Colin conducted the interview Friday afternoon just prior to the first game in Florida. Colin is a big soccer fan as you will see in reading the Q&A. Lindberg was incredibly accommodating taking time to speak to our writer hours before game time. Lindberg wants to reach out to the fans and this just shows you his work ethic and why men's soccer at SHU is in very good hands.
Below the Seton Hall coach touches on recruiting, profiling the new players, future scheduling, the Big East, the new field, injuries, and the future of the program.
By Colin Rajala
Trove: I would like to begin with the team’s first win of the 2019 season, I know CCSU is a young team and you are supposed to win that game, but its always good to start the season off with a bang and scoring six goals and maintaining a clean sheet is certainly that.
Coach Lindberg: It was nice to get the first win out of the way. I think we could have even broken it open a little earlier. I thought they [CCSU] had a poor showing that day, I think that they were a bit down and I think they are better than they showed that day. People wouldn’t have been too happy if we dropped that one.
Trove: Looking at the roster for the team this year there quite a few new names and faces. I think it's nine freshman and seven transfers. How has it been molding them into a team and getting them all on the same page early on?
Coach Lindberg: I think as far as team chemistry goes and work rate, we are doing really well. I am very pleased with that part of it. From the soccer standpoint, we are not really there yet. There are some pieces that are still missing and I don’t necessarily think that we are doing great when we have the ball. We are still kind of figuring things out a little bit, but it is early in the season. I am very happy with how we were able to come together real quick. We went a week on Long Island for preseason and that really helped.
Trove: In terms of possession early on do you think it’s a matter of being more crisp in their decision making and making a play after just a touch or two, or is it more learning your teammates and where they gravitate or like to move on the field?
Coach Lindberg: I think it is a little more of the latter at this point. We need to get to know each other more and each others tendencies more. We are also missing CJ Tibbling and he’s a massive piece to the puzzle. Without him, we have to play a little bit different because he is such a good target player for us. I mean Stephen Elias scored three goals, but it would be nice to have CJ and Stephen out there together.We just have to keep getting after it and competing.
We have some massive games in Florida this weekend and I am excited to see how we compete against two teams like that and how we can try to implement the possession based-style that we would like to play. We are not there yet so sometimes we have to play a little bit more direct, but I thought we were able to keep the ball pretty well against Central Connecticut.
Trove: In terms of CJ getting back on the pitch, is there any time frame?
Coach Lindberg: Yeah, if we can have him back by the 28th of September when we play DePaul in our first home game that would be great. I would love to see us play that game on campus with CJ in the lineup, that would be really exciting.
Trove: Having just mentioned Stephen and hoping to be able to pair him up with CJ at the end of the month, how great has he been early on? Obviously he was Big East offensive player of the week after his three goal effort, but what has it been like to have him as a grad transfer with significant experience coming from the ACC?
Coach Lindberg: He’s been great. He’s our captain and he’s brought a lot of maturity and experience to the team. He’s playing with a bit of a chip on his shoulder too because his last year at NC State did not go like he was hoping. The two years prior to that he had pretty decent years so I think he feels that he’s got some stuff to prove as well. He’s been great in the locker room, he’s been great on the field, he’s just an overall good person.
He works hard in the field and sometimes in college soccer that goes a long way. Having that good attitude shows the freshman and younger players that even though he’s a good player and has all this experience, coming in and putting in the work and killing it in fitness tests and playing with an intensity is contagious and goes far. We are very happy with him.
Trove: That's great to hear, that is exactly what you want your leaders to exude. Now I am not as familiar with the freshman and newcomers, but I saw a few of the freshman notch their first collegiate points against Central. It would be great if you could highlight some of the players on the team.
Coach Lindberg: We can start with our goalkeepers, we have Andreas Nota returning and he was one of the best goalkeepers in the Big East last year. He doesn’t pass the eye test because he’s not tall and lean necessarily, but he’s a great shot stopper and leader, who is also good with his feet. He will continue to be our starting goalkeeper.
Trove: He looked good against Central. I thought he had a couple of tough saves against them.
Coach Lindberg: Yeah, he made two good saves. I think they were saves that a good goalkeeper needs to make. If they scored one to get back to 2-1, maybe all of a sudden it is a different game. He is a gamer too. He may not practice the greatest at times, but he’s very good in the games.
In terms of defenders, we have Love Fredriksson, who is a returner. He played with us last year and with me at Post the year before that. He’s put in a lot of work over the summer to be fitter and stronger and faster than he was before. He is a good strong defender. I am excited to pair him with two new guys we brought in, Denis Kelmendi, another Swedish guy, and Eden O’Leary, who is from Israel. Those two are freshman starting in the back.
Trove: What about them early on has given them the edge for you to award each the starting nod?
Coach Lindberg: With Eden, and Ferdi [Ferdinand] Solberg, who transferred in mid-year last year and has been coming off the bench because he’s banged up at the moment, they bring experience and toughness and they are good in the air. While Eden is a freshman, he’s an older freshman as he came from Israel and was in the Israeli Army before coming here.
Trove: That is some real life experience that will make you grow up quickly.
Coach Lindberg: Definitely. With Kelmendi, he’s a proper freshman out of Sweden, who has a really nice left boot and great crossing ability. He needs to learn a lot though, he is a young guy who is not very experienced and needs to get used to the college game and the intensity. Next spring we need to get him ten pounds of muscle. He’s good with the ball, which will help us play the possession style we want, but he has a lot to learn off the ball, with positioning, but he will get there. By his junior year he should be a very good player.
In the midfield, we brought in some experience with Torbjorn Alseth, who is a transfer from Duke. He’s been playing as a defensive center midfielder and competing against a kid from England, James Boote, who is a freshman.
Trove: James had an assist against Central if I remember correctly.
Coach Lindberg: Yeah, James is a really good player with a good background coming from Bournemouth and their Premiere League academy. Similar to Denis, once he gets used to the college game and maybe get a little faster and stronger, he’s going to be a very good footballer. When he comes off the bench, he’s played significantly in all of the games in the preseason, he takes our set pieces and is someone who will have a lot of potential in the future.
In the 10 role, the attacking midfielder, its between JP Marin, who is a local Red Bull kid who came in last year, and Vittorio Argeri, who is a mid-year transfer from a junior college in Texas by way of Italy.
Upfront is obviously Carlton McKenzie, who I think has the potential to be a draft choice in the MLS.
Trove: I went to the Central game with my fiancé and told her to just watch him early on. He was literally a man playing against boys.
Coach Lindberg: He killed it in the spring and he killed it in the preseason and I would not be surprised if there are some MLS teams who look to take a chance on him and draft him and bring him in for preseason and see how he does with that. Unfortunately, he’s a little banged up now, getting hurt against Central Connecticut. We took him out after 20 to 25 minutes.
Trove: It looked like he was cramping or injured something up high in his hamstrings/thighs.
Coach Lindberg: We trained down in Florid today and he lasted 20 minutes before coming off. We have to see tomorrow how he feels. There is a chance we won’t play him this weekend and we rest him going into the Big East maybe, which is unfortunate because I think he is really needed for us to get results down here this weekend. We will see how he feels tomorrow.
Below the Seton Hall coach touches on recruiting, profiling the new players, future scheduling, the Big East, the new field, injuries, and the future of the program.
By Colin Rajala
Trove: I would like to begin with the team’s first win of the 2019 season, I know CCSU is a young team and you are supposed to win that game, but its always good to start the season off with a bang and scoring six goals and maintaining a clean sheet is certainly that.
Coach Lindberg: It was nice to get the first win out of the way. I think we could have even broken it open a little earlier. I thought they [CCSU] had a poor showing that day, I think that they were a bit down and I think they are better than they showed that day. People wouldn’t have been too happy if we dropped that one.
Trove: Looking at the roster for the team this year there quite a few new names and faces. I think it's nine freshman and seven transfers. How has it been molding them into a team and getting them all on the same page early on?
Coach Lindberg: I think as far as team chemistry goes and work rate, we are doing really well. I am very pleased with that part of it. From the soccer standpoint, we are not really there yet. There are some pieces that are still missing and I don’t necessarily think that we are doing great when we have the ball. We are still kind of figuring things out a little bit, but it is early in the season. I am very happy with how we were able to come together real quick. We went a week on Long Island for preseason and that really helped.
Trove: In terms of possession early on do you think it’s a matter of being more crisp in their decision making and making a play after just a touch or two, or is it more learning your teammates and where they gravitate or like to move on the field?
Coach Lindberg: I think it is a little more of the latter at this point. We need to get to know each other more and each others tendencies more. We are also missing CJ Tibbling and he’s a massive piece to the puzzle. Without him, we have to play a little bit different because he is such a good target player for us. I mean Stephen Elias scored three goals, but it would be nice to have CJ and Stephen out there together.We just have to keep getting after it and competing.
We have some massive games in Florida this weekend and I am excited to see how we compete against two teams like that and how we can try to implement the possession based-style that we would like to play. We are not there yet so sometimes we have to play a little bit more direct, but I thought we were able to keep the ball pretty well against Central Connecticut.
Trove: In terms of CJ getting back on the pitch, is there any time frame?
Coach Lindberg: Yeah, if we can have him back by the 28th of September when we play DePaul in our first home game that would be great. I would love to see us play that game on campus with CJ in the lineup, that would be really exciting.
Trove: Having just mentioned Stephen and hoping to be able to pair him up with CJ at the end of the month, how great has he been early on? Obviously he was Big East offensive player of the week after his three goal effort, but what has it been like to have him as a grad transfer with significant experience coming from the ACC?
Coach Lindberg: He’s been great. He’s our captain and he’s brought a lot of maturity and experience to the team. He’s playing with a bit of a chip on his shoulder too because his last year at NC State did not go like he was hoping. The two years prior to that he had pretty decent years so I think he feels that he’s got some stuff to prove as well. He’s been great in the locker room, he’s been great on the field, he’s just an overall good person.
He works hard in the field and sometimes in college soccer that goes a long way. Having that good attitude shows the freshman and younger players that even though he’s a good player and has all this experience, coming in and putting in the work and killing it in fitness tests and playing with an intensity is contagious and goes far. We are very happy with him.
Trove: That's great to hear, that is exactly what you want your leaders to exude. Now I am not as familiar with the freshman and newcomers, but I saw a few of the freshman notch their first collegiate points against Central. It would be great if you could highlight some of the players on the team.
Coach Lindberg: We can start with our goalkeepers, we have Andreas Nota returning and he was one of the best goalkeepers in the Big East last year. He doesn’t pass the eye test because he’s not tall and lean necessarily, but he’s a great shot stopper and leader, who is also good with his feet. He will continue to be our starting goalkeeper.
Trove: He looked good against Central. I thought he had a couple of tough saves against them.
Coach Lindberg: Yeah, he made two good saves. I think they were saves that a good goalkeeper needs to make. If they scored one to get back to 2-1, maybe all of a sudden it is a different game. He is a gamer too. He may not practice the greatest at times, but he’s very good in the games.
In terms of defenders, we have Love Fredriksson, who is a returner. He played with us last year and with me at Post the year before that. He’s put in a lot of work over the summer to be fitter and stronger and faster than he was before. He is a good strong defender. I am excited to pair him with two new guys we brought in, Denis Kelmendi, another Swedish guy, and Eden O’Leary, who is from Israel. Those two are freshman starting in the back.
Trove: What about them early on has given them the edge for you to award each the starting nod?
Coach Lindberg: With Eden, and Ferdi [Ferdinand] Solberg, who transferred in mid-year last year and has been coming off the bench because he’s banged up at the moment, they bring experience and toughness and they are good in the air. While Eden is a freshman, he’s an older freshman as he came from Israel and was in the Israeli Army before coming here.
Trove: That is some real life experience that will make you grow up quickly.
Coach Lindberg: Definitely. With Kelmendi, he’s a proper freshman out of Sweden, who has a really nice left boot and great crossing ability. He needs to learn a lot though, he is a young guy who is not very experienced and needs to get used to the college game and the intensity. Next spring we need to get him ten pounds of muscle. He’s good with the ball, which will help us play the possession style we want, but he has a lot to learn off the ball, with positioning, but he will get there. By his junior year he should be a very good player.
In the midfield, we brought in some experience with Torbjorn Alseth, who is a transfer from Duke. He’s been playing as a defensive center midfielder and competing against a kid from England, James Boote, who is a freshman.
Trove: James had an assist against Central if I remember correctly.
Coach Lindberg: Yeah, James is a really good player with a good background coming from Bournemouth and their Premiere League academy. Similar to Denis, once he gets used to the college game and maybe get a little faster and stronger, he’s going to be a very good footballer. When he comes off the bench, he’s played significantly in all of the games in the preseason, he takes our set pieces and is someone who will have a lot of potential in the future.
In the 10 role, the attacking midfielder, its between JP Marin, who is a local Red Bull kid who came in last year, and Vittorio Argeri, who is a mid-year transfer from a junior college in Texas by way of Italy.
Upfront is obviously Carlton McKenzie, who I think has the potential to be a draft choice in the MLS.
Trove: I went to the Central game with my fiancé and told her to just watch him early on. He was literally a man playing against boys.
Coach Lindberg: He killed it in the spring and he killed it in the preseason and I would not be surprised if there are some MLS teams who look to take a chance on him and draft him and bring him in for preseason and see how he does with that. Unfortunately, he’s a little banged up now, getting hurt against Central Connecticut. We took him out after 20 to 25 minutes.
Trove: It looked like he was cramping or injured something up high in his hamstrings/thighs.
Coach Lindberg: We trained down in Florid today and he lasted 20 minutes before coming off. We have to see tomorrow how he feels. There is a chance we won’t play him this weekend and we rest him going into the Big East maybe, which is unfortunate because I think he is really needed for us to get results down here this weekend. We will see how he feels tomorrow.
