Bodø/Glimt manager Kjell Knutsen and his team are backtracking on ‘stupid’ comments made about Tottenham as they gear up for the second leg of their Europa League semi-final meeting with Ange Postecoglou’s side this week.
TV2 have comments from Knutsen and Jens Petter Hauge who are pulling away after Fredrik Sjøvold spoke out against Tottenham last week.
Spurs were 3-1 winners in the first leg of the double header between the two sides a week ago, firmly placing one foot in the Europa League final as a result.
Sjøvold was asked about their performance following that game and insisted that Tottenham’s pressing system was ‘no better than an okay Eliteserie team’. In other words, he didn’t think much of the Premier League outfit.
Those comments were, naturally, picked up and spread around fairly quickly, with Sjøvold receiving plenty of criticism and bite back from the Tottenham faithful.
They’ve been the focus of the discourse in the week leading up to the second leg of the semi-final, but Bodø/Glimt are seemingly keen to backtrack on them and hope they get forgotten about quickly.
“I think it was a slightly inexperienced player who didn’t mean it exactly like that. We have to put it down to inexperience,” said Knutsen.
“I really trust the internal justice in the player group. I don’t think he has completely escaped a small comment about it. There is something about being in the media, and gaining experience in the international arena. It is part of learning.”
“I think he himself realized that it came out very wrong,” added Hauge.
“What he said and is trying to say is not that bad, but we who have done a lot of interviews know how you journalists twist and turn things. It is stupid to give you that opportunity.”
