His integration, Ligue 1, his profile… Our Exclusive interview with Mika Biereth | OneFootball

After a few weeks of adaptation and his first appearances with AS Monaco, the new striker of the Principality club took the time to confide in us to discuss with us his first impressions.

He scored a rapid-fire hat trick last week against Auxerre in just eight minutes. But beyond his remarkable performance, which earned him a 9 in the newspaper L’Équipe, Mika Biereth has above all showed that he has adapted very quickly to his new environment. So between his arrival, his first steps at AS Monaco and his journey to get there, the 21-year-old Dane agreed to tell his story at length with the humor and naturalness that characterize him.🎙️

Hello Mika. To begin, how have you been feeling since arriving in Monaco?

Everything happened very quickly honestly, from the moment I left the Sturm Graz training camp to go sign my contract, until my first training session with the team and my first match. But I think it’s better when everything happens quite quickly, to get into the swing of things straight away. The first two matches weren’t very good, especially with the elimination from the Coupe de France against Reims, especially since I missed my penalty, which wasn’t ideal to start. But I quickly turned the page by scoring four goals in the last three games, so the record is pretty good for the moment.

How is your new life here?

I have always lived alone since the beginning of my career, so I came to Monaco alone. My family just came by when I arrived to visit and help me move some things, but otherwise I live alone, and I really like this place.

Playing for Sturm Graz was really great. But I think I gave my all by winning the league and cup double, playing in the Champions League and scoring in this prestigious competition. So I felt like I had achieved what I wanted.

Mika BierethOn his reasons for signing for AS Monaco

I tell everyone that I am impressed by the weather here. I left the snow in Austria for the south of France where it is about twenty degrees (smile)! I could not have dreamed of a better environment, and honestly everything has been going well since I arrived.

Which players come to mind when we talk about AS Monaco?

If we’re talking about recent history we think of Kylian Mbappé  who has become a great player and plays for Real Madrid today. I also think of Radamel Falcao and Wissam Ben Yedder, who are also attackers who have made their mark here. But there are so many great players who have played at AS Monaco! And that’s not to mention Thierry Henry obviously, who then shone at Arsenal by becoming the club’s all-time top scorer.

Why did you choose to come here?

Playing for Sturm Graz was really great. But I think I gave my all by winning the league and cup double, playing in the Champions League and scoring in this prestigious competition. So I felt like I had achieved what I wanted. And then when the opportunity to sign for AS Monaco presented itself, with the possibility of playing in a European Big 5 league, fighting for the top of the table and experiencing a game that I love, you don’t think about it for long. Especially when I had the opportunity to talk to the coach, Adi Hütter, but also Thiago Scuro and Carlos Aviña, who made me feel welcome. Honestly, it was a very easy decision to make!

Did you feel like you were welcomed like a family?

I have to say that it went very quickly for me, I immediately felt comfortable with my teammates. Obviously it will get better and better, but I admit that the first two or three weeks were perfect for me. It’s a great start!

Very good, but it's certain that playing straight away and being able to score quickly, greatly facilitates the integration into the team. I felt a lot of respect and kindness from my teammates, and that helps to speed up the process.

Mika BierethOn his integration into the squasd

How has your integration gone?

Very good, but it’s certain that playing straight away and being able to score quickly, greatly facilitates the integration into the team. I felt a lot of respect and kindness from my teammates, and that helps to speed up the process. My four goals have certainly made my task easier, so let’s hope it continues in this direction.

Did the first two games allow you to adapt to this new team?

That’s for sure! When you arrive at a new club, especially as a young player, it’s not always easy to create a relationship with the others and understand how everyone likes to play. And of course it’s not easy for 20-25 players to know how you play, so it takes a little time to adapt and it’s also up to me to make an effort. But in the end it only took us two games to find each other, and it showed on the pitch in the last two games (Rennes and Auxerre). So everything’s going well for the moment.

How did you feel after your first goal against Rennes ?

It’s always special to score your first goal when you arrive at a new club! It’s a great feeling, but it’s even more so when you’re a striker, it’s a kind of relief to open your account. I would even say that it’s the most important thing, to score the first goal as quickly as possible, no matter how, and besides mine wasn’t the most beautiful in the world (laughs)! But it helped us take the three points, and that’s the main thing. I really felt a big release of pressure after this goal.

It was very easy I must say to play with him. But he is not only a good person on the pitch, but also off it, he is a real leader! He is one of those who have accelerated my integration, and told me that if I needed anything, I could count on him. He has been really great with me!

Mika BierethOn Breel Embolo

Against Auxerre this time, you connected very well with Breel Embolo in the second half…

He is a great player with great qualities, who may not have been very confident recently, but I actually felt that we had a good connection. Breel is also a very intelligent player, who is not selfish on the pitch and who on the contrary gets on well with the striker who is playing next to him. On my third goal, he let me take the ball while he was running and had beaen the goalkeeper. It was very easy I must say to play with him. But he is not only a good person on the pitch, but also off it, he is a real leader! He is one of those who have accelerated my integration, and told me that if I needed anything, I could count on him. He has been really great with me!

A hat-trick in eight minutes, you’ve never experienced that?

Honestly, on the pitch it didn’t seem that short of an amount of time to me (smile)! But after the match the coach told me that I had scored the three in just over eight minutes, and I have to say that I was a little surprised. But that’s football, sometimes everything goes your way quickly, like a snap of the fingers.

Does this hat-trick give you even more confidence in yourself?

It is obviously very important for a player to score, but not necessarily just for a striker! Even if, in this position in particular, you have to build up as much confidence as possible, because you need it to score again and simply keep it. So it is certain that scoring four goals in three matches gives you an extra boost and more confidence when it comes to facing the goalkeeper to shoot.

That’s what you showed in this match by scoring three goals and then attempting to get four…

Really? Not a bad ratio (smile)? I know that my goals are not the most beautiful in the world, but I just try to always be in a good position on the pitch, so that my teammates can give me good balls in the best conditions so that I can thank them afterwards!

Why don’t you have a celebration by the way?

(Smile) Even when I was younger, I just liked this super cool feeling of celebrating, but without having something in mind or anything. It’s not in my nature I think! I just want to score goals, run along the touchline and celebrate with my teammates, it has much more meaning to me. I like to enjoy this moment with them, even if I sometimes get slapped on the back of the head (laughs)! It’s really special when everyone comes to congratulate you.

After the match against Auxerre, the coach insisted on not putting too much unnecessary pressure on you after this hat-trick. We imagine that you appreciate the fact that he wants to protect you…

It’s a very sensible and logical decision on the part of a manager, when a 21-year-old player comes into the team and makes a debut like me. It’s completely normal for him to care about me. And he knows very well that in return, I will also be careful not to get carried away after this hat-trick, it’s very natural. It’s a great way to manage me, because it will be very difficult for me to maintain this pace of three goals per game for the rest of the season (smiles).

Tactically and technically, I’ve never played with such strong teammates. And as a striker, it’s so comfortable to have teammates capable of giving you the ball in the best conditions, whatever your position on the pitch! So I would say that I really have a very good feeling in this league.

Mika BierethOn his first impressions of Ligue 1

I know very well that if I miss a big match, everyone will be tempted to think that I am ultimately useless and that I am not worth as much as the club has invested in me. We know very well that football is made up of ups and downs, today I am rather at the top, but I will especially focus on being as consistent as possible in my performances.

What is your first impression about the level of Ligue 1?

It’s a very good league honestly, very different from what I experienced in Austria. The physical level of the players we face is really very high. Even tactically and technically, I’ve never played with such strong teammates. And as a striker, it’s so comfortable to have teammates capable of giving you the ball in the best conditions, whatever your position on the pitch! So I would say that I really have a very good feeling in this league.

You had a taste of it this season by facing Brest, before facing and scoring against Lille in the Champions League…

We had already played LOSC in the round of 16 of the Europa Conference League last season with Sturm Graz. We lost quite heavily at home (3-0), before drawing in the return leg at their place, and I scored, like this year in the Champions League where we deserved better in my opinion (a 3-2 defeat). In any case, I enjoyed playing against them and especially scoring!

Looking back a bit, what do you remember from your formative years at Fulham and Arsenal?

It’s hard to think of one moment in particular, but I think the second season with Fulham’s U18s was the best for me, scoring 21 goals in 21 games. It was definitely the beginning of what I can offer today, and it was really the first time I started to get good numbers and was so obsessed with scoring all the time. Then, signing for Arsenal was also a good memory. Having the opportunity to be on the bench for the first team on several occasions was great, even if the fact of never having had the chance to come in was a bit frustrating. But that’s part of football, and it still allows you to gain experience, and to be the player I am today.

At Monaco, you’ve reunited with Folarin Balogun. Do you remember that assist he gave you against the Chelsea U23s?

(He looks at the goal) It was a good pass, wasn’t it? Not bad. It reminds me of the second goal I scored against Auxerre, from Caio Henrique’s cross, it’s a bit of the same kind of action, even if the one with Arsenal is a bit prettier I think. Folarin is a bit older than me, and it was really nice to play with him. Especially when your teammate is able to find you in a difficult position. At the time he gave me a great pass and the finish wasn’t bad either (smiles)! In any case, I’ve seen Folarin quickly since my arrival, he’s recovering from his injury. I hadn’t seen him for 2-3 years, so we remembered some memories of London, it was nice.

After Arsenal, you went on three loan spells with varying outcomes. What did you take away from these experiences at Waalwijk, Motherwell and then Graz?

If I have to be honest, I hated my first loan in the Netherlands. It didn’t go well. It was my first experience abroad and a very challenging first taste of the professional world for me, because I didn’t really have the opportunity to show my qualities to the coach and the staff. At the beginning you think it’s easy and that anyone can do it, but when I was there I realised how difficult it was to make your mark. So I have to say that my second loan in Scotland allowed me to enjoy playing football again, to have fun with my teammates and to get as much playing time as possible.

We were at the end of our preseason with Sturm Graz, so we were really ready to face Monaco who were in full recovery. Despite that, we were able to see the difference between the two teams, with really good technical players on the Monaco side, even if it was one of the first friendly matches for them, there was this quality.

Mika BierethOn scoring in the preseason against AS Monaco

Then there was my last six-month loan to Sturm Graz, where I had the opportunity to score a few goals, after which I signed permanently and won the first titles of my career last season, with this cup and league double in Austria! I really enjoyed my time there, but I felt this summer that I had to move on to the next step. All good things must come to an end, and I think I needed to experience something even bigger, and today I am very happy to be here in Monaco!

In the meantime, you had the opportunity to face the Rouge et Blanc in pre-season. You even scored in that match…

It was a penalty, right? Yes, I remember it well. We were at the end of our preseason with Sturm Graz, so we were really ready to face Monaco who were in full recovery. Despite that, we were able to see the difference between the two teams, with really good technical players on the Monaco side, even if it was one of the first friendly matches for them, there was this quality.

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To talk a little more about your profile, you always say that you are an “old-school” striker. What are your inspirations in this same style?

I have already said in several interviews that I see myself as a “poor man’s Erling Haaland” (smiles). But if I go back a little further in my youth, I liked watching “old-school” strikers like Didier Drogba, who really had incredible athletic qualities and a sense of goal.

With 27 goals scored this season, you are close to the Top 10 of the best scorers of the Big 5. Is it a goal for you in the future, to be among the best scorers?

As a striker, my goal is always to score as many goals as possible! Now I am not yet able to compare myself to these players, and it is important on the contrary to continue on your own path and not pay attention to that. On the other hand, in my way of seeing things, I start each match with the desire to score, it is in my DNA! And at the end of the day, if I appear in this kind of list, so much the better.

*Statistiques avant son arrivée à l’AS Monaco le 11 janvier dernier

What are the areas in which you think you can improve?

(He smiles) That’s a difficult question, because progression in football is not something linear, on the contrary, in the life of a number 9 there are often ups and downs! So I just want to take the matches one after the other, continue my learning and my progression and see where it takes me.

One like Maghnes did against Rennes! I think it’s a good dream, right (laughs)? I would say that one. It was an incredible goal, really special, and I think I had the best view of the stadium to enjoy it, because he did it right next to my head (smiles)

Mika BierethOn his dream goal

What are your goals this season with AS Monaco?

For the moment, I just want to integrate well and gradually become an important member of this team. It’s never easy, once again, when you arrive from another country at 21, going from a more modest league to a Big 5 one, especially in a team that is fighting at the top of the table. I think I showed good things in the first matches, even if I realized the level of difficulty. So I want to start by integrating well.

What goal would you like to score in your wildest dreams?

One like Maghnes did against Rennes ! I think it’s a good dream, right (laughs)? I would say that one. It was an incredible goal, really special, and I think I had the best view of the stadium to enjoy it, because he did it right next to my head (smiles). A great goal!

Is it also a goal for you to play for the Danish national team?

It is true that I have been called up several times with the U21s, but I want to focus above all on performing well at club level with AS Monaco. And I think that by being good and decisive with the team, the selection will certainly come one day.

Thank you for your support since my arrival! You will be a great help to us on Friday with a full away end at the Parc des Princes for a great match against Paris Saint-Germain. We will give it our all!

Mika BierethHis messag to the Monégasque supporters

Thank you for your support since my arrival! You will be a great help to us on Friday with a full away end at the Parc des Princes for a great match against Paris Saint-Germain. We will give it our all! And we will also need you during the double-legged tie in the Champions League against Benfica. So I look forward to seeing you again by our side.