On September 2nd, Oscar Bobb made his team debut for Manchester City in their league win over Fulham.
Since then, the attacking midfielder has made four more appearances for the Citizens and his rise at the Etihad has also helped him make his debut for Norway in the last international break.
The Manchester City player came off the bench against Cyprus before making his first start in Norway’s 1-0 defeat to Spain in the European qualifiers. Norway manager Ståle Solbakken has told TV2 that the clash against La Roja may have come too soon for the 20-year-old.
Focusing on Bobb’s performance against Spain, he said: “He missed some passes and receptions that he doesn’t normally do, which I haven’t seen him do in training or for Manchester City. It may be that the game was maybe a bit big.”
At the same, the national team manager has backed the Norway international to have a bright future.
“He has extreme security in what he does. There’s almost no one else, apart from a couple in Norway, who has that close technique, so he has a great future ahead of him,” Solbakken explained.
At Manchester City, Bobb has clocked in 144 minutes of action from five games for their first team. Pep Guardiola left him out of the squad for the league clash against Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend.
TV2 state Solbakken has put pressure on the youngster to try to get regular game time in order to fulfil his potential but also warns it won’t be easy at Manchester City.
“In a club with so many games, training will be based a lot on recovery and preparation of tactical things. If you are then far away from the eleven, and now many players are on their way back from injury, then it is not easier with playing time,” the Norway manager added.
“He’s 20 years old, and he has to play more senior football quickly to take the next step. Then you can see the benefits of having the world’s best coach and player squad, and those inputs cannot be replaced with anything else.”
