Half Time in Sweden.....well almost.

[david in sweden]

the traditional summer break in the Swedish season has come much earlier this year (because of the Euros) and teams are in for a long rest, whilst everyone prepares themselves for Sweden's participation in a tough group with Belgium, Italy and Ireland and many think they will do well to get past the group stage.

 

Meanwhile, the early break sees Malmö back at the top of Allsvenskan and showing their CL form after a shaky start to the season.

 

Last year's surprise champions Norrköping are in 2nd place, and Örebro 3rd. Mid table is a whole group of inconsistant performers, but the real shock for Stockholmers is seeing Hammarby 3rd from bottom in a relegation play-off place. Hammarby have fan-tastic supporters who could fill a ground the size of SMS on big matchdays, but the team has performed very poorly, which is depressing for a club who traditionally are famed for their fast, exciting football.

More than a few people have noted that their poor defensive displays have coincided with the long absence of Jos Hooiveld.

 

The bottom two teams (Gefle and Falkenberg) are predictably at a low ebb.....and after 12 games.... have only 4 and 5 points respectively.

 

We have to wait for 10th July to see a re-start of League games, although few Swedes will be sad about that, as we have had a great start to the normally short Swedish summer and have already seen temps up around 30 deg. C

 

The real interest will be to see if the top teams can retain their advantage after a month off, and if the poor starters can find some real form in July.

Edited 9 June, 2016 by david in sweden