Football Season Guide

Tromsø enjoyed a brilliant renaissance in the second half of last season and emerged as one of the stories of the season, eventually coasting to safety with a few games left after being down at the bottom at the midway point. The inspirational Simo Valakari has proven to be a huge hit since taking over as a manager midway last season, changing the formation to three at the back and instilling genuine belief in the squad that they will get good results. The Finn is now facing a serious challenge living up to the standard that he set last season and even more so after seeing the nucleus of his squad ripped apart during the close season. Defender Ulrik Yttegard Jenssen is certainly the biggest loss as he developed into a leader in the back three but will be now heading to Denmark. Mikael Ingebrigtsen is another sizeable loss as he joined IFK Göteborg while striker Thomas Lehne Olsen joined leaguer rivals Lillestrøm. These departures leave the squad somewhat short of quality, even if TIL signed an experienced player like Tom Høgli, and he will bring lots of nous and experience at the back. Yet there have been no other additions as of yet and it is clear that Valakari needs more players to ensure that the team stays relatively safe from trouble at the bottom end of the table. On the other hand, getting Gjermund Åsen to sign a new deal, when he looked set to leave on a free transfer, is a great boost for the club and Mushaga Bakenga is set to become even more influential up from after his summer move last season from Rosenborg. Overall, Tromsø have the basis of a pretty good and solid squad, and clearly a very capable manager, but it will be a big test for them if they have injury crisis at some point, as they need more depth. Tromsø earned a 4:0 friendly win over league rivals Vålerenga and drew 2:2 with Russian outfit Rostov.