes describes Feyenoord as ‘a team that just keeps running and going’. Oddly enough, according to Slot, Feyenoord can work harder than the opponents. “And that can make all the difference,” says Slot. “I’m not talking about kicking and hitting and sliding, but about the way you sprint back when we have lost the ball, for example.”
“The field in Berlin was heavy because of the rain, but Aursnes didn’t seem to be bothered by that. He moves very easily, is fast and just like against Sparta Rotterdam he speeds up our game.” The 25-year-old midfielder from Norway, who came over from Molde FK last summer, accepts that he is not always a basic player at Feyenoord. “We have several good midfielders. I just have to play well when I get a chance. That way I can help my team.” Feyenoord watcher Mikos Gouka of the General Newspaper even writes that it seems that Feyenoord ‘finally found the new Karim El Ahmadi’.
Aursnes has patience, he says. He can agree with the fact that Orkun Kökcü and Jens Toornstra are occasionally preferred. “I’m having a good time. We have a strong team, fantastic supporters and a great city”, he said referring to Rotterdam. The Norwegian hopes to be back against AZ next weekend. “And then there is the important international period and we come to the Netherlands with Norway. Yes, I’ve been called up. Do we have a chance in De Kuip against the Netherlands without Erling Braut Haaland? Yes, I think so and we have to believe in that.”
Aursnes enjoyed the thousands of fans who had traveled with Feyenoord to Berlin. “There were so many”, the Norwegian referred to the more than five thousand Feyenoord supporters in the Olympiastadion. “And you kept hearing them. They have supported us immensely. That certainly helped. I also think it is very special that such a large group has traveled to Germany.”