Football Season Guide

Halfway through last season Kalmar looked doomed, but an unexpected resurgence in late summer and early autumn saved the team from relegation, without really convincing that Kalmar have long-term future in the top flight. During the winter months coach Bergstrand expectedly parted ways with several regulars and with very limited resources he had no choice but to improvise when looking for ways to strengthen the squad. From the five new singings he made only the Brazilians Hiago and Nixon are expected to see regular first team football, with the former an explosive left winger that arrives also with the reputation of a set piece specialist and Nixon a typical centre forward. Despite the lack of quality signings Kalmar have a solid group of 12-13 first team players and if the starters avoid injury problems Bergstrand should have strong squad with which to compete against the drop. Viktor Elm spent the second half of last season playing in the heart of the defence, he was known prior to that as a holding midfielder, and after doing so well he is now seen as the key figure in the back four of Kalmar. Singh’s winter departure and the long-term injury of Rasmus Elm open a hole in the heart of the midfield though. Still the latter should be back at some point this season, plus the young Hallberg brothers can be decent covers as they already showed last autumn. Kalmar will need to be inventive in their forward actions as the squad doesn’t have too many quick players, even the full-backs are not fast enough to seriously utilise the overlap weapon on regular basis, but the average height of the team is impressive and the set pieces will be a major thing for Kalmar in terms of creating chances.