
Mikkel Hansen sees room for improvement
January 17, 2017
Denmark was able to hang on to a win against arch-rival Sweden, on Monday, in Paris, but almost wasted a four-goal lead at half-time. ย Danish superstar Mikkel Hansen wasn’t too happy about his team’s performance down the stretch and thanked goalkeeper Niklas Landin, who had a spectacular game. ย I talked to the PSG player in the mixed zone after the match.
Congratulations on a hard-fourth victory tonight, what did it make so difficult for you to escape with two points?
MH: ย First of all, I think we managed quite a good first half, everything was under control. ย We even had a six-goal lead just before the break. ย But you know, if you start the second half like we did, you cannot go far in the tournament. ย They got on a four-goal run very fast and obviously gained a lot of confidence. ย On the other side, it was a great game from the guys, because we managed to win when we didn’t play very well in the second half. ย Getting the two points gives us a lot of confidence. ย But we have to talk about the fact that we cannot start the second half like we did today. ย Obviously, if you want to go far in a tournament, it’s not possible for a team like us to play as slow as we did in the second half.
Hans Lindberg said earlier that you still have to improve a lot, if you want to win the title. ย Do you agree with him?
MH: ย Of course! ย But that’s great, it’s great that we have a lot of things to work with. ย Thatโs always a pleasure as a player, that you have a lot of things that you can change to get better. ย So after a game like this one, when we had everything in our hands and when we didn’t manage to seal the deal – of course we have to improve a lot.
One final questions regards the workload. ย In the Bundesliga a lot of players are complaining about a tough schedule. ย You, personally, played in the Olympics, the European championship, and you made it to the Champions League Final. ย How’s your physical condition at the moment?
MH: ย I think it’s okay – it’s early in the tournament but as you say, we have a problem. ย After my Olympics, I had one day in Copenhagen, then I had to go back to Paris. ย There, I had some practice sessions and I think six days thereafter we went to Qatar, played three games, went back and then the season started. ย We played two games per week since then, and it was great for me to get back home before Christmas with ten days off. ย If you see the schedule it was great to have some days off, especially to free your mind. ย Right now, I’m okay, but as you say, it’s an issue, not only physically, but also mentally.
Why is it such a problem mentally?
MH: ย Mentally it’s difficult to be there every day, all the time. ย Itโs a problem for the big teams and the big players. ย When you play on a big team you’re expected to win every time. ย Every time you step on court, you have to play on a very high level. ย You have to win in the league, you have to win in the cup. ย We have two cups in France. ย You have to win with the club, you have to win with the national team. ย It’s the same players who play all these games. ย So the underdogs are very satisfied because they play once a week. ย I understand this. ย But for the clubs who go for the league title or winning the Champions League, or the cup title, they do have a problem.