Elfsborg

It was a heartbreaking end to the season for Elfsborg in 2023. They would have won the title with a win in the last round but the pressure proved too much and the points dropped meant that the Elves had to settle for second place, beaten only on goal difference by Malmo. Despite this major setback the season was much better than anyone expected. Still, with Elfsborg spending 9 of the last 15 rounds in first place missing out on the title was a heavy blow. Coach Thelin is the longest-serving manager in Allsvenskan, he will start his sixth consecutive season in charge of Elfsborg this year. Thelin is used to the owners selling important players in the winter and the same happened this off-season. Star wingers Okkels and Bernhardsson left, Ondrejka was already sold last summer. Also, the two main goalkeepers from 2023 departed. Two new solid goalkeepers were signed, Pettersson is expected to be the new number one, but the huge gap left on both wings hasn’t been addressed. Right now the only typical wingers in the squad are 4 players from the Academy, the oldest of them is 21. Considering that the threat from the flanks was the team’s main weapon last season this sudden lack of quality in those areas is concerning. It’s also worth noting the departure of the supersub Gudjohnsen. The striker scored some vital late goals that brought several wins last term and he will be missed despite his limited number of starts. Elfsborg still have a very good group of defenders and they should continue to be tough to score against. The hope is that summer signings Thomasen and Hedlund will play vital roles, but neither impressed much in the back end of 2023. Baldursson was solid last autumn and he will be used often in the early parts of the new season. However, his loan stay expires in July. Krasniqi was signed as a replacement for Gudjohnsen but he is a downgrade according to most pundits as he struggled to have much of an impact at Allsvenskan level last season. This is a concern as the main striker Frick is known for his fragile health, he had 3 different injury issues just last season, and asking him to stay fit for an entire campaign is a bit too optimistic.