70 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. IF Elfsborg lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” IF Elfsborg have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Rasmus Wikström was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thomas Isherwood was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Arbër Zeneli at his very best
The words a physio says slowly. 80 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
9 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what IF Elfsborg can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joel Asoro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at IF Elfsborg can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
The words a physio says slowly. 87 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
8 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at IF Elfsborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Elion Krosa has, at IF Elfsborg, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joel Asoro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Anton Larsson after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
95 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. IF Elfsborg lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
7 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Boardroom23 Aug 2027
IF Elfsborg close the window on a squad of their own making
13 in and 8 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at IF Elfsborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Djurgarden pay $760.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Words at IF Elfsborg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Thomas Isherwood is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
103 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. IF Elfsborg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
6 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
The offer from Orebro for Altti Hellemaa was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The deal with FC Copenhagen is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Joel Asoro falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Simon Hedlund was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
111 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. IF Elfsborg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what IF Elfsborg can pretend not to have heard.
Successful dribbles: 25. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
5 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: CSKA Moscow keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Axel Kouamé and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
In brief
SquadWords at IF Elfsborg training over how hard people work
118 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. IF Elfsborg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The offer from Djurgarden for Taylor Silverholt was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Avellino keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
126 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. IF Elfsborg lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. IF Elfsborg have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Add another name to the list: Djurgarden have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Taylor Silverholt. The answer from IF Elfsborg has not changed — yet.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at IF Elfsborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Successful dribbles: 21. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at IF Elfsborg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joel Asoro is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at IF Elfsborg can tell you which week it ends in.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Kalmar FF will make the call about Gottfrid Rapp this week. IF Elfsborg have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
133 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. IF Elfsborg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The phone has started ringing about Sebastian Holmén again, and this time the name on the line is Malmo FF. IF Elfsborg are listening politely and promising nothing.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Falkenberg have kept their man, and IF Elfsborg go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Thomas Isherwood and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The offer went to Kalmar FF this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at IF Elfsborg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joel Asoro is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Thomas Isherwood and IF Elfsborg agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Rasmus Wikström and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thomas Isherwood was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Dejan Berg is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Sebastian Svensson has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Ludwig Olsson is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Kristoffer Isak has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
At 36 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.03 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joel Asoro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Joel Asoro. 2‑0 against IFK Goteborg, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“I watch every IF Elfsborg game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Orebro runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
13 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at IF Elfsborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joel Asoro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A mark of 7.94, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout28 Jun 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Anton Larsson, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
Rasmus Wikström was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
He is 23 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thomas Isherwood was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at IF Elfsborg has been clear about where Markus Naglestad stands, which is more than many ever get.
12 without defeat on their own grass. The pitch has not changed; the crowd has — louder earlier, and quicker to sense when the opposition would rather be somewhere else.
Rasmus Wikström and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joel Asoro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Anton Larsson was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the IF Elfsborg dressing room was either.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Júlíus Magnússon's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
In brief
SquadThe division's best last weekend was a IF Elfsborg man
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joel Asoro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
8.00. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.51 at 36, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at IF Elfsborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thomas Isherwood was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. IF Elfsborg had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
Rasmus Wikström was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad24 May 2027
Words at IF Elfsborg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Arbër Zeneli is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Anton Larsson after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” IF Elfsborg have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joel Asoro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
The words a physio says slowly. 15 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.
0‑0 against Kalmar FF, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.
Player ratings10 May 2027
A brace, and Joel Asoro takes the afternoon — 9.10
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Joel Asoro provided it, and the 9.10 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
The words a physio says slowly. 23 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at IF Elfsborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joel Asoro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at IF Elfsborg can tell you which week it ends in.
0‑1 to Malmo FF, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout3 May 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Anton Larsson to a room that had heard them before.
32 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. IF Elfsborg lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Successful dribbles: 24. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Rasmus Wikström was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Joel Asoro falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at IF Elfsborg, and 2 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
40 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. IF Elfsborg lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Rasmus Wikström was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thomas Isherwood was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Júlíus Magnússon, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Anton Larsson was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the IF Elfsborg dressing room was either.
The words a physio says slowly. 48 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at IF Elfsborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
6 games unbeaten now. Some were earned and some were survived, but a habit is forming — and habits are the hardest thing in football to play against.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Words at IF Elfsborg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joel Asoro is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ludvig Richtnér and IF Elfsborg agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
55 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. IF Elfsborg lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 6 arrived, 5 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joel Asoro was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom5 Apr 2027
The ground is getting bigger
The plans are signed off at a capacity of 12605. Decisions like this are judged twenty years later, by people who were not in the room when they were taken.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Stefano Vecchia is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
63 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. IF Elfsborg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Rasmus Wikström and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
IF Elfsborg asked and Spartak Moscow said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every long career reaches the week the last one is thought about. He would like it to be where he started, and IF Elfsborg know now that the thought has arrived.
71 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. IF Elfsborg lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Rasmus Wikström was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
IFK Norrkoping pay $540.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad22 Mar 2027
Words at IF Elfsborg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joel Asoro is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Djurgarden paid $100.0K and IF Elfsborg took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at IF Elfsborg can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Spartak Moscow have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.
82 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. IF Elfsborg lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and IFK Norrkoping waiting with a shirt. Nobody at IF Elfsborg is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what IF Elfsborg can pretend not to have heard.
Isak Pettersson has gone, the accounts have $1.8M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
AIK paid $1.8M and IF Elfsborg took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Jonathan Edenvik and IF Elfsborg agree another 3 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at IF Elfsborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Add another name to the list: Malmo FF have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Dion Krasniqi. The answer from IF Elfsborg has not changed — yet.
Squad15 Mar 2027
Joel Asoro falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The words a physio says slowly. 90 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around IF Elfsborg people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The offer from Djurgarden for Per Frick was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Daniel Ljung was one of the reasons people came, and $1.1M does not replace that by itself.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Twente have kept their man, and IF Elfsborg go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
98 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. IF Elfsborg lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The phone has started ringing about Per Frick again, and this time the name on the line is Djurgarden. IF Elfsborg are listening politely and promising nothing.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Spartak Moscow is saying, and nobody at IF Elfsborg is enjoying the guessing.
Rasmus Wikström and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
IF Elfsborg offered $280.0K; AIK said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Kaya van Wanrooij has just signed for IF Elfsborg, and for once the answer mattered.
In brief
The terracesIF Elfsborg spend $5.5M on the signing the town wanted
SquadJoel Asoro falls out with a teammate over standards
107 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. IF Elfsborg lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around IF Elfsborg people have started saying his name in the past tense.
IF Elfsborg have gone to Apollon with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at IF Elfsborg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what IF Elfsborg can pretend not to have heard.
Rasmus Wikström was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. AIK have kept their man, and IF Elfsborg go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Bleon Kurtuluş was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
In brief
Transfer targetsA loan move for Pavel Meleshin is in the works
SquadIF Elfsborg are still strangers to each other
17 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. IF Elfsborg lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
IF Elfsborg had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at AIK, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at IF Elfsborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thomas Isherwood was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The words a physio says slowly. 25 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around IF Elfsborg people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Dealt with internally, which is the phrase a club uses when it would rather nobody asked twice. He will be fined, he will apologise, and he will play on Saturday.
The offer went to Malmo FF this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Taylor Silverholt was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Karl Kulusevski is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The words a physio says slowly. 32 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
16 seasons and 310 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.
Every paper's favourite story and every manager's least. What happened is being dealt with internally, which is the phrase clubs use when they would rather nobody asked again.
Rasmus Wikström and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
39 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. IF Elfsborg lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The offer from FC Augsburg for Theo Sander was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Rasmus Wikström was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Oliver Petersen signs something — a contract at IF Elfsborg or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at IF Elfsborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. IF Elfsborg will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say John Kitolano is on it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Simon Olsson signs something — a contract at IF Elfsborg or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Rasmus Wikström and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Thomas Isherwood was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Ludvig Richtnér has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at IF Elfsborg, and both men came out saying it was fine.
36 months left and silence from upstairs — no offer, no talks, nothing for his people to answer. Clubs that let a calendar do their negotiating usually end up negotiating with the calendar.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at IF Elfsborg. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Taylor Silverholt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at IF Elfsborg, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Oliver Petersen signs something — a contract at IF Elfsborg or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at IF Elfsborg. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
14 appearances at Odd and the goals have stopped going in. IF Elfsborg lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Arbër Zeneli
SquadArbër Zeneli is the talk of the training ground
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Axel Kouamé has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Taylor Silverholt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say John Kitolano is on it.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Simon Olsson signs something — a contract at IF Elfsborg or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and IF Elfsborg have no good answer.
In brief
SquadQuestions about Nils Roström on the training pitch
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Simon Hedlund
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around IF Elfsborg they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Rasmus Wikström and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Words at IF Elfsborg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Taylor Silverholt is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Arbër Zeneli has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Ari Sigurpálsson has written the date down.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and John Kitolano trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around IF Elfsborg they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Rasmus Wikström was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Oliver Petersen signs something — a contract at IF Elfsborg or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
14 appearances at Odd and the goals have stopped going in. IF Elfsborg lent out a goalkeeper and are watching somebody else’s season get better every week.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at IF Elfsborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad23 Nov 2026
Words at IF Elfsborg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simen Kvia-Egeskog is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Oliver Petersen trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Per Frick has written the date down.
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee IF Elfsborg could ask drops and the wages Isak Pettersson can ask rise.
The word out of the training ground is that he has been the sharpest man there all week. It is the quietest story a paper carries and it usually runs the week before somebody's run in the side begins.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Taylor Silverholt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Arbër Zeneli trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say John Kitolano is on it.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around IF Elfsborg they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at IF Elfsborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Words at IF Elfsborg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simen Kvia-Egeskog is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Filip Krafth has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Mattias Jansson is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at IF Elfsborg, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at IF Elfsborg. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around IF Elfsborg they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Mikael Marqués and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Niklas Hult is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. IF Elfsborg told Mikael Marqués something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Oliver Petersen signs something — a contract at IF Elfsborg or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at IF Elfsborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
11 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Something was said to Daniel Ljung and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The crowd waited for a goal that never came. Helsingborg defended in numbers and left with what they came for, and the two sides could be playing still without troubling a scorer.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Frederik Ihler has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Something was said to Simon Hedlund and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
11 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at IF Elfsborg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Lucas Hägg Johansson has agreed terms with Malmo FF for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sebastian Holmén and IF Elfsborg agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Rasmus Wikström and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Ludwig Claesson has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Successful dribbles: 43. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 10 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at IF Elfsborg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Rasmus Wikström was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Isak Pettersson is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
9 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at IF Elfsborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad28 Sep 2026
11 new faces, and IF Elfsborg are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
8 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Sebastian Holmén was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at IF Elfsborg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simen Kvia-Egeskog is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
7.51, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. IF Elfsborg had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Anton Larsson was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the IF Elfsborg dressing room was either.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
7 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Karl Augustinsson is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Taylor Silverholt was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Mikael Marqués was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at IF Elfsborg is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 6 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
Rasmus Wikström was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at IF Elfsborg training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Simen Kvia-Egeskog is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at IF Elfsborg, another week without a signature from Arbër Zeneli.
Successful dribbles: 15. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Squad7 Sep 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Theo Sander
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Theo Sander has come out of that comparison in the side, and IF Elfsborg have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
In brief
Player ratingsNobody on the pitch touched Simon Hedlund
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
5 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at IF Elfsborg can tell you which week it ends in.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Lucas Hägg Johansson reports back to IF Elfsborg with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at IF Elfsborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
11 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. IF Elfsborg have lost him in all but the paperwork.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
The offer from Hammarby for Isak Pettersson was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Empoli is saying, and nobody at IF Elfsborg is enjoying the guessing.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
5 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
This is not cover and nobody is pretending it is. $1.7M has been paid because Axel Kouamé is straightforwardly better than what was already here, and the club has decided to stop waiting.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 18 arrived, 3 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The phone has started ringing about Isak Pettersson again, and this time the name on the line is Hammarby. IF Elfsborg are listening politely and promising nothing.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Toluca is saying, and nobody at IF Elfsborg is enjoying the guessing.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Isak Pettersson has agreed terms with Malmo FF for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
The offer went to AIK this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. John Kitolano has just signed for IF Elfsborg, and for once the answer mattered.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Rasmus Wikström and IF Elfsborg agree another 3 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at IF Elfsborg this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Nothing happens for months and then he simply arrives, at no cost, having signed a pre-contract while still turning out for somebody else. It is the least dramatic way to sign a footballer and frequently the shrewdest.
IF Elfsborg asked and Djurgarden said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
16 seasons and 309 appearances, all of them here. Careers like this are not designed; they happen to a certain kind of man at a certain kind of club, and this town has one.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Stefano Vecchia has, at IF Elfsborg, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Sebastian Holmén and IF Elfsborg agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
IF Elfsborg have made the call to Viking. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.