Football Season Guide

Eliteserien
Norway
Eliteserien
2019
Vålerenga
Clean filter

Vålerenga

In


Herolind Shala (mid) - Start, Mohammed Abu (mid) - Columbus Crew, Efraín Juárez (def) - Vancouver Whitecaps, Deyver Vega (mid) - Brann, Johan Björdal (def) - Zulte Waregem, Matthías Vilhjálmsson (att) - Rosenborg,

Out


Kristoffer Hay (def) - Aalesund, Daniel Fredheim Holm (mid) - KFUM, Abdisalam Ibrahim (mid) - Pafos FC, Felipe Carvalho (def) - Nacional (loan), Simen Jukleröd (mid) - Royal Antwerp, Sam Johnson (att) - Real Salt Lake, Marcus Sandberg (gk) - Stabaek, Samúel Fridjónsson (mid) - Viking, João Meira (def) - released, Enar Jaager (def) - released

Could Valerenga finally be on the way right track? It's taken Ronny Deila two seasons, but there was definitely signs of progress last year as the Oslo side finished in a very respectable sixth place. They were still struggling with inconsistency, but considering that they were looking likely to finish in the bottom half again they did ever so well to turn things around and make sure that they bettered what was a disappointing 2017 campaign. One thing Deila did well last season was curb expectations. When he took over from Kjetil Rekdal, Deila promised too much too soon and that was one of the reasons the 2017 season seemed so very flat. Last year it was just a case of getting better, and they managed that. There haven't been many marquee signings, the club simply can't afford excess still after years of mismanagement, but Johan Laedre Bjordal and Mathias Vilhjalmsson are two players with Eliteserien pedigree that will surely walk into the starting eleven if fit. Bard Finne and Deyver Vega should also provide the creativity needed up front.

Target


Valerenga will look to better what they achieved last season, and gradually get closer and closer to the top three. But they are still worlds apart in terms of finances when competing again Molde and Rosenborg. Deila will need to motivate his side to make these difference appear as minimal as possible, because stature wise there aren't many bigger clubs in the division. If they can manage to be the leaders of the chasing pack and break into the top five this season, it would surely be a sign of further progress. Prediction: 7th