Football Season Guide

Vålerenga had a pretty good campaign overall and remained in the race for Europe until a poor run of six games without a win at the end denied them the chance to finish in the top four. Dag-Eliev Fagermo managed to form a pretty strong and effective side that at times looked irresistible, getting eight wins in nine games midway through the season, while players like Magus Sjoeng in goal and winger Jacob Eng had real breakthrough campaigns. Now the aim for the capital club is to start making more gains in the upper strands of the table and become consistent enough to really challenge the likes of Molde and Bodø/Glimt, who have monopolised the top two spots in recent years. It is a lofty target and one that Vålerenga may struggle to reach this season as the squad actually looks a bit thinner on the ground and with fewer players guaranteed to really make impact. The loss of Osame Sahraoui to Heerenveen is a major blow to the team's ability to break tight defences while Tobias Christensen and Amor Layouni were important parts of the team and will be hard to replace too. The main additions so far have been players from struggling sides lower down the table in Daniel Hakans, Jacob Storevik and Mohamed Ofkir, none of whom really look like certain starters in the line-up. Henrik Heggheim, who made his name at Viking a couple of years ago and joins from Brøndby, looks like the best signing of the off-season and has the qualities to fill the gap left by the depart of Brynjar Bjarnason and the retirement of Jonathan Tolas Nation. But this team still looks like it needs a couple more singings like him and with little time left before the start of the season, there is not really much reason to expect Vålerenga to better their finish from last year.