This week on The Players Pod, Daniel Garb was joined by Melbourne City’s star foreign duo Valon Berisha and Thomas Lam. Listen below!
Valon Berisha has brought a lot to Melbourne City and the Isuzu UTE A-League this season – quality, highlights, brutal honesty and a Premier’s Plate.
The star import who is on loan from Ligue 1 also brings European pedigree with experiences at club and international level via Norway, RB Salzburg, Lazio, Kosovo and Stade de Reims.
BUY TICKETS TO CITY V WANDERERS!
He has played for some of the biggest clubs in the world, in some of the biggest competitions and enjoyed experiences with some of the highest-profile athletes on the planet, including Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard and Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland.
In season 2022-23, you can listen to Robbie weekly on his KEEPUP podcast – The Players Pod, with Robbie Cornthwaite. Guest host Daniel Garb chats to Valon Berisha and Thomas Lam on the 25th episode. Listen below or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
“On the national team, I played with Odegaard when he was quite young. I know him from that,” Berisha, who represented Norway 20 times before switching to Kosovo in 2016, said on The Players Pod.
“We had a really good relationship on the pitch because he is similar to me in that midfield. He likes to play off the ball and play with each other. We did really well, especially in training.
“I came into the national team also when I was young – I made my debut at 18. Playing with him was amazing but I’m more in a friendship zone with Haaland.”
Berisha really made a name for himself at Austrian powerhouse Red Bull Salzburg, where the 30-year-old midfielder scored 45 goals in 233 appearances across all competitions between 2012 and 2018 while winning five league crowns and three cup titles.
READ MORE ON KEEPUP
1 V 4 & 2 V 3 ON FRIDAY: What you need to know about the Finals Series equation
RECORD-BREAKER: The full Jamie Maclaren story you haven’t heard
PODCAST VIEW: ‘They could beat literally anybody in the finals quite easily’
FINAL-ROUND THRILLER: Time for the final shoot-out as ‘squeaky bum time’ looms right down the league table
Before Haaland was lured to the Premier League by Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund at the start of the season, the record-breaking Norwegian spent a brief stint at Salzburg in 2019-20. He made history with 29 goals in 27 matches before Dortmund came knocking.
“I had an injury when I was playing for Lazio and I was staying in Austria to rehab. I was living with Haaland when he was playing for RB Salzburg,” he recalled.
“Just being around him and seeing how professional he was already at a very young age, that surprised me a lot. I knew already then, when I saw his body and how he was training – I was sometimes there at training because I played six years for Salzburg so it was like home when I was there. I already knew then that he was going to be what he is now.
“But it was all about getting that confidence he got from them and the belief and the surroundings making you even better to get to the next level. Of course you have to perform and he believes a lot in himself. If there is one thing, his confidence is sky high.
“Everything is running for him. Then you play with players who are able to give you the balls you need to score, then it seems very easy for him, you know? He also made good choices for himself. He went to good clubs, who had a good structures and good players around the strikers to score goals. That’s why he has been scoring so much.
“Everywhere he was, he had good teammates around him. He benefits a lot from the players around him but he is also a beast. When he gets into the box, it feels like every time it’s a goal.”
‘He could be one of the great, great full-backs’
Berisha and Finland international Lam both arrived in Melbourne from Europe at the start of the 2022-23 campaign.
The pair have formed a bromance at City – Berisha feels part of the Lam family as he is alone Down Under, while the Finnish defender has his wife and child.
“Sometimes it’s difficult to be abroad, especially now being so far away from Europe. They help me a lot. It’s a friendship that will stay for a long, long time,” Berisha said passionately.
Berisha and Lam have played an integral role in City retaining the Premiership heading into the Finals Series, while they have both watched a young teammate flourish in front of their eyes.
Jordan Bos has taken his game to a new level this term, starring for City and making his Socceroos debut against Ecuador last month amid reported interest from Europe.
Berisha and Lam are both in agreeance when it comes to the talented 20-year-old full-back.
“He proves it every game, what he is capable of,” Lam, who played for AZ Alkmaar, Nottingham Forest, PEC Zwolle and CSKA Sofia previously, said.
“He has all the aspects of a great left-back. The power, the strength and he can run for ages. On the ball he is also very good. I think he has a bright future. You just need to keep pushing him. He is a good kid and he is listening very well. He wants to learn, which is the most important thing. A very good guy in the group.
“He has a big future ahead of him. Whenever he goes overseas, he just needs to find the right club with the right football intentions. Wherever he goes, he will do well. Hopefully he stays fit and healthy, so Australia can enjoy him as much as possible.”
Berisha added: “Football, for me is very simple. If you have the talent, it’s all about chances. It’s all about getting the chances and people believing in you.
“If a club really wants the kid, he has all the attributes – he is strong, fast and technical. Then it’s all about staying in rhythm and confidence. If you get a team who really wants him, who have studied him for a long time who wants him to come an be part of the team straight away, he will blossom very fast because he has everything.
“If you go abroad, and it’s difficult. Imagine if he goes to a non-English speaking team or league, it’s more difficult to adapt so a lot more things come into play. The most important for him is he has to go to a club who really want him and put him as a key player in the team.
“I told him even, I’ve been around a lot of young good players and I’ve also been one of them when I was younger too. Being around older players who you earn the respect of them. Earn the respect on the training pitch, go hard every day and then on the pitch it will be much easier for you. The only thing he has to improve and it comes also with playing more, choices. Football is all about choices.
“If he does a little bit better with choices, he could be one the great, great full-backs for the Socceroos as well. I don’t think I see a better full-back on the national team.”
