An Allsvenskan year with audience success comes to an end on Sunday.
There is a chance that the audience average for the first time since the series got 16 teams lands above 10,000 spectators per game.
An Allsvenskan year with a lot of audience problems also comes to an end.
Before and during the season, I have compared the Allsvenskan to a lesson without a teacher. Supporter power has increased and it was fully expected that the problems would too.
Ahead of the hottest and fiercest Men’s Allsvenskan final since 2009, it is not a lesson without a teacher ahead of us. For the first time in 14 years, two teams that can both win gold meet in the final round.
The pumped-up match is felt therefore like a parent-free teenage party in a villa.
It can be an afternoon, evening and night that those who were there talk about and want to remember for years.
Or it gets like the parties that get completely derailed, uninvited guests show up, the police have to shut down the event and everyone just wants to forget they were there.
There will be interruptions for pyrotechnics. There are going to be plane storms. But how far it will go – do you even want to know?
Before the season, the goal was a top 3 finish. That’s just ridiculous.
And how does the match go? Absolutely no idea. But as much as I fear the end, I long for the beginning.
It’s not just Malmö against Elfsborg. It’s Malmö against the rest of Sweden.
It is a starting position MFF should love. If MFF is still MFF. But there is one thing that does not match the starting situation and how Malmö FF should be.
Malmö FF overcomes disadvantage. Elfsborg are three points ahead.
With the economy Malmö FF has, the club should not be out of a disadvantage in Sweden. MFF will run like an FC Bayern München in the Bundesliga, the club has eleven consecutive German league titles there.
Malmö’s two consecutive Champions League seasons in the mid-2010s put the club on a completely different financial level than other Swedish associations.
If Malmö FF does not win the Allsvenskan In 2023, despite the capital, the club only has two SM golds in six years. It’s too bad. Before the season, the goal was a top 3 finish. That’s just ridiculous.
But it reflects the identity change that has taken place. In a club where everything before was only about the gold going home and preferably never leaving Malmö, it seems that how you win has become more important than that you win.
Malmö has had the ball the most in this year’s Allsvenskan. Elfsborg has been the best – so far.
When Malmö and Elfsborg meet, it’s a nice clash of cultures. It is processes towards efficiency. It’s possession versus turnovers.
I once had a t-shirt with Bob Paisley’s face on it. Underneath was the quote where the Liverpool legends summed up the value of passing.
It’s not about long balls, not about short balls, it’s about the right balls.
It’s the same with ball possession.
It’s not about one team having the ball 40, 50 or 60 percent. It’s about what you do with the ball when you have it.
Malmö has had the ball the most in this year’s Allsvenskan.
Elfsborg has been the best – so far.
Malmö’s coach Henrik Rydström during one of the last training sessions before the gold match. Photo: Christian Örnberg/Bildbyrån
When Malmö, with the loss against Häcken, looked like throwing away the golden chance, coach Henrik Rydström spoke at halftime that they had done very well.
That’s what it often sounds like from Malmö’s players and leaders. There is often a lot that is good. There are exciting processes in the game. There are attention-grabbing relationships on the field.
With Rydström as coach, the club has acquired a defense in case of lack of success. So much was about other than scoring more goals than the opponent during 90 minutes. But all that about good play, processes and relationships on the pitch will be nothing but mush if the gold is not forthcoming.
And Malmö has been anything but the best in the matches that mattered most.
In the five games against the other top-four teams, Malmö has only taken two of a possible 15 points. Elfsborg has taken seven.
Nevertheless, it is a huge mental advantage for Malmö FF ahead of Sunday. The team would not get this second chance after the loss against Häcken.
Club icon Anders Svensson saw his Elfsborg after the last match. Photo: Ludvig Thunman/Bildbyrån
For Elfsborg, the match will be proof because if the team managed to forget and move on. 2-2 against Degerfors was a missed golden opportunity that swept away the legs of every single goalie.
And afterwards, club icon Anders Svensson came up with an opinion piece in Expressen:
– It was deplorable. There is a quote that says real winners don’t wait for the opportunity, they go out and create it. If Malmö had been in the same position, it would have been decided at halftime.
In any case, an old classic MFF team.
This is something else. It should still be a gold team.
Finally: Here is my allsvenskan eleven for 2023 with players who have played in at least 15 matches:
Goalkeeper: Hakon Valdimarsson, Elfsborg.
Backline: Johan Larsson, Elfsborg, Derek Cornelius, Malmö FF, Gustaf Lagerbielke, Elfsborg, Niklas Hult, Elfsborg.
Midfield: Sergio Peña, Malmö FF, Samuel Gustafson, Häcken, Anton Saletros, AIK.
Forwards: Sebastian Nanasi, Malmö FF, Gustav Engvall, Värnamo, Jusef Erabi, Hammarby.
Coach: Kim Hellberg, Värnamo.
2023-11-12 04:54:00
#Johan #Esk #Golden #Match #feels #parentfree #party
