Rosengård Women has been one of the most iconic Swedish teams since 1970. They have won the Damallsvenskan thirteen times to date, with their first league title in 1986 and their last in the 2022 season.

Although the team’s results were poor in 2023, when they finished the season in seventh place, Rosengård was finally able to maintain a long winning streak during the first part of this season with 10 convincing wins so far. This winning streak put them at the top of the league so far, seven points ahead of second place BK Häcken.

It’s also fair to say that Rosengård’s European participation in the UEFA Women’s Champions League has been long enough. No one can deny that Rosengård has traditions in this competition, with 13 entries so far. The biggest achievement was reaching the semi-finals in the 2003-2004 edition. Rosengård also reached the quarter-finals in 2011/12, 2012/13, 2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17 against Barcelona and finally in 2020/21 against Bayern Munich.

That said, Rosengård repeatedly failed to qualify from the group stage and managed to reach the Round of 16 on other occasions, with the most notable Round of 16 played coming in 2017/18 against Chelsea.

This tactical analysis will therefore examine what has changed in terms of tactics from last season to the current one under Joel Kjetselberg and how Rosengård has improved their performance compared to last season, and what makes the difference for Rosengård this season. The analysis will also aim to identify the team’s mistakes during this season and what they need to avoid to finish the season at the top of the Damallsvenskan.

Improvements in construction and key fit

Last season, Rosengård’s build-up was very slow and lacked creative and direct vertical passing. This made it more complicated for them to reach the opponent’s penalty area so many times per match, resulting in fewer goals scored per season.

Loaning a midfielder like Momoko Tanikawa from Bayern Munich has helped Rosengård a lot from this perspective this season, as the Japanese player has added a lot of dynamism to Rosengård’s midfield. With her excellent ball carrying and acceleration, in addition to her accurate passing, she has contributed extensively to the team’s goals so far, and this example shows one of her most recent contributions.

Tanikawa had the ball in midfield and was able to get past two opponents thanks to an important vertical pass between them before continuing her run and playing several one-two combinations to reach the penalty area and score after the goalkeeper’s save against Olivia Holdt’s shot.

In addition to improving their passing skills and speeding up their build-up, Rosengård worked a lot on crosses from the wings and early crosses to make them more dangerous and score more goals with this solution. This means that head coach Joel Kjetselberg has been working a lot with the players on headers and how to avoid markings and move without the ball in the penalty area, giving you more opportunities to touch the ball in front of the defenders.

This example shows one of the successful actions where Rosengård was able to convert a cross into a goal thanks to the goalscorer’s great movement without the ball and her ability to jump higher than her opponent with a decisive and powerful header.

High pressure, improved finishing and varied attack plans

One thing we noticed in Rosengård’s attacking phase is the variety the team is showing in their goal runs this season. With players like Olivia Holdt becoming very crucial and useful in the team’s attacking three, we saw the team playing with less pressure up front and dealing with complicated situations with ease and great decision-making.

Rosengård’s high pressing has been executed with great intelligence this season, as the players’ movements are calculated in such a way that forces the opponent to fall into the trap of thinking that Rosengård’s players will not be able to intercept the pass. Yet the gaps left by Rosengård’s players when applying the high pressure are left on purpose to trick the opponent into thinking the pass is possible. At that moment, Rosengård’s worried players automatically attacked the passing path and intercepted the ball while launching a dangerous counter-attack.

This kind of pressing was fruitful for Rosengård on numerous occasions and helped them find a solution when faced with tough defense. This example shows one of the times Holdt was able to trick the goalkeeper into thinking it would be okay to pass the ball to the player in the middle. She waited until the goalkeeper was about to pass him and automatically went to intercept the ball successfully and score a goal.

In addition, it is important to note that the team played with much more confidence than last season, as the first victories allowed them to work with less tension and therefore show their capabilities in a comprehensive way. This led to greater chemistry between the players, especially in the final third, as Mai Kadowaki, Sofie Bredgaard and Holdt developed much more understanding of each other’s styles. Furthermore, the contribution of Tanikawa and veteran Caroline Seger in midfield should not be underestimated, as both players bring a lot of added value to this team, especially in the area of ​​passing.

This goal example highlights the team’s confidence in their abilities, as both the assist and goal were executed with remarkable coolness, despite the complexity of both actions. The pass was provided to the outside part of Olivia Schough’s foot after a simple ball control without overcomplicating things. And then Holdt was able to successfully finish the move with a single touch, shooting the ball between the goalkeeper’s legs.

Defensive weaknesses and possible improvements

Despite all the improvements taking place in the attacking phase and the fact that Rosengård has gotten back on track and is leading the Damallsvenskan, a lot of work is still needed from a defensive perspective to consolidate their lead in the league and, more importantly, to maintain their consolidate its lead in the competition. can seriously challenge the top teams in the UWCL next season.

To do that, Rosengård must avoid many collective and individual mistakes in defense and work to eliminate them. The team is actually conceding more than 10 shots per game and is failing to reduce this number in the league. It is essential to keep in mind that things in the UWCL can be much more dangerous in order to improve the team’s actual defensive performance.

Knowing that Rosengård played in the UWCL this season and finished in fourth place in the group stage with disappointing results and heavy losses against Barcelona and Eintracht Frankfurt, there were many defensive problems during these matches as Rosengård conceded many goals that were avoided.

The next goal conceded against Eintracht Frankfurt highlights the team’s midfield problems in protecting the ball and continuing the build-up from the middle. It would be much safer to opt for the flanks when opponents are pressing in the middle. Midfielders must avoid getting into complicated situations and try to get past two or more opponents, knowing that losing the ball in that area can lead to devastating counter-attacks.

Moreover, this action showed that the goalkeeper must be much more concentrated and must know when to stay on the goal line and when to go outside to make critical interventions. We say this because the Eintracht Frankfurt players were able to take advantage of the fact that the goalkeeper had moved up to opt for a lob shot and score it.

Leaving gaps in the defense during crosses or set pieces is also an aspect that requires much more attention from Joel Kjetselberg. Things often get out of hand on the defensive line, especially when facing opponents with fast attacking players. The next move against Barcelona highlights Salma Paralluelo’s poor performance. She stayed clear of markings between two defenders and was able to score. In such actions it is necessary to apply tight marking to all players in the penalty area.

Working on making far fewer individual mistakes in defense can also help Rosengård a lot, especially when it comes to mistakes that automatically lead to goals. This example shows how an individual mistake in defense can destroy an entire match and make things easier for the opponent. Rosengård had the opportunity to challenge Barcelona as they were the hosts in this match and had the opportunity to perform at their best and try to get a positive result. However, a single individual mistake killed Rosengård’s ambitions and paved the way for Barcelona to win the match, knowing that the mistake was a clearing attempt from a cross from the right wing, which ultimately resulted in an own goal.

Conclusion

Rosengård must build on their excellent form in the league and maintain what is going well, while improving what requires a lot of work, especially in the defensive phase. Learning from their UWCL failure this season could also help them come back stronger in the UWCL next season, especially if they manage to win the Damallsvenskan title this season to have the confidence and chemistry needed to to compete against the European giants.

Furthermore, consolidating the squad with a few talents and perhaps some experienced players on defense could make things even better for Rosengård next season in the UWCL.