It is not a goal in itself for the Dane to find a so-called regular starting eleven. Form should always decide – and what benefit each individual player contributes to the collective at each individual occasion.
Some stand there on the pitch in national team match after national team match anyway. Isak Hien is one. There is no doubt about how highly Tomasson values the 25-year-old.
"Modern defender"
A modern defender. Look at him, he eats attackers for breakfast. I'm glad I'm not an attacker and play against him. The speed and strength he has, says the national team captain.
Hien, whose elite career took off late and the national team is an even later scene for him, looks slightly embarrassed as he sits next to the national team captain.
The question he gets is given. How is it, do you eat attackers for breakfast?
Lunch and dinner... says Hien and laughs.
Whereupon he continues:
I don't know what to say. I understand why he says so. I've got it as a hallmark of my game. I'm forward-thinking and like to go into duels.
Still, he has been self-critical a few times. Doesn't think he's gotten the best out of himself when it comes to the national team. But Tomasson seems satisfied and sees other qualities in the central defender from Atalanta.
I said earlier that we need more leaders. It's not just Victor Nilsson Lindelöf and Dejan Kulusevski. With more leaders in the team, we'll become stronger over time. It's about taking responsibility and Isak does that, says "JDT".
"Want to be a leader"
Hien likes that role and thinks he has what it takes.
It's fun to get that trust as a player. It always gives a lot. It feels like it was yesterday I was here for the first time. It's gone fast. I want to be a leader for this team and am ready for it.
On Monday evening, Estonia awaits in the Nations League in Tallinn. "JDT" is waiting for the final medical report on the players' physical status before he nails down the starting eleven.
But two names he lets slip: Isak Hien and goalkeeper Viktor Johansson.
The latter's mistake gave Slovakia the equalizer to 1–2 in Friday's 2–2 match. Johansson apologized to the team. Something he didn't have to do, according to Tomasson.
It says a lot about him and what the national team means to him. But he shouldn't be sad, we all make mistakes in football.
