AnJ: "We should be able to match Red Reserve player by player and I think we will beat them"

Yesterday, NRG played versus their countrymen, CLG, in the Group B opener, which they lost by a 16-11 scoreline on Overpass.

AnJ feels confident for his match against the Swedes

With the North Americans ready to play against Red Reserve in a few moments, we sat down with Allan "⁠AnJ⁠" Jensen to get to know more about his team's first match, their preparation for Valencia and other topics.

I'd like to start to talk about your first game, where you met CLG and lost 16-11. What did you guys talked about when you lost it?

We just talked about that it was important in the next game to get off to a good start, because in the CLG game we were behind 0-5 or something before we even got a round. But on the T-side we actually got eight or seven rounds before we lost the game, so if we would have got more rounds as CT, we would have probably won the game. So the talks were about getting it going early as CT.

Now you'll be facing Red Reserve. How are you guys feeling about that game?

We are very confident. It's a game we have to win and it's a game we want to win. They are a team that I've played against a lot back in Europe, they are good players for sure, but we should be able to match them player by player and I think we will beat them.

What about your preparation for Valencia, how was it?

We went for a three day bootcamp in Germany. We got some good scrims against some European teams, we actually had very good results in the scrims so the preparation was good. We managed to get some good games on different maps, we got a good map pool, so yes, the preparation went pretty good actually.

Before it you lost against Miami Flamingos in the qualifier for DreamHack Atlanta. That probably wasn't the best feeling, but what can you say about it?

After we won the first game, I think we took a bit too lightly on them and they started to play really well in the other two maps. But then again, it was my first game in an official match in America and we had not really figured out the roles in game and stuff yet, so the game was actually pretty good for us because it opened our eyes and we realized that we needed to do a lot of work. We couldn't just go into the server and have the same level that people expect us to have.

Yes, about that, how have you been adapting to the team? Or has the team adapted to you?

We've tried to find a middle ground, where I get to play a lot of the roles that I like to play, but also sometimes you got to sacrifice a bit and play stuff you really don't like to play, so that's basically how we've done it. I'm going to be more of a entry-fragger now, I used to be a bit more a lurk and support player, but now I'm going to be one of the first guys going in. So that's kind of how we have adapted.

Since you joined the team, have you learned something special?

Yes, I actually learned some pretty good stuff about how you mentally prepare for the game and, even though you may have a little pressure on you, I didn't have that before. But now coming to North America, people want me to do well, so they have taught me how to prepare mentally and to not get too down if I don't perform.

To finish off the interview, what are your goals for Valencia?

We want to get back into our game versus CLG because I really think that if we get rolling early against them, we can beat them. So, after the game against CLG, hopefully getting through the groups.

About that, Rickeh said yesterday that when he plays against your team he feels pretty confident. What about you?

I can only speak for myself. Yesterday, it was the first time that I actually played against CLG players. They are good, but I didn't feel outskilled by them, so I'm sure we can get a good match against them.