'Randers Have Had A Month & A Half To Prepare For Leicester'
- Randers are Leicester City's opponents in the UEFA Europa Conference League
- The two sides meet on Filbert Way on Thursday (8pm GMT kick-off)
- Toke Theilade, a Danish football writer, has provided the lowdown on the Danish side
- He also describes the Danish Superliga club's journey after its formation in 2003
Thomas Thomasberg's Horses are fifth in the Danish Superliga, currently led by Midtjylland, after an encouraging first phase of the 2021/22 season. With Denmark's top tier set to split into two separate competitions – one for the championship and the other for relegation – Randers are well placed.
In the Jutland-based club's first-ever European group-stage campaign, Randers finished second in the UEFA Europa Conference League's Group D, below AZ Alkmaar, after narrowly missing out in Europa League qualification to Turkish giants Galatasaray. A two-legged tie with Leicester is their reward.
The club was formed in 2003 and since established itself in the Superliga, winning two Danish Cups, most recently last season, enabling them to qualify for European football. Theilade, who spoke to LCFC Radio this week, outlined why the clash with the Foxes is so significant for Thomasberg's men.
"It’s absolutely huge for Randers," he explained. "It’s probably the biggest tie they have ever played, especially the home game, getting a big club like Leicester to Randers. That’s not an everyday occurrence. I don’t think it has ever really happened, so this is going to be huge.
"English football is absolutely massive in Denmark and everybody has a Danish team and an English team that they support, so people here are crazy about English football. Getting a big club like Leicester for Randers is going to be massive.
"There’s also a Danish connection with [Kasper] Schmeichel and [Jannik] Vestergaard, so that makes it even bigger. We also have to remember that we haven’t had any live football in Denmark since December because of the winter break. We don’t really know where Randers are standing at the moment."
Randers have not been in competitive action since facing Odense Boldklub in the quarter-finals of the Danish Cup on 12 December, although a extensive friendly schedule has been navigated to keep the players fresh over the winter months.
Although potentially impacting the players' match fitness, Theilade believes it will have enabled the backroom team to formulate a comprehensive game stratagem for Leicester.
"They haven’t played any competitive games since December," he added. "They had a training camp, but we’re really hungry for some actual competitive football we can watch in the stadium. It's been a long wait to look forward to this ever since the draw was made.
"There’s a lot of hype. It’s not usual for Danish teams to play in Europe after Christmas. Of course, it happens now and then, a few years ago we had Midtjylland playing against Manchester United in the Europa League. Generally, of course, it can be a weakness.
"Anyone who watches football knows there is a big difference between a friendly and an actual competitive match.
"Randers have probably gone a little bit harder on the friendlies because they know they have this big one. We don’t know really know where they stand. They’ve had a month-and-a-half to fully prepare for this one. I don’t think there’s anything about Leicester they don’t know.
"There’s not any players or any weaknesses that cannot be exploited or looked into. They will have practiced it on the training field, but it’ll be interesting to see how they match the pace because that’s obviously the big difference for Premier League clubs.
"Especially coming in with the lack of match form, that will be important because if Randers go behind early, the legs could get a little heavier. It is always an issue for Danish clubs, this winter break, when they are playing in European competition."
Randers will become the 15th club which City have faced in European competition and Theilade was also happy to provide a description of their unique formation and early years since 2003.
"It’s a relatively new club," the Danish football writer said. "It was founded in 2003. In Denmark, we have this trend of old clubs being relaunched or merging together with other local clubs. Randers is built upon the foundations of one of the historic clubs in Denmark who played in the top divisions for leagues.
"In 2003, they merged six different local clubs to form this Randers FC. They created this brand new club with a much bigger youth department. Instead of being one club, they would get the influx of all these smaller clubs. It has been really one of the most successful examples of this.
"The best examples are Copenhagen and Midtjylland, who are also these mergers, from the 1990s and early 2000s. They are now, obviously, the big dogs in Denmark, but Randers is another one. They were promoted relatively early, they have won the Danish Cup twice, the second time last season.
"That earned them a spot in the Europa League, where they lost against Galatasaray in qualification, and now they’re in the Europa Conference League. It was the first time they ever reached the group stage of a European competition.
"They have played five or six times in Europe before, but always been eliminated in the qualification rounds. This time they managed to go all the way through to the group stages. It obviously helps that we’ve had this extra tournament, but it’s a huge achievement for them.
"It’s not one of the big clubs in Denmark by any means. They are located in this area of Jutland, where there is a lot of other clubs, Midtjylland being the biggest. There is a lot of clubs as well in the first division, so there’s a lot of competition for talent and for the attention of the fans.
"They have built the club up nicely, they have really over-performed massively. They don’t have a big budget. A recent study by one of the Danish newspapers had them with the third smallest budget in the league. Of course, this always depends on sales and so on.
"It fluctuates but they do have one of the smaller budgets in the league, but they have assembled a strong squad. They have good players and there is a bit of an English connection in the past.
"They’ve had some English coaches, Colin Todd for example, and it does feel like an old school British team from time to time. They have always used 4-4-2, they play very direct football and they know their strengths. They know how to make the most of their opportunities.
"It’s a pragmatic team and that allows them to fight above their weight. They’re fifth in the league, two points behind third place. In Denmark, after the first half of the season, the league is split in two – a championship round and a relegation round.
"They are currently looking to go into the championship round, where of course there is a lot more interest, more hype and more money. That would be a good achievement for them. Unless they collapse completely, they should do that, so they’re in the middle of a good season."
Theilade believes Thomasberg is building an exciting squad in Randers, one defined by a sprinkling of youthful talents, aided by experienced professionals.
"Filip Bundgaard, a 17-year-old midfielder, began as the youngest player to play for the team and he is really looking promising," he continued. "It could be a big breakthrough for him this spring. He’s not a regular in the team yet though.
"The big name is Stephen Odey, the striker on loan from Genk. He’s been really, really good. He is the kind of player who Randers shouldn’t really be able to get, but at the end of transfer window, he ended up there on loan. He was one of the biggest signings of the season because he has been fantastic. He is great in front of goal, has a great finish, and he is physically strong.
"They also have Alhaji Kamara from Sierra Leone. He scored against Ivory Coast in the Africa Cup of Nations in January. Those two strikers have been really tremendous for Randers.
"If we look further back, they do have some quite exciting players. In midfield, the Norwegian Lasse Berg Johnsen, he also got his breakthrough this season and looks like one of the better holding midfielders, not just in Danish football but all Scandinavian football.
"He is a really, really good player as well. They have a couple of strong, creative midfielders in Simon Tibbling and Vito Hammershøy-Mistrati. Both of them are really good technically. They have a good eye for their team-mates and they create chances and they can get a goal themselves.
"Hammershøy-Mistrati has been dangerous in front of goal. It’s a good team. They have some young players, but also a lot of experience. They are not one of these teams where every single player has been acquired with the aim of selling them for high profit as soon as possible.
"They do have some players who are at the peak of their careers and have experience playing European football in big matches with a lot of attention. It’s one of the strongest squads they have ever had in the short history of the club.
"One player who should not be forgotten is the goalkeeper, Patrik Carlgren. He’s been the back-up in the Swedish national team. Now he’s 30 years-old and his contract is expiring soon, so he could end up leaving the club soon, and definitely go to a bigger league. He’s been fantastic as well.
"This season, they could have done even better. They have been unlucky. I was looking at some data the other day and they have, unfortunately, been one of the lowest scoring teams in the league, but they have created the fourth-most chances in the league. That is mostly down to bad luck and I think that should change, especially now with the strikers they have.
"They only started playing together in the summer so they will be getting better and better. I think they can do quite well in the spring, not only in the Europa Conference League, but also in the league."
There is no doubt among Randers supporters concerning the scale of their task against Leicester, but Theilade says there is a series of events which could lead to the two-time Danish Cup winners causing problems for the Foxes.
"It would definitely be a sensation if they managed to go through," he said. "This is a huge game for the fans and for the club. Just hosting Leicester is big, but they’re not here to win a participation trophy or make friends. It is a pragmatic team. They’ll be looking for any weakness they can find in Leicester.
"I expect them to be competitive but of course it’s going to be a huge surprise if they actually go through. They can move the ball forward very, very fast so if you give it to them, when they counter, they will move the ball fast.
"In the league, they have the second-highest number of forward passes in the league, the second-lowest number of sideways passes. As soon as they get the ball, they want to move forward. You have to be prepared for that and that’s the tactic. You’ve got to play to your strengths and you’ve got to shut down defensively."
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