WE HAVE STARS TO HURT KLOPP
SAYS NEW PALACE STAR JOACHIM ANDERSEN
WHEN Joachim andersen was approached to join Patrick Vieira’s Crystal Palace revolution, he knew just the man to call.
‘of course, I’m doing my research before I’m moving to a place,’ centre-back andersen said.
‘I played against him [Vieira] with Lyon when he was at Nice so I also know what he stands for and my good friend and Denmark teammate Kasper Dolberg was his striker at Nice. I talked with him about how he was. that was a good picture Kasper gave me.’
a formidable and fearsome midfielder, is Vieira similar as a manager? ‘err, no, he is actually a really good guy,’ andersen smiled. ‘I’d say he’s a joker. he wants to joke and be close to his players.’
andersen, a £17million signing from Lyon after an impressive loan spell at Fulham, was one of the headline arrivals at Palace.
the 25-year-old fitted the mould of younger player they wanted to bring in. as well as a change in the average age of the playing squad, Palace’s style is changing, too. ‘I know Palace from different seasons under roy hodgson and it’s a totally different way of playing,’ andersen said.
‘[Playing] from the back, press high, just be on the front foot and when you have the ball more, for me it is easier to defend, you feel better in the game, like you’re in the game. that’s my style of football and why I came here.’
Last week’s 3-0 victory over tottenham has been the high point so far, a rousing win against a team who, for much of the summer, andersen looked set to join.
Liverpool provide the next test of Palace’s evolution and anfield is a ground which holds happy memories for andersen, following a 1-0 Fulham win there last season.
andersen was an interested spectator when Liverpool faced aC Milan in their Champions League opener on Wednesday, especially during the first half as the Italians scored two counter-attack goals.
Milan’s goals had hallmarks of some of the success Fulham enjoyed against Liverpool last season, which included a 1-1 Craven Cottage draw.
‘We were able to beat the first pressure, be calm in our build-up phase and if we do that again we’ll have a lot of space to bring our forwards into one-against-one situations where we have so much quality,’ he said. ‘With the players we have we can really hurt them.’
For all the positivity about the next phase of his career, when the conversation turned to his Denmark team-mate Christian eriksen and the traumatic events during euro 2020, andersen said something nobody would argue with: ‘Football doesn’t matter anymore when something like that happens.’
andersen has taken some comfort in eriksen’s recovery following his collapse on the pitch. ‘It was a difficult situation. It is still a difficult situation,’ andersen said. ‘What happened was terrible but he is in good hands, healthy again.
‘We have to be happy for who you have got close with you because in a moment life can be gone.’