Since arriving from Ingolstadt over the summer, Ørjan Nyland’s time at Aston Villa hasn’t been ideal.
Conceding 10 goals in five games, the Norwegian goalkeeper has been the subject of a fair amount of criticism, especially after the draw against Ipswich and the most recent 4-1 loss to Sheffield United.
However, Nyland has done what many players don’t do, and that’s own up to his mistakes to the fans, doing so after the mishandled throw-in against the Tractor Boys and following his near post blunder versus the Blades.
Currently on international duty with Norway, the goalkeeper was asked about this way of handling things by TV2, and the Aston Villa man was very open about it.
He said: “First of all, I have no problem admitting I am wrong. It’s human to make mistakes. It’s not a problem. It’s part of being a keeper. Sometimes, you may be unlucky and face backlash. Sometimes you might be the hero. I’ve experienced both.”
Perhaps a bit taken aback by this honesty, the Norwegian outlet pushed a bit further, wondering if doing so perhaps ‘facilitated more abuse’.
He answered: “That depends entirely on how you deal with it. If I hadn’t been able to deal with it, I wouldn’t have been on social media. It’s not like I read everything people comment. I don’t care about it at all.
“I listen to those worth listening to. Those are my goalkeeper coach and my coach, and then I don’t think about what others think.”
Sat on the bench for the two Norway games, Nyland, despite his occasional blunders, is expected to be put in goal by Steve Bruce against Blackburn next Saturday.