Brollan: "It feels like the next game vs Vitality we're probably gonna win"

The Swedish IGL admitted that the manner in which they lost to the world No.1 in the groups was "really frustrating."

MOUZ bounced back from Thursday's 2-1 loss to Vitality with a 2-0 win over FaZe that extends their streak of minimum top-four finishes to five events.

It was MOUZ's fifth straight loss to Vitality and, like the previous two matches, was a tight affair, which makes Ludvig "⁠Brollan⁠" Brolin think that the gap has almost completely closed.

"It felt like yesterday we were really confident to end the streak, the hunger was really there, and when it was really close it was really tough to go to the hotel, just really frustrating feelings overall," the Swedish captain told HLTV.

"It feels like the next game we're probably gonna win versus them."

But before a potential grudge match against Vitality in the final, MOUZ first need to move past Falcons in the semi-finals. It has only been one week since the two teams faced each other at IEM Melbourne, where Falcons dropped just nine rounds across a quick 2-0 win.

"We didn't really know how they would be playing," Brollan explained. "Maybe we were also thinking a little bit too much about the final, and that is just a rookie mistake from us.

"We have been talking about that semi-final and what happened in Melbourne, but it's just a new game now and we'll try to prepare for it."

You can listen to the interview on Spotify.

---

Tell me about this FaZe game, withstanding that comeback on Dust2. How was it from your point of view, it looked like nothing was working and then you had that one forcebuy that finally broke through.

I think it was just a weird game, to be honest. It was just some rounds where, individually, we just didn't perform, some miscommunication especially on T side. We had a really good start on the CT side, but they got some rounds in the end, they had some momentum going into T side, rain won a 1v3 pistol as well, so it was pretty hard to get into the second half.

We just didn't execute things properly, but in the end, it's nice that we can win some shaky rounds because sometimes it feels like those go in the enemy's favor all the time. Now we managed to do it, I think that was really important.

Yeah, and then you have a 1v4 from xertioN to close it.

It's just really nice that we can manage to do something like that.

The second map was kind of a Jimi show. It's been a while since he's had one of these games where he takes over. Is there something you're trying to do help recover his form?

Yeah, of course. Not going into too much detail about it, but obviously he knows he's not playing the best. I've been in the period where you're not performing that well and your confidence is just going down, and he just wants to perform as much as he can, of course.

We've tried to talk to him about how he wants to be activated in the game. It's a mix of everything, I think he needs to get some help around it, but it's not only on the team, it's on him as well that he just needs to have things around him, maybe he just needs to do something, and then we can try to work around it. He had a really good game now and I think it's really important further into this tournament.

You've gotten close to beating Vitality three times in a row now, where it looks like you have a chance and you're always just short. What do you think you've been missing to get one over the line?

I think we played a really good game on Mirage yesterday. We were ready for Inferno and we were ready for the third map as well, but our Inferno is not the best at the moment and they haven't lost it yet. They're obviously really good on that map and we're not the best, but we're still working on it and trying to get some solutions.

I think our Train, there was some score like 8-7 and then we lost a really, really close anti-eco or whatever it was. There are going to be some rounds where ropz or ZywOo is just going to make a really insane round that feels impossible to lose, but sometimes they're just killing us and win the most important round in the game. We need to be better in these situations.

How frustrating is it that it's always just around the corner? Is it difficult for you as an in-game leader to try to find out how to exploit them to finally get that last little bit?

Yeah, of course it was really frustrating yesterday that we lost. It feels like you're so close all the time, especially yesterday, so close. With that we just try to improve as much as we can. We know we're playing them a lot and they have been playing a lot, we know that they are maybe very exhausted, and it feels like the next game we're probably gonna win versus them.

It felt like yesterday we were really confident to end the streak, the hunger was really there, and when it was really close it was really tough to go to the hotel, just really frustrating feelings overall. Hopefully we'll beat them in the final, if they and we go in there, of course.

For you it's Falcons next. It felt like such a team-wide disappearance in Melbourne, how do you even process that, and is there something that you can learn from that game to try to take with you to the semi?

We didn't really know how they would be playing. Maybe we were also thinking a little bit too much about the final, and that is just a rookie mistake from us.

Of course, Falcons is a really good team and we know now that they are fighting for the titles as well, so we just need to go back to the hotel now and prepare as much as we can for that game. We have been talking about that semi-final and what happened in Melbourne, but it's just a new game now and we'll try to prepare for it.

I wanted to ask you about an update on your in-game leadership. It's been a few months now, a lot of officials, does it feel like you've truly put your stamp on this team now as a leader?

Yeah, of course. The trust from the players is always there, it's getting better and better in each tournament, but it's really hard when you can't practice sometimes. The schedule is pretty tight, and I think everyone knows it, but it's really tough when you're failing one event, you need to go to the next and you try to fix some situations, but you can't practice and try to work on new things.

You can throw out some rounds that you haven't practiced, but besides that I'm improving myself all the time. Maybe I'm a little bit shaky individually, but I think it's just really nice to have these games where you have these teammates, for example Jimi, that pop off, and it feels like you don't do anything. It's nice to have those types of players on my team.

Do you think that's been the key for you guys to be this successful early on with you switching to in-game leadership, having that depth of individuals?

I think it's for everyone, to be honest, especially the top-four teams, that there's going to be someone that pops off in games. Falcons, Spirit, Vitality, some players are just going to perform in some games, and especially the team now, from last year for example, we were in that period that sometimes I have a game, sometimes Jimi was going to have a game, sometimes xertioN, and maybe siuhy had a game sometimes as well. If we get Jimi on point now and try to get momentum on him and let him be more active in our game, I think we are on a good note.