Football Season Guide

Aalesund never looked too confident or assured in themselves last season but a good start gave them enough of a cushion and they withstood some poor results towards the end and stayed up without too many problems. It was an important achievement for the newcomers as they desperately sought consolidation in the Eliteserien and will now look to build on that and become a less of a yo-yo club. Lars Arne Nielsen has been dealt a rough hand in the off-season however as his squad certainly looks weaker than it was in 2022 after a raft of important departures. Up to seven regular starters from last season, among them Simen Bolkan Nordli, Besim Serbicic and Petar Golubovic, have all been allowed to move on to new clubs and it leaves the Tangerines with quite a limited squad ahead of the start of the new campaign. The defence looks most affected by the loss of squad quality and, while a good defender like Ole Martin Kolskogen has been signed, it is not quite enough to provide adequate depth. Midfield also looks very much weaker after the likes of Nenas, Frederik Haugen and Dario Canadija all left. Amidou Diop is still a decent player at this level but his best years are behind him and Kasper Lunding is hardly an addition to set the pulses racing. Thus, Arne Nielsen will have to be creative and squeeze as much as he can from this squad for them to steer well clear of the bottom places. They may have enough at the end but it promises to be quite a challenging season for a team that just looks shallow right now.