‘OF COURSE I THINK I CAN GET IN THE ARSENAL TEAM!’
Biereth sure he can replicate Fir Park form when he returns to parent club
AWEEK on from claiming the first trophy of the season, Rangers go to Fir Park surging with confidence. And yet it’s highly debatable that any player on the visitor’s team coach will arrive with quite the same swagger as Mika Biereth.
An impressive record of six goals in 11 Premiership appearances for Motherwell is testament to the Dane’s assuredness in front of goal. But it’s his assertion that he’d be scoring just as freely for parent club Arsenal that speaks to the vast reservoir of self-belief that fuels his game.
Signed on loan for the season, Biereth has scored prolifically despite being sidelined for two months with a knee injury after his arrival in August.
And he insists he would be finding the net with the same regularity if he was playing for Mikel Arteta’s side in the English Premier League. The 20-year-old knows the chances of forcing his way into the Gunners’ title-challenging side are slim but he still believes he can make it: ‘Of course, I have to believe I can get in that team. Why wouldn’t I?
‘You always have to believe in your ability. I think if I played in that team, I’d score goals. But it’s just about showing people that.’
This isn’t Biereth’s first stab at making an impression. Signed in 2021 after impressing for Fulham’s Under-18s, he spent a year playing for Arsenal’s Under-23 side before being sent out on loan to Dutch side RKC Waalwijk last term.
‘It’s really difficult to get into the first team at Arsenal,’ he continues. ‘At any of the real big clubs in the world, if they don’t have a player for a certain position they can go and spend £100million.
‘It’s not a failure if you don’t make it at Arsenal. Maybe I’ll get a move somewhere else, whether that’s another loan or permanent.
‘But, of course, my number one objective is to get into that team.’
Biereth made the bench for a handful of matches in his first season and is confident that he is not totally divorced from Arteta’s thoughts as he ploughs his loan furrow in Lanarkshire.
‘The manager (Mikel Arteta) is aware I’m here and what I’m doing,’ he says. ‘Saka and Martinelli are basically the face of Arsenal at the minute and they both came through the academy.
‘So there’s definitely a pathway there. But I can acknowledge that it’s very difficult. Going a level below it at 20 years old wouldn’t be a massive failure. So far, it’s working really well for me here. The main objectives were to play games, score goals and help the team.’
That injury aside, Biereth has found his experience of Scottish football to be more productive than his time in the Eredivisie.
‘By all accounts, that wasn’t good enough in terms of games and goals,’ he says of his time at Waalwijk, which featured just two goals in a dozen appearances, both scored in the same match against Groningen. ‘In terms of my outlook on football while I was there, I wasn’t really enjoying it.
‘There were factors why it didn’t happen for me. Some political, some not, it just all came together which resulted in me not playing enough games. But it’s been a complete U-turn coming up here.
‘I’m enjoying myself. I’m playing and scoring goals. The message from Arsenal was just to get back to enjoying football.
‘I hear from Arsenal most weeks. They’re good at staying in contact.’
Winless in their last 15 games, Motherwell have been better for Biereth’s return but Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell believes he will add even more when he is at full power.
Last season, it was Kevin van Veen who carried the scoring burden for Motherwell, his performances in the second half of the season in particular helping Kettlewell gain the manager’s job permanently.
Biereth had been earmarked as a replacement — similar in output but with a broader range of skills at his disposal.
‘Both have an eye for goal but Mika is a young man and the point of this loan is that he strengthens us while we help develop him,’ says Kettlewell.
‘He thrives on being the main man and that comes down to the striker’s mindset. Strikers will miss chances but that doesn’t seem to deter him. He’s scored all kinds of goals, which shows you his range.
‘For his opening goal against Dundee recently, none of us saw that finish coming and that’s the beauty of a good striker. If we’d paused the DVD and asked people what happens next, most of them wouldn’t have guessed it.
‘It’s a trait which you can’t teach players. He’s also settled in really well in the area, which can be a challenge when you’re leaving your family behind.’
To that end, Celtic midfielder Matt O’Riley has been invaluable in helping Biereth settle. The pair became squad mates with Denmark’s Under-21 side.
His family are due to arrive to help him enjoy Christmas and will stay until the league breaks for its winter recess on January 2.
Born in London to a Danish father and Bosnian mother, Biereth has roots in London and has embraced the physical demands of Scottish football. The chance to take on Rangers today is exactly the kind of assignment he moved north for.
‘One of the reasons I came here was to go up against big opposition and see what level I’m at.
‘I played against Celtic at their stadium and it was a tough shift, with lots of running. We got a draw there but hopefully at home against Rangers, we can go one better.’
The loan market allows clubs like Motherwell to access players who would normally be well beyond their reach.
‘When you bring in players from big clubs you understand that he’s not yours and you don’t own him,’ adds Kettlewell. ‘Mika hasn’t looked at it like that. He’s bought into being a Motherwell player.
‘He’s a laid-back character but he doesn’t play that way — he enjoys the combative nature of the Scottish game. He likes the physical aspect, using his natural strength to hold off opponents. There’s also his pace, which allows him to run behind defences.
So, does Kettlewell agree that Biereth could make a breakthrough at the Emirates?
‘I’m biased but I think he could.’
It’s working really well for me here. I’m enjoying myself and I’m scoring goals