Per Bohmann scored five points from Djurgarden-Elfsburg in Tele2 Arena.
1. A physical and mental experience of fire
A little break at the end of September. It’s Djurgarden’s only window to recovery through the rest of the season. Other than that: a really crazy schedule with matches every third or fourth for over two months.
A team like Malmö FF may shrug their shoulders when overwhelmed by a hectic European schedule, which is normal. For Djurgården, the situation is different because the federation and the team had never before been involved in something like this. Is there internal flexibility and stamina required for such a campaign?
Djurgården completed a successful qualification, but it was only a precursor to the physical and mental ordeal that awaited him in the fall.
2. Hjalmar Agdal is more important than Hin
Kim Bergstrand and Thomas Lagerlöf trust their players’ endurance. Eight out of 11 who started against APOEL in Cyprus.
No less than Hjalmar Ekdal. Not a huge surprise as the centre-back has started 31 of the 32 games (allsvenskan, cup, Europe) this season. Fellow refugee Isaac Hayne received the most headlines of the year. He has an even more eye-catching centre-back with his international physique and almost eerily high raw potential. But I always considered Ekdal the most important player. It was the fertile soil from which the Hien rose could grow. It was Ekdal who organized the defence, took on a greater responsibility to everyone, and I think is more decisive for Djurgården’s gold and European dreams than Heine was.
3. Djurgården is clearly better before the break
there approx Equally individual quality in Elfsborg as Djurgården. The wonderfully lean Alexander Bernhardsson can slalom his way like Gustav Wickheim, Niklas Hoult really has no worse left foot than Elias Anderson and Andre Romer has comparable strength to Rasmus Schuler.
Djurgården is clearly a bit smarter for a player, but above all he is much better slow.
Djurgården can handle all kinds of match photos and results in all sorts of different ways. Elfsborgs is still (also) based on the live diversion game. They tried to develop his possession of football in 2022 but didn’t get much ahead in that business while the defensive game was disrupted. are you calling
The home team liked to stay low in periods. There was never a stupid tactic with Wikheim, Asoro and Edvardsen up front, especially since it simultaneously frustrated Elfsborg’s chances of counterplaying. Djurgården is also comfortable building longer attacks, and can bet on posts or just make sure to create dangerous combinations. One-cornered embossing. The description came from a logical direction.
4. Wendel became decisive at Olvestad
Transformation. This is how you would describe Hampus Finndell’s transformation in the past two seasons. For the first time on a regular basis at Djurgården he focused on not being destroyed. Meaning he would rather take the easy and safe choice than risk anything. Wendel would dribble the ball, pass it from one edge to the other, try some dives and run like an idiot to keep the midfield balanced.
With Magnus Eriksson, Schüller and Finndell, Djurgården initially lacked the x factor often contributed by Fredrik Olvestad. Thus, the ability as a midfielder several times in each match to be able to carry out maximum bombing in the penalty area to provide support to the attacking players in terms of posts and plays. Near the end of last season, and throughout 2022, Vendel was that player. It takes a certain mindset to always be able to fill the box, even if it takes ten ungrateful runs before the ball ends up in front of you in the correct position. Against Elfsburg, Vendel scored 2-0 in Elias Anderson’s response (sharp, again!).
5. It cannot be ruled out that Djurgården can handle both Europe and the gold rush
Elfsborg gave it an honest try after the break. Jimmy Thelin has annoyingly got a bit of a high-caliber Allsvenskan this season, but it looks like the guys are at least fighting for their coach. The mass resignation and distrust seen in players at Norrköping (under Norling) or AIK (under Grzelak) has yet to be discerned at Elfsburg. This factor, and all the long-standing prestige that Stefan Anderson has invested in Thelin Project, indicates that the coach is still relatively safe despite the poor results.
Jacob Ondrijka whipped up a free kick worthy of his talent. In the end, Elfsborg was just Maldini’s work from Marcus Danielsson’s Sveinn Gudjohnsen free kick.
I wouldn’t say Djurgaarden got to his knees, but it was definitely a tired home team that tried to save their goal in the last half hour. Bergstrand and Lagerlöf benefited from their substitutions but the team became disorganized and Djurgården lost his structure in a way you rarely see.
But they fought hard for each other, stopped and got the points they needed. Now Djurgården will only do that 20+6 times this season. It will take historic performances (for Djurgården) if they are to win the gold medal and at the same time advance to the group stage of the Premier League in the fall. But nothing can be left out when it comes to the Djurgården collective.