Rosenborg FC 2024: A struggling giant in the midst of a identity crisis – scout report

The Norwegian Eliteserien is heading towards its halfway point of the 2024 season.

While newfound powerhouse Bodö/Glimt are again leading the league, former giants are struggling a lot this season and are currently headed toward the relegation battle.

After a disappointing 2023 and the loss of star player Carlo Holse to Samsunspor, Rosenborg BK opted for a new start with a young team and a new head coach in.

Johansson was coaching in the academy of FC Copenhagen last season and was taking over the third youngest squad in the Eliteserien, headlined by rising star Sverre Nypan.

After 14 games, however, the team stands in 14th place in the Eliteserien, conceding nearly two goals a game.

In this Alfred Johansson tactical analysis and Rosenborg BK scout report, we will provide an analysis of the young Rosenborg FC team and what problems Alfred Johanssons men are currently facing in the rough start to their season.

Formation and key players

Johansson has been sturdy with the way his team has been playing. If there wasn’t a huge need to change formations, he always used his 4-3-3 formation with a holding midfielder with Rosenborg BK. The squad is the third-youngest on average in the Eliteserien. There have been no major changes or shakeups during the season, most of the squad and the first XI remained the same during all of the games, only minor swaps have been made by the coaching staff.

There are four key players in the Rosenborg squad at the moment. The team is headlined by 17-year-old Sverre Nypan, a central midfielder with a great range of work and a lot of ball-playing talent. Nypan has been handed the threads in midfield and has been the most creative player amongst Johanssons men. Ole Selnæs went back to Norway after a long career and is now the captain and holding midfielder of the team, trying to keep the young team together with his experience. Jesper Reitan-Sunde has been a regular starter on the left wing at 18 years old and has provided the most assists for Rosenborg BK. His creativity and dribbling ability is critical for Rosenborg in the final third. Lastly, there is Ole Sæter, an experienced striker who comes off the bench most of the time but is still the goal-getter for the team, scoring seven this season so far.

High losses due to a lack of movement

A first massive concern for Rosenborg is their lack of movement in build-up play. Most of the time, the goalkeeper or the centre-backs can merely play the ball between themselves. There are pretty much no options to progress the ball into midfield, and the players in the backline are always tasked with finding solutions in situations where there are no really good options to take.

In multiple games, they have conceded goals because their goalkeeper or centre-back has lost the ball in front of the goal. While you could argue that it is simply a matter of the players lack of quality, which definitely also plays a part, the issue roots way deeper in Rosenborgs positional play.

Rosenborgs 4-3-3 is their base formation, but they also shape up like it in the build-up. Their full-backs are wide but not pushing up the field, while the centre-backs and goalkeeper form a back-three to play the ball out. The holding midfielder falls back a bit to give the defensive line another option to play a pass to, and their central midfielders push up the field.

A huge problem with that entire situation is the way the players, especially the fullbacks and the holding midfielder, try to receive the ball. While they try to at least be able to receive the ball in a half-open stance, most of the time, they have to track back to actually get the ball and are receiving the ball with their face towards their own goal. This leads to them not even being able to scan the field and assess their options; most of the time, they are forced into playing a first-time ball back towards their centre-backs.

These passes are an easy trigger for the opposing teams press. Most of the time, the centre-backs and the goalkeeper are under pressure instantly after receiving the ball. This leads to just more inaccurate passes and more pressure on the defenders in build-up play. This spirals into the players cracking under pressure and making easily avoidable mistakes in areas where you simply can’t afford to lose the ball.

In this example, the goalkeeper receives the ball and is attacked by the opposing striker. The striker manages to cut off the field, which results in even fewer options than in the beginning to play the ball out to. The goalkeeper is completely in over his head in this situation, can’t access the situation fast enough, and loses the ball, which results in an easy finish for the opposing striker.