Handball

[QuietContrarian]

Sweden got a Norwegian coach so

I was very optimistic on behalf of Norway before the tournament. I think Sagosen is the best player in the world. Rød is back on right back. Huge miss for Norway in Egypt with Tønnesen having had all his injuries and Rød missing. Reinkind is just so one dimensional and usually struggles in big games (even if he is very good for his club). Reinkind as 3rd choice is brilliant, but Reinkind as 1st choice doesn't work.

Johannessen missing is huge, but few teams got all of their players available and in top form so.

Can only hope it will be one of those tournament where the winning team looks a bit sluggish early on. Doesn't feel like it for Norway, but shooting percentage against Germany and Spain was ridiculously low. If there is some regression to the mean going on now and if Bergerud can be within a couple of % vs Landin in saves then Norway could suddenly be dangerous again. I guess we will see if my theory comes true.

Gidsel is a very interesting player. Not sure if it was in Egypt or the tournament before I first saw him, but it felt like "again Denmark just found someone from "nowhere" that means they will beat Norway".

Gidsels first tourney was WC 2021.

 

[QuietContrarian]

Michael v Knudsen




Solberg is a good coach and was a great player in his time. But he really should have included Arnesson, Lukas Nilsson and Andreas Nilsson in the team. He is relying too much on youth players.

Yeah, Knudsen was a gem

 

[Havre]

Well, handball is not that big in Germany. Of course there will be more handball than e.g. Played ice hockey, but ice hockey is no less popular. Just like basketball and volleyball. Handball is not the clear number 2 in Germany and is very much overshadowed by football.

I guess this is quite regionally dependent as well?

Seems to be the case in France at least.

 

[QuietContrarian]

I guess this is quite regionally dependent as well?

Seems to be the case in France at least.

Same in Denmark - Handball has a hard time on Zeeland even harder time in and around Copenhagen.

Very much a Funen/Jutland game.

Football is king in Copenhagen greater area.

 

[Eye of Ra]

WC

Euros

Olympics

 

[Lambo]

what sports is nr 2 and nr 3 in germany?

Team-Sport GER:

1. Football(Soccer)



2. Handball, Hockey, Basketball
3. Volleyball

 

[Lambo]

I guess this is quite regionally dependent as well?

Seems to be the case in France at least.

Yes! In Handball more than in hockey.
In handball there is e.g. in Frankfurt nobody is a THW Kiel fan. Kiel is practically FC Bayern in handball. In ice hockey, on the other hand, it is more likely that the Eisbären Berlin or Adler Mannheim have supraregional fans. Not many, but still.

 

[Eisen]

Well, handball is not that big in Germany. Of course there will be more handball than e.g. Played ice hockey, but ice hockey is no less popular. Just like basketball and volleyball. Handball is not the clear number 2 in Germany and is very much overshadowed by football.

In which country is handball bigger than footy? Not in Spain, not in France, not in Sweden, not in Denmark etc. You get the idea. Iceland perhaps, back in the day?

 

[Eisen]

what sports is nr 2 and nr 3 in germany?

On the gate, it's hockey, popularity, it's skijumping, handball and biathlon, members, it's probably handball. Every little quarter has a handball club.

 

[Havre]

I haven't checked the official statistics, but for women it should be the no. 1 team sport in Norway. For many years handball was kind of considered a "women sport" in Norway. I guess still the women team is more popular than the men's team. Even if the men has gotten a lot more attention the last 10 years or so as well.

For men it should be no. 2, but after football here I would guess different individual winter sports are more popular. So in summer kids play football, but quite a few places they will do winter sports in the winter rather than playing handball. Where I grew up I was the only boy playing handball in my class (so I had to play with older kids) - while "everyone" played football (in the summer - and quite a few did winter sports in the winter rather than playing handball).

In Flensburg it might be the no. 1 sport? German fans always struck me as most passionate in the North.

 

[Eye of Ra]

On the gate, it's hockey, popularity, it's skijumping, handball and biathlon, members, it's probably handball. Every little quarter has a handball club.

ice hockey, right?

 

[Eisen]

I haven't checked the official statistics, but for women it should be the no. 1 team sport in Norway. For many years handball was kind of considered a "women sport" in Norway. I guess still the women team is more popular than the men's team. Even if the men has gotten a lot more attention the last 10 years or so as well.

For men it should be no. 2, but after football here I would guess different individual winter sports are more popular. So in summer kids play football, but quite a few places they will do winter sports in the winter rather than playing handball. Where I grew up I was the only boy playing handball in my class (so I had to play with older kids) - while "everyone" played football (in the summer - and quite a few did winter sports in the winter rather than playing handball).

In Flensburg it might be the no. 1 sport? German fans always struck me as most passionate in the North.

Holstein Kiel outdraws THW by a 100:1, though. Footy in Flensburg is crap.

 

[Eisen]

ice hockey, right?

Yeah. Fieldhockey has probably more active players than icehockey, though. Fieldhockey is a schoolsport in many places. If not field, then in the hall (rules are basically the same). Nobody plays icehockey in school.

 

[Lambo]

In which country is handball bigger than footy? Not in Spain, not in France, not in Sweden, not in Denmark etc. You get the idea. Iceland perhaps, back in the day?

The point here is not that handball could be before football. This is of course unrealistic. But how far the distance is. I think basketball is number two in Spain, rugby in France. But that shouldn't be an excuse why Germany gets too little out of itself in the Hanball.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Best player all-time has to be Ivano Balic

 

[Havre]

That will be a long discussion I guess. Loved Balic, but I would never consider someone that couldn't defend the best ever. And even as an offensive player I would consider Hansen better. Karabatic is the most complete player I have ever seen.

Hopefully in a week we will all say Sagosen

 

[QuietContrarian]

Karabatic for me hands down - If Hansen was better at defence it would go to him, as I consider him the best offensive player ever - If we consider all positions, I would put Landin and Omeyer in the same category as Karabatic/Hansen, one of the best ever imo.

Balic was an absolute wizard when he was on, but was a mood player, easier to shut down if he was annoyed and had to be a in a mood to play, sometimes he just really didn’t show up, and it happened too often for it to be a fluke. Sagosen, Hansen and Karabatic are way more consistent imo.

Balic was also just laaazy in defence.

Sagosen is a great two way player like Karabatic, altho imo, not as dominant as either Karabatic in defense, or Hansen in Offense.

If he starts winning tournaments and dragging Norway to gold, this could change tho.

Have a feeling Norway win tomorrow.

But, it will take more than an olympic gold to call Sagosen the best ever, he is definitely up there, but too early to put him above Hansen, Karabatic overall imo.(Not including goalies)

 

[Eisen]

Best player all-time has to be Ivano Balic

There are a couple of names I wanna toss out there. Hansen, Duvnjak, Karabatic, Yoon Kyung-Shin, Jackson Richardson, Wislander, Kempa, Talant Dujshebaev, Deckarm. Just off top of my head.
If we are counting goalies, I'd like to mention Wieland Schmidt.
I always have a hard time with alltime lists but these should be up there.

 

[Havre]

Wislander was a unique player. Would take him over Balic as well.

Sagosen definitely isn't there yet, and it is unlikely he will ever overtake Karabatic, but he is someone that has the potential offensively and defensively. For some reason in handball many will peak around 30. If Sagosen can continue to develop for 5 more years without serious injuries he will be up there. At his best he might be the most complete offensive player ever. He hasn't got the shot Hansen got, he hasn't got Karabatic´s strength or Balic´s overview, but he combines those three things in a way few others have ever had. Time will show. I remember discussing with my Danish boss 4-5 years ago saying he would become the best in the world. I said he would be - he didn't think so. I think I'm more or less right, but being the best right now is not the same as being considered the best ever.

 

[QuietContrarian]

Wislander was a unique player. Would take him over Balic as well.

Sagosen definitely isn't there yet, and it is unlikely he will ever overtake Karabatic, but he is someone that has the potential offensively and defensively. For some reason in handball many will peak around 30. If Sagosen can continue to develop for 5 more years without serious injuries he will be up there. At his best he might be the most complete offensive player ever. He hasn't got the shot Hansen got, he hasn't got Karabatic´s strength or Balic´s overview, but he combines those three things in a way few others have ever had. Time will show. I remember discussing with my Danish boss 4-5 years ago saying he would become the best in the world. I said he would be - he didn't think so. I think I'm more or less right, but being the best right now is not the same as being considered the best ever.

I don’t think Sagosen is better than Hansen offensively - Hansen is more than a hammer of a shot, he is a high IQ playmaker aswell, and has a precise shot, can shoot from distance, and has a crazy drive and winners mentality.

Defensively Sagosen for sure.

Hansen has won everything but the CL.

Karabatic is also above Sagosen imo.

Yeah, players like Wislander and Talant were crazy good, but I feel the competetion and number of good teams was inferior back then.

But, if we talk modern handball, and don’t include goalies, for me it is Karabatic, Hansen and Balic/Duvnjak, and then if Sagosen can carry his teams to some gold, he will be in the convo imo.

Also, there is a reason both Nikola and Mikkel have won worlds best player 3 times each.

And true to form, watch him demolish Denmark tomorrow and shut me up

 

[Havre]

I don’t think Sagosen is better than Hansen offensively - Hansen is more than a hammer of a shot, he is a high IQ playmaker aswell, and has a precise shot, can shoot from distance, and has a crazy drive and winners mentality.

Defensively Sagosen for sure.

Hansen has won everything but the CL.

Karabatic is also above Sagosen imo.

Yeah, players like Wislander and Talant were crazy good, but I feel the competetion and number of good teams was inferior back then.

But, if we talk modern handball, and don’t include goalies, for me it is Karabatic, Hansen and Balic/Duvnjak, and then of Sagosen can carry his teams to some gold, he will be in the convo imo.

Also, there is a reason both Nikola and Mikkel have won worlds best player 3 times each.

And true to form, watch him demolish Denmark tomorrow and shut me up

I'm not saying Sagosen is better than Hansen offensively. Historically speaking that clearly hasn't been the case, but I do believe Sagosen is slightly more versatile than Hansen. And that is not me criticizing Hansen. I agree there is more to him than his shot.

Compared to Karabatic there is no doubt in my mind that Sagosen is more "complete", but as with Hansen I don't think Sagosen (yet at least) has been as good as Karabatic was offensively at his best. At his best Karabatic was just a force. Might not have been as "flashy" as Hansen or someone like Balic, but the brute force of him made him unstoppable.

Sagosen got to prove he can do what Hansen and Karabatic have done over the next 5+ years. That won't be easy. It almost feels like his biggest problem right now is he wants it too much. He got to find that right balance.

 

[Eye of Ra]

There are a couple of names I wanna toss out there. Hansen, Duvnjak, Karabatic, Yoon Kyung-Shin, Jackson Richardson, Wislander, Kempa, Talant Dujshebaev, Deckarm. Just off top my head.
If we are counting goalies, I'd like to mention Wieland Schmidt.
I always have a hard time with alltime lists but these should be up there.

Maybe Staffan Olsson, Tomas Svensson, Stefan Lövgren, Magnus Andersson and Ljubomir Vranjes aswell? Or its the swede homer in me.

 

[Havre]

Loved that 90s Swedish team. And especially the coach.

Brilliant team. Not sure if anyone outside Wislander would be in the conversation for all time best. Still some fantastic players.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Loved that 90s Swedish team. And especially the coach.

Brilliant team. Not sure if anyone outside Wislander would be in the conversation for all time best. Still some fantastic players.

They where great until 2002 then it stopped.

I for sure think Tomas Svensson is one of the best players goalies ever.

 

[QuietContrarian]

I'm not saying Sagosen is better than Hansen offensively. Historically speaking that clearly hasn't been the case, but I do believe Sagosen is slightly more versatile than Hansen. And that is not me criticizing Hansen. I agree there is more to him than his shot.

Compared to Karabatic there is no doubt in my mind that Sagosen is more "complete", but as with Hansen I don't think Sagosen (yet at least) has been as good as Karabatic was offensively at his best. At his best Karabatic was just a force. Might not have been as "flashy" as Hansen or someone like Balic, but the brute force of him made him unstoppable.

Sagosen got to prove he can do what Hansen and Karabatic have done over the next 5+ years. That won't be easy. It almost feels like his biggest problem right now is he wants it too much. He got to find that right balance.

For sure Sagosen is more versatile than Hansen.

I don’t think Karabatic is/was better than Hansen offensively, and I think top scorer, top assists titles would back that up.

However, Karabatic is/was a two way beast able to completely dominate and decide games by himself.

He was/is miles ahead of Hansen in his two way game.

Might be my homer glasses, but imo, Hansen is the best offensive player of all time.