Football Season Guide

KFUM Oslo were once again one of these unpleasant to play teams that punched above their weight last year and the smallest club by far in the division managed to secure another season of top-flight football by a fairly comfortable margin by the start of the autumn. That said, they were tough to watch for their fans as well as the complete lack of firepower once Johannes Nunez was sold to Fredrikstad in the summer became all too apparent. The midfield was industrious but never much more than that and the heavy loading was done mostly by the three-man defensive unit that kept the team in games they had no right to be in. The challenge is again the same for Joahnnes Moesgaard and his coaching staff as they basically need to defy the hand that they are dealt in and manage to conjure up enough good results against more resourceful and deep sides to get the sort of points that give them a cushion and keep them clear of the bottom places. The worry for the coach is that a couple of cornerstone players in Mattias Tønnesen and Sverre Sandal have been sold and it will be hard for these holes to be filled right away with comparable players. Yet they did make some eye-catching signings too and none so than Magnus Wolff Eikrem, the Molde legend who is still a very strong and capable player for the Eliteseirien despite being 35 years old. The main question about him is for how many games he will be fit but when he plays, KFIUM will be a lot more coherent and confident on the ball. Yet, the main gap in the squad - the lack of a reelable striker - has not really been addressed and there is not much before the start of the season to do so. Bjorn Kristiansen is expected to thus lead the line but he did really did not convince last year - getting 2 goals and 1 assist last season in 26 appearances. New signing Magnus Grødem could be a good replacement up front but he is generally a midfielder and it is not clear whether he can be a clear number 9. Overall, KFUM do look in peril at the moment as their squad looks bare and not really adequate at the moment in some key area. Moesgaard has made a career out of defying expectations and punching above the weight but this time the task of keeping this team up may be even beyond him.