Lars Jesper Blomqvist

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Orang ini baik banget lho, jadi inget pas ketemu dia dua tahun lalu

Blomqvist akui sempat tolak gabung Manchester United

Merdeka.com - Jesper Blomqvist mengungkapkan bahwa ia sebenarnya sempat menolak tawaran Manchester United sebelum akhirnya benar-benar memperkuat klub tersebut pada tahun 1998 lalu.

Gelandang asal Swedia itu hanya menghabiskan waktu selama tiga musim saja di Old Trafford. Sayangnya, ia kerap didera cedera kala itu. Namun, ia masih sempat mengantarkan Setan Merah meraih treble pada tahun 1999.

Blomqvist menjelaskan bahwa saat ia masih membela klub di negara asalnya, Gotheborg, United tertarik untuk merekrutnya. Namun ia akhirnya memutuskan untuk pindah ke Italia dan bermain bagi dua klub sebelum akhirnya mendarat di Old Trafford.

"Saya bermain apik saat membela Gotheborg lawan United di Liga Champions pada tahun 1994. Walaupun ada ketertarikan dari United, saya gabung AC Milan pada tahun 1996. Ketika mereka berganti manajer, saya mencari klub lain dan akhirnya gabung Parma," kenang Blomqvist pada situs resmi United.

"Untungnya, United kembali menghubungi saya pada tahun 1998, namun saya tak langsung yakin untuk gabung mereka saat itu. Saya berbincang lama dengan Sir Alex Ferguson yang meyakinkan saya bahwa Ryan Giggs, yang bermain di posisi yang sama dengan saya, dan saya bisa bermain bersama-sama dan bahwa saya akan mendapatkan banyak kesempatan untuk bermain nantinya," beber pria 41 tahun ini. (mufc/dim)

Source : http://www.merdeka.com

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BLOMQVIST: IBRAHIMOVIC IS THE ULTIMATE PRO

Jesper Blomqvist claims the fellow Swede who joined Manchester United in the summer, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, could be as influential off the pitch as he is in attack for the Reds.

A one-game suspension for accruing five yellow cards means Ibrahimovic will be absent from a United match squad for the first time when Arsenal visit Old Trafford on Saturday. The striker has previously featured in every fixture bar one, the home win over Fenerbahce when he was an unused substitute.

But while Ibrahimovic won't be able to play against Arsene Wenger's side, his influence will still be felt around the Aon Training Complex in the build-up, according to former United winger Blomqvist.

The Treble winner told MUTV: "It's obvious what Zlatan has brought to the club on the pitch - and not just directly. His movement allows space for others to create and score goals too.

"But he's also just as important off the pitch, showing the youngsters how to be a good professional and setting an example. He still works hard, in spite of the fact that he's won everything, and he enjoys it. That's a good sign."

During an interview at the launch of official partner Marathonbet's new casino, Blomqvist also discussed another of this season's new arrivals, Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

"He can definitely become a star," commented Jesper, whose 38 appearances for the Reds included the 1999 Champions League final.

"United is a big club though and it takes longer to settle in for some players. Maybe Henrikh needs a little more time to settle in but, when you see how he reads the game and what he has achieved elsewhere, it’s surely only going to be a matter of time before he shows us what he can do at Old Trafford."

http://www.manutd.com/

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BLOMQVIST'S UNIQUE LEGENDS PREPARATION

Jesper Blomqvist has enjoyed a unique way of preparing for Manchester United's Legends match against Barcelona later this month.

The Champions-League winner is set to represent the Reds in the big charity game at the Nou Camp on 30 June and the second leg at Old Trafford on 2 September.

Blomqvist will be making a return to the stadium where he started the unforgettable 1999 final against Bayern Munich and should be in good shape for the occasion after dancing his way towards full fitness.

"I'm playing in Barcelona and I'm going to start practising now," he told ManUtd.com. "I don't know if you have heard but I was in the Swedish version of Strictly Come Dancing [entitled Let's Dance 2017].

"I've been doing that for 12 weeks - it was the final recently and I won it. They showed it on video when we were having a sponsors' dinner in Stockholm before the Europa League final. There were clips from one of my dances and it was very funny.

"I enjoyed every minute of it. So I am fit in one way but I need to start practising football as well."

The 43-year-old, who was partnered to victory by Malin Watson, would love a crack at the BBC version of the ballroom dancing show.

"That would be great," he said. "I was looking at the English one to get some inspiration by seeing what they were doing. It is a big show in Sweden but England is a big country and, of course, it's even bigger there!"

www.manutd.com

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Blomqvist enjoying his pizza paradise

From Champions League winner to restaurant owner, the former Manchester United winger has lost his money, but found love in dough.



Jesper Blomqvist, Manchester United Champions League winner, arrives at his pizza restaurant at midday and knocks the snow off his boots.

He wants to make coffee for us but first he must start the fire in the custom-built Neapolitan pizza oven that has been cold for two days.

To do that he chops up some of the logs in a pile alongside it and when he is done with the axe, the wood is arranged, and eventually the flame leaps.

We are in Lidingö, an island 20 minutes east of central Stockholm where one of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's old team-mates has found a new passion after all those years of injury and uncertainty that followed his part in United's magical treble season 20 years ago.

Then Blomqvist, who Alex Ferguson bought in the summer of 1998 at the third attempt, played in so many of the big games for United.

They included the Champions League final against Bayern Munich and also the FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal, when Ryan Giggs came on for him to score one of the competition's great goals.



Ruefully

It has been a hard road for Blomqvist, in Sweden's 1994 World Cup team at the age of 20, who jokes ruefully that his career ended that night in Barcelona when Solskjaer, the club's current manager who faces Arsenal in the FA Cup again tonight, scored the winner against Bayern.

By the pre-season his right knee was swelling, the start of the articular cartilage problem that four operations and years of rehab could not solve.

His friend Solskjaer would later suffer the same problem, but for Blomqvist it was effectively over at United and so began the decline via Everton, Charlton Athletic and then back to Sweden.

Now 44, he talks about the "bad investments" that lost him money and the search to find an identity after football where he felt useful, driven on by an upbringing in rural northern Sweden where a work ethic is prized above all.

People are surprised when they see him behind the counter at the pizzeria. They wonder what a former Manchester United footballer is doing there. And Blomqvist is happy to tell them, although it is not a simple story.

He tried coaching, first of all in the youth team at Djurgardens, and then the Swedish second tier, but struggled with the ruthlessness that came so easy to those he had played under like Fabio Capello and Ferguson.

"Putting the team in front and not taking into consideration the human being behind the player - for me that was the toughest challenge," he says.

"I tend to look more at the human being. Ferguson was good at that. When it comes to winning games you can't care about the human being. You have to be ruthless and sometimes I missed that. That's my nature and it is hard to change."

Five years coaching. Two more in television punditry. Various television programmes as a Swedish celebrity including victory in the Swedish equivalent of 'Strictly Come Dancing'.

Divorced with a six-year-old son, Caspar, who loves United, Blomqvist tried to do the things most famous former players do, but he had always been different.

The son of a university maths professor, he had started a pure maths degree at Gothenburg University. His football career took over and he never completed it.

What helped to change his life was a year's creative cookery course. He had become interested in food during two years in Italy at AC Milan and then Parma before United.

Now retired, out of the game and having lost money, he was looking for a new start.

He found it in Lidingö, most famous for being the home of AGA - suppliers of gas, and manufacturers of the cooking ranges considered a badge of middle-class identity in British homes.

On a remote part of Lidingö, Blomqvist discovered a restaurant serving pizza as he remembered it from Italy.

He went into business with the two owners, between them they raised a total of two million Swedish kroner - around £200,000 (€231,000) - and restaurant 450 Gradi was born.

Unlike the lost investments of previous years, this time he helped oversee every aspect of the business, from the fit-out to the menu.

In the summer there were queues waiting an hour for a pizza. Behind the counter he worked so hard he barely had time to talk. He experienced something he had not felt in years: a love for what he was doing.

"I have to say it is tough when people ask me in the beginning, 'What are you doing?' And I say, 'I have a pizzeria'.

"It was tough that people look down at you. Then I have to explain it's the best pizzeria! Now I don't care. People seem to be saying, 'Are you down there? Have you lost all your money?' It can be a little bit…" He tails off and smiles. "I couldn't care less.

"Footballers have been very spoiled. It's very easy to lose perspective and to get carried away and this money can destroy players.

"It's the way it is, you have to learn to handle it and it's difficult. I am so happy I was brought up in the north of Sweden where you keep your feet on the ground and you have to work hard."

He is at peace with himself having been a boy from the Swedish countryside plunged into football.

He remembers Ferguson coming to pick him up from Manchester airport when he signed, and carrying his luggage to the car. They went to Mottram Hall hotel for lunch where Ferguson reassured him that despite Ryan Giggs's pre-eminence on the left wing there would be plenty of game-time.

"Ferguson made you feel important. How, I don't know. He fooled us all! He realised you needed a lot of players. I think he was struggling with rotation and he learned a lot during these years that you need to rest players and convince them and keep them happy. He became the master of that."

With Solskjaer, Ronny Johnsen and Henning Berg, Blomqvist says he was part of the 'Scandinavian mafia' at the club.

He politely points out that it was they who were part of driving the culture of self-improvement for which the club became so famous.

"With Ole I did crossing and he did finishing. Me and Phil Neville did one against one. We started pushing each other, working out in the gym afterwards. At that time it wasn't a big thing. It has changed a lot now. We Scandinavians were more given to working out in the gym. We were known for that."

Solskjaer was different too, Blomqvist says.

"He started a lot of the games on the bench but he was always analysing the game and how the defenders played. He was not sitting there laughing."

These were also the years of peak Roy Keane.

"In Sweden I was used to positive feedback but in Roy I got something completely different. I got hammered by him when I missed a pass. He would say all kinds - I can't even repeat it.

"In the beginning I got really upset and I couldn't understand what his problem was. But after a while I realised he was doing it for the best, for the team. I would never want to be without him.

"On the pitch, he always stood up for you when you got a bad tackle. In training he was testing us Scandinavians. If you can't make it in training you won't last on the pitch either."

It was in his later years as a professional that Blomqvist made some bad choices. Looking back he finds it hard to believe that he signed money over without ever asking how or why an investment would work.

"That's like giving people money and saying 'I don't care' or 'Do what you want'.

Careful

"Sometimes you can be lucky but I was unlucky, or not careful enough. I did not acknowledge that not everyone is honest. There have been some good lessons.

"The wages I earned were not as high as they are now. Even so if I had have surrounded myself with good people and just made normal investments that give you four or five per cent I would have been fine. But I don't care about that. I would still do this restaurant because I love it."

He and his partners are looking at opening seven days a week in the summer and perhaps, in the future, a second and third restaurant.

He will be back in Manchester in May to play in the 20th anniversary game against Bayern Munich when Ferguson is expected once again to take charge of those boys of 1999.

Blomqvist's knee gives him less pain now, able to support all the skiing and skating he does with Caspar.

"You appreciate the friendship (with old team-mates) more even though you don't speak on a regular basis.

"When you see each other it's a better connection than back in the day because then there was still a bit of competition."

He enjoys the memories but it has also taken him 15 years to recover from his football career and find the next thing he loves.

"When the customers say this is the best pizza they have ever had, that gives you a lot. (© Daily Telegraph, London)

www.independent.ie

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Foto-foto kesibukan Blomqvist saat mengelola restoran pizza miliknya :

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Lebih baik terlambat daripada tidak mengucapkan sama sekali, selamat ultah untuk salah satu anggota skuad Treble 1999 yang ultahnya jatuh pada 5 Februari lalu..

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WHAT HAS IMPRESSED BLOMQVIST MOST?

Jesper Blomqvist knows what it takes to win the lot at Manchester United.

The winger was part of the squad that won the Treble in 1998/99, starting the dramatic Champions League final victory over Bayern Munich in Barcelona.

He appreciates how big a role team spirit plays in acquiring silverware and this is an element of the progress under Erik ten Hag that has provided him with optimism, as he watches the Reds play as a supporter these days.

After appearing in the Legends of the North game with Liverpool on Saturday, the Swede will be firmly focused on seeing if United can pick up a positive result in the Manchester derby this Sunday.

"To be fair, I don't have much time so the only team I follow is United," he told us. "The more years pass, the more I feel like a real supporter; suffering when the team is suffering and, win the team wins, you are happy for a day or two.

"I definitely try to watch every game. I have my son now who has become a very big United fan. We have that in common and can watch all the games together, cheering and screaming in front of the TV!

"It looks much better [under Ten Hag] but it's still very early. I think Erik and the rest of the team are well aware there is a long way to walk, in terms of the long term. But I see some really good signs. For me, especially the high-fives after a great tackle or save. That for me is building something. I can see the team spirit and the desire to win, that it means something to the players.

"We're definitely on the right track but there are still a lot of hurdles to get over. I've really liked what I've seen in the last couple of games and, hopefully, they can continue that now."

The unity at the back has particularly impressed Blomqvist, who agrees that the foundation to success is often built from that solid base.

"That really shows what it means," he said of the spirit in recent matches. "Defending is such an important part of the game. It always has been and is always going to be. Sometimes, people - fans and everybody - tend to forget that. They just see the goals scored but basic football is always going to be defending well and working hard. I definitely see that coming back in the United squad and it makes me really happy and hopeful for the rest of the season.

"If you keep losing games, it's difficult for players and coaches to keep the confidence up. If you don't play well, self-confidence is going to drop as a team and individuals but, if you keep winning and getting points, the self-confidence is going to grow as well. You definitely have to work from the back but defence starts from the front and you need all 11 players doing it. I see that on the pitch now and it gives you great confidence. It's something to really work on and build on."

While being optimistic for the season, Blomqvist accepts that Manchester City, and his fellow Scandinavian Erling Haaland, pose a huge challenge on Sunday afternoon at the Etihad Stadium.

The Norway striker has hit the ground running in Manchester and leads the way in the Premier League goal charts but Jesper feels the Blues are beatable on their home turf.

"Definitely, City can be stopped," he asserted. "But it's not an easy task. It's going to be difficult, the most difficult task so far this season. But there is a chance as we know we can frustrate them. If we keep a solid defence and try to beat them on the counter-attack. They are unbelievable there [at home] and it's a tough, tough game so it'll be interesting to watch it.

"I knew Haaland was going to be something. Some people were saying he'd struggle there but he's such a quality player and so good in front of goal. I know Pep Guardiola will know how to use him as well. I think we still haven't seen the best of him. When he gets more in tune with the system of City and Pep, he'll be even better and even more useful. He's built a lot of confidence already but he'll get even better during the season. Wow, what a player!"

In the Premier League, after the derby, it's Everton up next - the club Blomqvist left United for in 2001. The unusual Sunday evening kick-off presents another tough test on the road for Ten Hag's men but the ambition of a top-four finish remains a realistic one, in the view of the ex-Sweden international.

"I think Frank Lampard is also starting to build from the back again," added Jesper. "It was a tough start but it's always difficult to come in during the middle of the season. Now he's had time to set the fundamentals for the squad and the team is looking better. They're finding a bit of confidence as well but, of course, we need to be looking for a win there at Goodison for definite.

"It's going to be difficult but the aim definitely needs to be the top four. It's going to be a tough season. I think there are quite a few teams now that can be involved in that top-four fight and you always have one or two surprises as well. It is going to be tough but I'm much more optimistic now than I have been in the last couple of years. I can see those early signs but we still need to realise we have to keep on working hard, as we have been doing, building the team spirit as well and then there is definitely a good possibility of making the top four."

www.manutd.com

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From Roy Keane's 'wild eyes' to the white heat of the kitchen: Manchester United Treble winner Jesper Blomqvist reveals how his love of food led to a successful second career after he won Swedish Celebrity Masterchef

* Jesper Blomqvist was part of the Man United team that won the Treble in 1999
* A love of food developed during his time playing in Italy led to a second career
* He recently won Celebrity Masterchef in his native Sweden and has a pizzeria

Jesper Blomqvist once felt the glare of Roy Keane's 'wild eyes' in Manchester United's Treble-winning team - but now the Swede is right at home in the heat of the kitchen.

The former winger, who started United's 1999 Champions League final, owns a pizza restaurant in Stockholm and recently won the Swedish edition of Celebrity Masterchef.

But it was his time spent playing in Italy for AC Milan and Parma that sparked a passion for good food that Blomqvist has turned into a successful second career.

'It was a love that began in Italy, first in Milan and then in Parma,' Blomqvist told Gazzetta dello Sport.

'I remember the first dinner with [Adriano] Galliani and [Ariedo] Braida at 'L'Assassino' [a restaurant in Milan]. They didn't even look at the menu. They said, 'I get a salad', 'I get a cutlet'. I was impressed.

'The flavours were unique. And I also cultivated this passion in Parma, with [Carlo] Ancelotti as coach. He often took us out to dinner and joked with us.

'There I learned to love ham, Parmesan, homemade pasta - simple products. Not that I looked forward to the Friday or Saturday before the match.'


Former Manchester United player Jesper Blomqvist has spoken about his love of cooking after winning Celebrity Masterchef in his native Sweden. The winger was part of the Manchester United team that won the Treble in the 1998-99 season

That affection for Italian cuisine explains why Blomqvist and two other business partners opened 450 Gradi, a pizzeria in the Lidingo area of the Swedish capital.

450 degrees is regarded by Neapolitans as the optimal temperature at which to cook pizzas.

Blomqvist, who is also studying to become a sommelier, leaned on his love of Italian food during the intense competition of Masterchef VIP.

His menu in the final, where he beat florist and TV host Karl Fredrik Gustafsson, was 'vol-au-vent with mushrooms as an appetiser, then handmade baked lasagne, an accompanying salad and the final touch, a tiramisu with biscuits made by me.'

On the show, where he was one of eight contestants, Blomqvist added: 'It was a wonderful journey in which I often cooked Italian dishes: Milanese risotto, cutlet. Products I learned to appreciate in my two years with you [playing in Italy]. By now cooking is my world, I am really proud.

'It took me more than a year to find my way [after retiring from football in 2010]. I was a coach, a commentator on television, even a dancer. Before Masterchef I won the Swedish edition of 'Dancing with the Stars.'

'But nothing, I didn't like it. Dark on the future. Then the kitchen took over.'


Blomqvist pictured next to his pizza oven at his restaurant 450 Gradi in Stockholm. Blomqvist is also training to be a sommelier

Blomqvist, 48, signed for United ahead of the Treble season in 1998 and was bought from Parma to provide back-up to Ryan Giggs on the left wing.

He played in enough Premier League matches to earn a medal and also received an FA Cup winners medal despite being an unused substitute in the final.

Blomqvist did start the Champions League final with Bayern Munich in the Nou Camp, with Giggs played on the right and David Beckham pushed infield in the absence of Keane and Paul Scholes.

He played 67 minutes before being replaced by Teddy Sheringham, who would score United's late equaliser before Ole Gunnar Solskjaer netted the stoppage time winner.

Blomqvist recalled to Gazzetta: 'More than 20 years ago I won the Champions League with the United of Beckham, Giggs, [Jaap] Stam, Solskjaer, that crazy Roy Keane.

'Once I missed a pass and he yelled at me about everything with wild eyes. Now I have a new life, and I couldn't ask for anything better.'

In Matt Dickinson's book '1999: Manchester United, the Treble and all that', Blomqvist recounts the macho atmosphere during training sessions at The Cliff.

'It was different to what I was used to. In Sweden it was about lifting people and trying to encourage them,' he said.


Blomqvist said his passion for cuisine was ignited when he played for AC Milan before United. Blomqvist pictured with Roy Keane in the 1999 Champions League semi-final with Juventus - the Swede recalled how he misplaced a pass and Keane shouted at him with 'wild eyes'

'At United, they tested you to see if you can handle the pressure, to be their team-mate in the middle of the heat of a game.

'It took me a year to understand their mentality, particularly with Roy Keane. At the beginning, I was like, 'Why all this shouting? It destroys you?'

'For me, being Swedish, it was really hard to understand this constant pressure on players.'

The United physio of the time, David Fevre, recalled an early training session when Keane smashed the ball at Blomqvist, watched it bounce away and then said: 'Five f***ing million quid for that s***.'

Blomqvist wrote on Instagram after the screening of the Masterchef final: 'What a lovely competitor I had on the other side of the kitchen table in @karlfredrik.se and what an exciting final it was.

'Even though I knew the result, I got all sweaty watching it on TV. Incredibly happy, grateful and humble for the win, know that you Karl-Fredrik might as well have won, it was an incredibly tough & even final.

'The whole production has been amazingly funny, educational but also tough. Then it helps to have such awesome competitors, jury members and the rest of the recording team who supports, cheer and spur [on], thank you all for a wonderful adventure.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-11679189/Ex-Manchester-United-winger-Jesper-Blomqvist-Roy-Keane-cooking-career.html