Euro 2012 Expert View: Denmark by Martin Laursen

The expectation

There's a lot of optimistic talk at the moment. Everybody knows it will be very tough in a group that includes Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal but there is optimism both among the players and the people at home. Two years ago at the World Cup we had a lot of injuries. Not just to our squad players but to the best ones, and that's not the case this time. The team has looked good.

A manager we trust

In Morten Olsen we have had the same manager for 12 years now and he's done well with the players he has available. I certainly enjoyed working for him during my time in the national team. I think there were a few years when his relationship with the media in Denmark was not so good, but we qualified for the World Cup two years ago and then played really well in the qualifiers for this campaign so that has changed. He is well respected, definitely. I think everyone can see that he has achieved really good things with the players available to him - we don't have a deep pool of top players like in England, Spain or Italy. Maybe in England you wanted more after a manager like Sven Goran Eriksson had been in charge for several years, but we have respected his achievements and support him to go on.

Everybody is talking about . .

Nicklas Bendtner. He's the best attacking player we have, and the only player we have got who has real top international class. Others are ok players, but not in the same class. Everybody has been following what has happened to him at Sunderland, and wondering about his future at Arsenal. It is really important he is fit and in top form.

The other key players

Liverpool's Daniel Agger, I would say, is really important. If Christian Poulsen is not playing then Agger is our captain and the best defender. It will be also be important that Thomas Sorensen plays well in goal. There are high hopes too for Christian Eriksen, a young player from Ajax. I know there are Premier League clubs talking about him and a good tournament would attract a lot of interest.

The strengths and weaknesses?

For Denmark it is all about the team. Morten Olsen is a very good coach in the way he is very organised and knows everything about the other teams. He gives the players a lot of information about the opposition players and how to play them. All the players in the Danish team will know exactly what to do, he's very thorough with his tactics and spends a lot of time on the training pitch. He also holds a lot of meetings where you talk about our team and also the opposition. The weakness is that if we get injuries, we won't have other players sitting on the bench who can step in and play to a similar standard. That cannot happen.

The tournament bet

A good result would be to win one game and draw the other two, which should be enough to qualify, but to be honest 6.25/1 to qualify is not a good bet in terms of value. It should be much longer odds. But at the same time I think you could lay the 1.68/13 for Denmark to finish rock bottom. It's a real tough group, but the chance we have is that the big players from the Netherlands, Germany and Portugal are tired after a long and difficult season. That would be our hope. If they're not completely focussed against Denmark, then perhaps we can make a surprise.

Former Aston Villa defender Martin Laursen played 53 times for Denmark, including all four of their matches in Euro 2004. Since retiring with a knee injury he's worked for Danish media and is now taking his coaching badges as part of the staff at Sollerod-Vedbaek.