It took 45 minutes. Hammarby players were still in pre-season when referee blew the whistle to start the match. Ljungskile had the best opportunities in the first half, not so much from their skill as Hammarby's lack of commitment. Claudio Dadomo was invisible. Erkan Zengin tried, but got nowhere. Petter Andersson and Chanko was all the way down in the Defense to gather balls. Paulinho Guará and Charlie Davies looked like two Bambi's in the offense.
It was obvious that Hammarby coach Tony Gustavsson had a word or two for his players in halftime, because the second half was much better than the first. Offensive midfielder Petter Andersson woke up from his hibernation, and played excellently in the second half. Dividing balls, trying breakthroughs and playing physically. We need to see more like that, Petter! Charlie Davies picked up his performance in the second half, and was able to disturb a Ljungskile defender enough that he managed to head the ball into his own goal. 1-0 to Hammarby, and the more than 1000 Hammarby supporters went totally mad! Great joy.
In truth, the whole second half was dominated by Hammarby, Ljungskile had a couple of opportunities but never managed to break through. In the end, Hammarby should have probably made a second and perhaps a third goal, but a premiere is always a premiere. The most important thing is to win the matches early in the season, and this is exactly what Hammarby did today.
A word or to has to be spoken about the Hammarby supporters on location. More than a thousand supporters had traveled the 450 kilometers to Ljungskile. Before the match we all gathered in a small hotel close to the arena, the only place open that served alcohol in Ljungskile.
Lot's of fun, lot's of people!
Hammarby lineup:
--------------------------Shaaban----------------------
-Johansson--Traoré---Sleyman--Saarenpää-
---------------------------Chanko----------------------
-Zengin-------------Andersson--------Dadomo-
---------------Paulinho----------Davies-------------
Subs:
Söderberg for Davies
Castro-Tello for Zengin
Laitinen for Dadomo
RBA Points:
3 points: Petter Andersson
2 points: Louay Chanko
1 point: Klebeer Saarenpää
Monday 31 March 2008
Friday 28 March 2008
Countdown; 3 days left. Breakdown; Defenders
Last year, the defense was supposed to be Hammarby's weak part. But after the first couple of matches, it was clear that Hammarby's defense was still strong. But throughout the season, even though the defense was doing alright, in many matches we saw a lot of individual mistakes that lead to goals for our opponents.
In 2008, there hasn't been any changes in the squad on the defensive side, although Uruguayan Claudio Dadomo has the capacity to play left wing back if needs be.
If everyone's healthy and sound, here's how the Defense will look like this year (from left):
-David Johansson-Christian Traoré-Suleyman Sleyman-Emil Johansson-
David Johansson came from Hammarby TFF in 2004, and immediately put in a strong performance. Since then, he's ever been a stability in the defense. As a wing back, nowadays you are supposed to be offensive too, when your team attacks. This is David Johansson's strongest ability, with at times perfectly astonishing breakthroughs, while his defensive play mixes brilliant efforts with individual mistakes. Need to raise his standards and erase mistakes.
Christian Traoré - originally from FC Copenhagen but recently came to Hammarby from FC Midtjylland (DEN), is the central defender in Hammarby that probably have the highest individual skills. His defensive game is always impressive, but some matches he can become almost entirely anonymous. His capacity is great, but he needs to take more initiatives.
Suleyman Sleyman - captain of the team after Mikkel Jensen's bad injuries, is the most physical player of all in Hammarby. As the classical car sticker in the 1980's said, Sleyman "Brake for Nobody". What he lacks in technique he makes up in good positioning and physical attributes. Sleyman is very popular among the supporters, but in some matches his capacities does not match his opponents, especially if the opponents are exceptionally fast.
Emil Johansson - the youngest player in the Defense, his future potential is enormous. Having been injured a little bit too often, his greatest abilities are in his speed and technique. As opposite to Sleyman, truth to tell Emil Johansson is not a large player. But size isn't everything, some say, and Emil's speed and technique have impressed on me in some matches. He must stay healthy, if Emil manage to stay on his feet during the season, he'll be invaluable to Hammarby.
Apart from these four "ordinary" defensive players, we have a some backup-players:
Kléber Saarenpää, Matthias Olsson, Fadi Malke, José Monteiro de Macedo.
Saarenpää, having played for the National Team, have by far the most experience of these four. He's excellent as a backup, since his individual mistakes are very few. But his age slow him down, and repeated injuries makes him unreliable. Monteiro is perhaps the most likely of the four to become ordinary in the Defense. He's fast, have reasonable technique, but is somewhat lacking in the positional play. Fadi Malke and Matthias Olsson are young players, have great potential in a long term, but is not considered to start many matches this season.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hammarby need to strengthen the Defense in a long term. We need a backup central defender, or a central defender that takes a shirt immediately.
Score: 3,5 out of 5
In 2008, there hasn't been any changes in the squad on the defensive side, although Uruguayan Claudio Dadomo has the capacity to play left wing back if needs be.
If everyone's healthy and sound, here's how the Defense will look like this year (from left):
-David Johansson-Christian Traoré-Suleyman Sleyman-Emil Johansson-
David Johansson came from Hammarby TFF in 2004, and immediately put in a strong performance. Since then, he's ever been a stability in the defense. As a wing back, nowadays you are supposed to be offensive too, when your team attacks. This is David Johansson's strongest ability, with at times perfectly astonishing breakthroughs, while his defensive play mixes brilliant efforts with individual mistakes. Need to raise his standards and erase mistakes.
Christian Traoré - originally from FC Copenhagen but recently came to Hammarby from FC Midtjylland (DEN), is the central defender in Hammarby that probably have the highest individual skills. His defensive game is always impressive, but some matches he can become almost entirely anonymous. His capacity is great, but he needs to take more initiatives.
Suleyman Sleyman - captain of the team after Mikkel Jensen's bad injuries, is the most physical player of all in Hammarby. As the classical car sticker in the 1980's said, Sleyman "Brake for Nobody". What he lacks in technique he makes up in good positioning and physical attributes. Sleyman is very popular among the supporters, but in some matches his capacities does not match his opponents, especially if the opponents are exceptionally fast.
Emil Johansson - the youngest player in the Defense, his future potential is enormous. Having been injured a little bit too often, his greatest abilities are in his speed and technique. As opposite to Sleyman, truth to tell Emil Johansson is not a large player. But size isn't everything, some say, and Emil's speed and technique have impressed on me in some matches. He must stay healthy, if Emil manage to stay on his feet during the season, he'll be invaluable to Hammarby.
Apart from these four "ordinary" defensive players, we have a some backup-players:
Kléber Saarenpää, Matthias Olsson, Fadi Malke, José Monteiro de Macedo.
Saarenpää, having played for the National Team, have by far the most experience of these four. He's excellent as a backup, since his individual mistakes are very few. But his age slow him down, and repeated injuries makes him unreliable. Monteiro is perhaps the most likely of the four to become ordinary in the Defense. He's fast, have reasonable technique, but is somewhat lacking in the positional play. Fadi Malke and Matthias Olsson are young players, have great potential in a long term, but is not considered to start many matches this season.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hammarby need to strengthen the Defense in a long term. We need a backup central defender, or a central defender that takes a shirt immediately.
Score: 3,5 out of 5
Thursday 27 March 2008
Countdown; 4 days left. Breakdown; Goalkeepers
It’s 4 days left until Allsvenskan starts. The first match of the season for Hammarby is Ljungskile away on Monday, March 31st.
Kristoffer Björklund (reserve)
Erland Hellström (out on injury)
In our second team, Hammarby TFF that currently is situated in Swedish third division, George Moussan guard the goal. He put in some performances last autumn when no other options remained, but as he’s young he’s considered to be a prospect for the future.
Last year, Hammarby started the season with Ghana National Team goalkeeper Richard Kingson. He came to Hammarby on loan, and his stability drove Hammarby to the top of the league. When Kingson left in the beginning of the summer 2007, everything fell apart. During the rest of the season, no less than 3 more keepers stood between the goalposts for Hammarby. The Green and White slowly but surely descended in the league table, finishing in position 6. After the season, the main objective for Hammarby recruiters was a goalkeeper with high standards, and Rami Shaaban was signed in February this year. With the signing of Shaaban, Hammarby now have three keepers:
Kristoffer Björklund (reserve)
Erland Hellström (out on injury)
In our second team, Hammarby TFF that currently is situated in Swedish third division, George Moussan guard the goal. He put in some performances last autumn when no other options remained, but as he’s young he’s considered to be a prospect for the future.
In the training match vs Brazil on Wednesday 26th, Rami Shaaban played the second half. A terrible mistake 20 minutes from the end by Shaaban made him the scapegoat of the evening. An nonsuccessive clearing landed on Alexandre Pato which made no mistake. But I couldn’t care less. Every goalkeeper makes a mistake like that throughout a season, and it’s much better that Shaaban did his in the National Team rather than Hammarby. He’ll probably be reserve in this summer’s European Championships behind Manchester City’s Andreas Isaksson, but that’s only positive as the risk of Shaaban being injured is reduced.
Erland Hellström, son of legendary Swedish National Team goalkeeper Ronnie Hellström, is unfortunately lacking some of his father's potential. He have had several opportunities to grasp the first position in Hammarby during the last years, but never really took it. Currently he's out on an injury, and I doubt he'll ever guard the goal for Hammarby again.
In an Allsvenskan point of view, there’s no doubt that our set of goalkeepers are of the highest standard.
Score: 5 out of 5
Wednesday 26 March 2008
Kappa to applicate for summons
Yesterday we received the news that former Hammarby sponsor has applied for a summons against Hammarby Football. The application is said to comprise more than 28 million Swedish Krona.
In 2007 (Thanks Klas!), Hammarby cancelled the sponsor agreement with Kappa. The reasons, Hammarby said, were that the equipment (shoes, clothes etc) did not fulfill promised standards. Kappa on their part, argue that Hammarby broke the sponsorship agreement when several Hammarby players neglected to use Kappa football shoes during matches.
To me, this is nothing short but a huge surprise. I think that most Hammarby supporters still saw Kappa as a really nice brand when it comes to clothing, but now Kappa has surely burnt their bridges in Hammarby land. Not one Hammarby supporter will buy another Kappa item for years to come, which makes me think that the long term loss for Kappa will far exceed the 28+ millions.
Update:
It turns out that the company responsible for the application, Danish Primetime Nordic, is a company not to be taken too seriously. They probably bribed their way to become Nordic distributors of Kappa, and one can only suspect that the application for summons vs Hammarby will be nothing short of a bad joke. But, time will tell.
Personally, I think Hammarby should fire back with the same weapon if possible. An application in return, if it'll turn out that the application against Hammarby is indeed faulty, will surely bite hard.
(I love the expression "it turns out" by the way...it indicates that someone really important, probably a scientist or something, has thought a lot around a subject, did some experimenting too and has come to a conclusion. A rather impressive conclusion, and thus not to be questioned by anyone short of a genious.)
In 2007 (Thanks Klas!), Hammarby cancelled the sponsor agreement with Kappa. The reasons, Hammarby said, were that the equipment (shoes, clothes etc) did not fulfill promised standards. Kappa on their part, argue that Hammarby broke the sponsorship agreement when several Hammarby players neglected to use Kappa football shoes during matches.
To me, this is nothing short but a huge surprise. I think that most Hammarby supporters still saw Kappa as a really nice brand when it comes to clothing, but now Kappa has surely burnt their bridges in Hammarby land. Not one Hammarby supporter will buy another Kappa item for years to come, which makes me think that the long term loss for Kappa will far exceed the 28+ millions.
Update:
It turns out that the company responsible for the application, Danish Primetime Nordic, is a company not to be taken too seriously. They probably bribed their way to become Nordic distributors of Kappa, and one can only suspect that the application for summons vs Hammarby will be nothing short of a bad joke. But, time will tell.
Personally, I think Hammarby should fire back with the same weapon if possible. An application in return, if it'll turn out that the application against Hammarby is indeed faulty, will surely bite hard.
(I love the expression "it turns out" by the way...it indicates that someone really important, probably a scientist or something, has thought a lot around a subject, did some experimenting too and has come to a conclusion. A rather impressive conclusion, and thus not to be questioned by anyone short of a genious.)
Final result: Hammarby vs TPS Åbo 1-2
Well, the training match did not became what many had expected - a display of great football and a team (Hammarby) in perfect harmony. Actually, far too often for my week heart, we we're given proof of the opposite.
Now, TPS Åbo is not a football team that resemble Barcelona even a little bit. They are, however, a very physical team and they keep their football very basic. They mix long, swirling balls towards a nearly two meters tall giant up front, with a short no-nonsense and quite effective close range game.
Hammarby had difficulties at the start of the first half, and it seemed mostly the problems were in the heads rather than the feet. One week until the season start for real, no player takes unnecessary risks to chance an injury. And quite soon, TPS takes the lead after a dreadful clearing from Hammarby defenders. Unable to get rid of the ball, a TPSer easily drives the ball past reserve keeper George Moussan. After that goal, Hammarby takes charge of the situation and position themselves more often on the opponents' half. Even though the pressure is no where near constant or as close that we are used to when playing at home, Hammarby manage to equalize just before half time. After a situation the ball trickles to the right where Petter Andersson finds himself. A nice long ball find Paulinho Guará on the far end, and his header is lethal as it find it way just pass the keeper by the goal post high. Beautiful goal, and thus it's 1-1 at half time.
The first ten minutes of the second half is easily the best Hammarby manage to perform tonight, but after that TPS once again takes charge with their more physical gameplay. In the middle of the half, our right defender for the night is overplayed and cannot catch up. A play to the center of the goal area is delivered where another TPS fellow doesn't make any mistake, 1-2.
Hammarby's best opportunity after that goal is a free kick in the very last minute by Louay Chanko, but it swirls past the left goal post.
One of the evening's brightest moments where when defensive midfielder Mikkel Jensen entered the field after close to a year in rehab.
Summary: It's always good to win training matches, but today Hammarby couldn't deliver. Whether or not this is how good we are or not is too early to say. It's clear however, that the players need to show more heart and not a little more head in their game to win the first game of the season next monday, away vs Ljungskile.
Hammarby players and their RAB points (1-10):
Keeper:
George Moussan 2
Defenders:
Christian Traoré 4
Suleyman Sleyman 3
Kleeber Saarenpää 3
David Johansson 2
Midfielders:
Petter Andersson 3
Louay Chanko 2
Claudio Dadomo 2
Haris Laitinen 4
Attackers:
Paulinho Guará 5
Charlie Davies 2
Subs, played too little time to receive points:
Freddy Söderberg, José Monteiro, Mikkel Jensen
Now, TPS Åbo is not a football team that resemble Barcelona even a little bit. They are, however, a very physical team and they keep their football very basic. They mix long, swirling balls towards a nearly two meters tall giant up front, with a short no-nonsense and quite effective close range game.
Hammarby had difficulties at the start of the first half, and it seemed mostly the problems were in the heads rather than the feet. One week until the season start for real, no player takes unnecessary risks to chance an injury. And quite soon, TPS takes the lead after a dreadful clearing from Hammarby defenders. Unable to get rid of the ball, a TPSer easily drives the ball past reserve keeper George Moussan. After that goal, Hammarby takes charge of the situation and position themselves more often on the opponents' half. Even though the pressure is no where near constant or as close that we are used to when playing at home, Hammarby manage to equalize just before half time. After a situation the ball trickles to the right where Petter Andersson finds himself. A nice long ball find Paulinho Guará on the far end, and his header is lethal as it find it way just pass the keeper by the goal post high. Beautiful goal, and thus it's 1-1 at half time.
The first ten minutes of the second half is easily the best Hammarby manage to perform tonight, but after that TPS once again takes charge with their more physical gameplay. In the middle of the half, our right defender for the night is overplayed and cannot catch up. A play to the center of the goal area is delivered where another TPS fellow doesn't make any mistake, 1-2.
Hammarby's best opportunity after that goal is a free kick in the very last minute by Louay Chanko, but it swirls past the left goal post.
One of the evening's brightest moments where when defensive midfielder Mikkel Jensen entered the field after close to a year in rehab.
Summary: It's always good to win training matches, but today Hammarby couldn't deliver. Whether or not this is how good we are or not is too early to say. It's clear however, that the players need to show more heart and not a little more head in their game to win the first game of the season next monday, away vs Ljungskile.
Hammarby players and their RAB points (1-10):
Keeper:
George Moussan 2
Defenders:
Christian Traoré 4
Suleyman Sleyman 3
Kleeber Saarenpää 3
David Johansson 2
Midfielders:
Petter Andersson 3
Louay Chanko 2
Claudio Dadomo 2
Haris Laitinen 4
Attackers:
Paulinho Guará 5
Charlie Davies 2
Subs, played too little time to receive points:
Freddy Söderberg, José Monteiro, Mikkel Jensen
Tuesday 25 March 2008
Today: Hammarby vs TPS Åbo (FIN)
Tonight at 18:30, it's time for Hammarby's dress rehersal. It will be played at Söderstadion, but the big question for tonight is whether or not it will be a match at all. I look outside and it's all white. The snow is absolutely teeming down, I know that the field is covered until the match tonight, but still...
One important player is missing, Rami Shaaban is in England with Swedish National Team for a training match vs Brazil tomorrow, wednesday, at Wembley.
Here's how I think Hammarby's starting lineup will look tonight:
-------------------Moussan--------------------
-Johansson---Traoré---Sleyman---Saarenpää-
--------------------Chanko--------------------
-Castro-Tello-----Andersson---------Dadomo-
------------Paulinho-----Davies---------------
Haris Laitinen might start instead of Castro-Tello. Zengin is PROBABLY out due to a minor knee injury, otherwise he'd start on the right side. We might also see left wing back Emil Johansson come in later in the match.
One important player is missing, Rami Shaaban is in England with Swedish National Team for a training match vs Brazil tomorrow, wednesday, at Wembley.
Here's how I think Hammarby's starting lineup will look tonight:
-------------------Moussan--------------------
-Johansson---Traoré---Sleyman---Saarenpää-
--------------------Chanko--------------------
-Castro-Tello-----Andersson---------Dadomo-
------------Paulinho-----Davies---------------
Haris Laitinen might start instead of Castro-Tello. Zengin is PROBABLY out due to a minor knee injury, otherwise he'd start on the right side. We might also see left wing back Emil Johansson come in later in the match.
Wednesday 19 March 2008
Hammarby 4 Gefle 0
The figures say everything. Although Hammarby had some problems in the defensive part of the field, Hammarby had no problems with Gefle. 4-0 with a hattrick from Petter Andersson was a fine result, and it show that Hammarby will be quite stable this year.
Hammarby's starting line up was exactly the one we hoped for in the previous post. And although Hammarby won with 4-0, the players feel that they could have done a better job.
Let's just hope they keep it this way.
Hammarby has now not conceded a single goal in 6,5 matches (13 halves.)
Forza Bajen!
Hammarby's starting line up was exactly the one we hoped for in the previous post. And although Hammarby won with 4-0, the players feel that they could have done a better job.
Let's just hope they keep it this way.
Hammarby has now not conceded a single goal in 6,5 matches (13 halves.)
Forza Bajen!
Time for Match: Hammarby vs Gefle (training match)
Today at 2 pm Hammarby face Allsvenskan opponents Gefle in a training clash on Cyprus.
The match will be commented live on Hammarby official site www.hammarbyfotboll.se.
Probable lineup Hammarby:
-------------------Shaaban--------------------------
-Johansson-Traoré---Sleyman-Saarenpää-
-------------------Chanko----------------------------
-Zengin---------Andersson--------Dadomo---
-------------Guará-----Söderberg----------------
Stay tuned for the result!
The match will be commented live on Hammarby official site www.hammarbyfotboll.se.
Probable lineup Hammarby:
-------------------Shaaban--------------------------
-Johansson-Traoré---Sleyman-Saarenpää-
-------------------Chanko----------------------------
-Zengin---------Andersson--------Dadomo---
-------------Guará-----Söderberg----------------
Stay tuned for the result!
Tuesday 18 March 2008
Fate against Hammarby
It seems that Mother Luck has turned her back on Hammarby. Yesterday, reserve goalkeeper Kristoffer Björklund was involved in an accident during some free time on Cyprus, where Hammarby is stationed on a training camp. While riding on a four wheel motorcycle, Kristoffer fell off trying to avoid another car.
After spending some time at the hospital, x-rays show that his spine and wrist are damaged. Preliminary reports says that Björklund is out until after European Championships.
After last season's injuries on goal keepers, one had hoped that we would have better luck this season. But, as it turned out, the problems continue.
Hammarby is not yet sure how they will face this problem.
After spending some time at the hospital, x-rays show that his spine and wrist are damaged. Preliminary reports says that Björklund is out until after European Championships.
After last season's injuries on goal keepers, one had hoped that we would have better luck this season. But, as it turned out, the problems continue.
Hammarby is not yet sure how they will face this problem.
Monday 17 March 2008
R.A.B. looks into the future
In just a few weeks Swedish premier division Allsvenskan will start. For the first time the league consists of 16 teams, and there's no doubt that the teams that can cope with the extra days will have an advantage. In 2008, there's also a pause in the league as the European Championship is being played this summer. This will put extra pressure on the teams, as the season is shrinked. Some weeks will consist of up to three matches.
Now, to the prediction!
There's always room for speculation before the season starts, and here's my 5 cent how the league table will look when the season end:
1 Hammarby
2 IFK Göteborg
3 Helsingborg
4 Djurgården
5 Kalmar FF
6 Elfsborg
7 Halmstad
8 Malmö FF
9 AIK
10 IFK Norrköping
11 GIF Sundsvall
12 Gefle
13 Örebro
14 Trelleborg
15 GAIS
16 Ljungskile
I guess the prediction follow my heart. There might not be much sense in it, I know, but hey - I'm a dreamer.
Now, to the prediction!
There's always room for speculation before the season starts, and here's my 5 cent how the league table will look when the season end:
1 Hammarby
2 IFK Göteborg
3 Helsingborg
4 Djurgården
5 Kalmar FF
6 Elfsborg
7 Halmstad
8 Malmö FF
9 AIK
10 IFK Norrköping
11 GIF Sundsvall
12 Gefle
13 Örebro
14 Trelleborg
15 GAIS
16 Ljungskile
I guess the prediction follow my heart. There might not be much sense in it, I know, but hey - I'm a dreamer.
The Adventures of Charlie Davies
While the squad of Hammarby is doing their best on Cyprus to get in shape for the start of the season, one player is absent. Charlie Davies is currently in the U.S. participating in the Olympic qualifications with his U.S. U-23 team.
On Saturday the 15th, U.S. beat Honduras with 1-0 after a penalty by Eddie Gaven in the 95th minute (!). The penalty was conceded by an Honduran player who tripped Charlie Davies inside the area. Already in the 62nd minute Charlie Davies was given another penalty, he was brought down, but Davies missed it (shot wide to the right).
Photo: www.ussoccer.com Davies no. 9
U.S. was the most offensive team throughout, but the match was hard won as the finalizing goal didn't appear until the 95th minute.
Again, Charlie Davies contributed to the win in a spectacular way.
On Saturday the 15th, U.S. beat Honduras with 1-0 after a penalty by Eddie Gaven in the 95th minute (!). The penalty was conceded by an Honduran player who tripped Charlie Davies inside the area. Already in the 62nd minute Charlie Davies was given another penalty, he was brought down, but Davies missed it (shot wide to the right).
Photo: www.ussoccer.com Davies no. 9
U.S. was the most offensive team throughout, but the match was hard won as the finalizing goal didn't appear until the 95th minute.
Again, Charlie Davies contributed to the win in a spectacular way.
Sunday 16 March 2008
Hammarby on Cyprus
Hammarby has travelled to Cyprus for a one week training camp between the 13th and the 20th of March.
2 matches are planned, against IFK Norrköping and Gefle.
Yesterday, Hammarby played the match against IFK Norrköping and won with 2-0. Scorers were Freddy Söderberg and Sebastian Castro-Tello. Apparently it was a fairly good match in which Hammarby created the most chances. Although Norrköpings corners were dangerous, Hammarby managed to hold defensively. Both goals were beautiful, especially the second one from Castro-Tello.
2 matches are planned, against IFK Norrköping and Gefle.
Yesterday, Hammarby played the match against IFK Norrköping and won with 2-0. Scorers were Freddy Söderberg and Sebastian Castro-Tello. Apparently it was a fairly good match in which Hammarby created the most chances. Although Norrköpings corners were dangerous, Hammarby managed to hold defensively. Both goals were beautiful, especially the second one from Castro-Tello.
Wednesday 5 March 2008
On an airport near you
Business have forced me to visit Gothenburg, and sitting on the airport waiting for my flight back to Stockholm I just realized:
Humanity's best inventions:
1. Penicillin or some other great medicine.
2. The Ipod.
Best live albums of all times:
1. Black Sabbath - Reunion (Live)
2. Iron Maiden - Live After Death
Oh, and Hammarby is having a 20 year old striker from Carlstad United on trial this week, Pär Eriksson. Scored 11 goals on 25 games in Swedish third division. I just doesn't feel like he's our man...but we've been wrong before, time will tell on this one.
Humanity's best inventions:
1. Penicillin or some other great medicine.
2. The Ipod.
Best live albums of all times:
1. Black Sabbath - Reunion (Live)
2. Iron Maiden - Live After Death
Oh, and Hammarby is having a 20 year old striker from Carlstad United on trial this week, Pär Eriksson. Scored 11 goals on 25 games in Swedish third division. I just doesn't feel like he's our man...but we've been wrong before, time will tell on this one.
Tuesday 4 March 2008
Rami Shaaban signed for Hammarby! And some thoughts around that...
I mean, it's not in me to repeat things, but in this case I cannot stress the importance this signing has for us Hammarby supporters in general.
It's huge. No, more than that. It is gigantic. Either way, there's no doubt that Bajen has made an astounding signing. External capital has been allocated to make this one happen.
Rami Shaaban is a goalkeeper. He has always been number two in the National team after Andreas Isaksson, but many "experts" as well as the average Swedish football supporter now think that Rami Shaaban is the one that should guard the goal in the upcoming 2008 European Championships. Isaksson has been informed by his manager in Manchester City, Sven-Göran Eriksson, that he is no longer considered to be a first team player. With no regular match exercise, it'll be difficult for the Swedish National Team managers to motivate Isaksson's position before Shaaban.
For Hammarby, this signing is extremely important. To start with, the big subject among Hammarby supporters 2007 was the lack of a regular number one keeper. Now, the stability in the defensive part of the field will be invaluably increased. One POSSIBLE downside to a signing of this magnitude could be that the pressure from media will be immense this season. Will Hammarby be able to cope with such a scenario? I think so.
However, Hammarby's squad anno 2008 is not yet perfectly balanced. We are now extremely strong in goalkeeping, very strong in the defense and very strong in the midfield. There are however some question marks regarding our offensive section. We have only three strikers right now, and it's really only Paulinho Guará that has a solid proven record as a goalscorer. Charlie Davies is by all means a great talent, and also manged to score three goals in the last match of 2007, but behind him there's a totally unwritten card with the name of Freddy Söderberg. He's large, strong, and has a sense for scoring, but he cannot be relied upon in Allsvenskan, not yet at least. If one striker is injured, we're in deep trouble. There's always the possibility to temporarily use a midfielder in a striker position, but in the long run this position need to be reinforced. But not until the summer 2008 transfer window opens. In all cases, if there are no big injuries on key players, there's no doubt that Hammarby will be in the top four when Allsvenskan pauses in the summer for 2008 European Championships.
In the next transfer window, there are some indications that Hammarby will have launched a new risk capital model for supporters and sponsors. Figures between 20 and 30 million Swedish Krona has been discussed, but until the money is in the bag it's only a rumour.
It's huge. No, more than that. It is gigantic. Either way, there's no doubt that Bajen has made an astounding signing. External capital has been allocated to make this one happen.
Rami Shaaban is a goalkeeper. He has always been number two in the National team after Andreas Isaksson, but many "experts" as well as the average Swedish football supporter now think that Rami Shaaban is the one that should guard the goal in the upcoming 2008 European Championships. Isaksson has been informed by his manager in Manchester City, Sven-Göran Eriksson, that he is no longer considered to be a first team player. With no regular match exercise, it'll be difficult for the Swedish National Team managers to motivate Isaksson's position before Shaaban.
For Hammarby, this signing is extremely important. To start with, the big subject among Hammarby supporters 2007 was the lack of a regular number one keeper. Now, the stability in the defensive part of the field will be invaluably increased. One POSSIBLE downside to a signing of this magnitude could be that the pressure from media will be immense this season. Will Hammarby be able to cope with such a scenario? I think so.
However, Hammarby's squad anno 2008 is not yet perfectly balanced. We are now extremely strong in goalkeeping, very strong in the defense and very strong in the midfield. There are however some question marks regarding our offensive section. We have only three strikers right now, and it's really only Paulinho Guará that has a solid proven record as a goalscorer. Charlie Davies is by all means a great talent, and also manged to score three goals in the last match of 2007, but behind him there's a totally unwritten card with the name of Freddy Söderberg. He's large, strong, and has a sense for scoring, but he cannot be relied upon in Allsvenskan, not yet at least. If one striker is injured, we're in deep trouble. There's always the possibility to temporarily use a midfielder in a striker position, but in the long run this position need to be reinforced. But not until the summer 2008 transfer window opens. In all cases, if there are no big injuries on key players, there's no doubt that Hammarby will be in the top four when Allsvenskan pauses in the summer for 2008 European Championships.
In the next transfer window, there are some indications that Hammarby will have launched a new risk capital model for supporters and sponsors. Figures between 20 and 30 million Swedish Krona has been discussed, but until the money is in the bag it's only a rumour.
How 'bout them updates?
Well, been a long time since I've updated this site, too much to do and too little time to do it.
Anyway, here's a summary of the last weeks news:
- RAMI SHAABAN SIGNED A 5 YEAR CONTRACT WITH HAMMARBY!
Yeah, it's true. Definitely the most anticipated, longed-for signing in the history of Hammarby (except for Jari Litmanen, who never turned up...) is finally here - the Swedish national goalkeeper Rami Shaaban. His experience (Arsenal amongst other teams) and capacity will surely put Hammarby among the favorites in media for winning the league this season.
- Hammarby returned from Los Angeles and the training camp where they played three training matches. The first, against Red Bull New York, ended in a defeat with 3-1. Claudio Dadomo was the scorer for Hammarby. In the second game Hammarby faced Cal State University. Hammarby won with 3-0, scorers were Louay Chanko, Paulinho Guará and Sebastian Castro-Tello.
A couple of days later the last match was against Ventura Fusion, a match that Hammarby won easily with 5-0. Scorers this time were Petter Andersson, Nicklas Gustafsson and Paulinho Guará (3 goals!!).
Last weekend Hammarby played two training matches on the same day in Stockholm. The first against Gröndal ended in a green-white victory with 2-0, scored by Paulinho Guara and Claudio Dadomo. The second game, against IK Brage, finished 4-1 with goals by Magnus Törnstrand, Christer Gustafsson (two goals) and Alagie Sosseh.
Up next is the following weekend, two matches on the same day again, this time against IK Sirius and Falu FK. After that, on the 15th, is a training match against newly promoted IFK Norrköping.
Stay tuned!
Anyway, here's a summary of the last weeks news:
- RAMI SHAABAN SIGNED A 5 YEAR CONTRACT WITH HAMMARBY!
Yeah, it's true. Definitely the most anticipated, longed-for signing in the history of Hammarby (except for Jari Litmanen, who never turned up...) is finally here - the Swedish national goalkeeper Rami Shaaban. His experience (Arsenal amongst other teams) and capacity will surely put Hammarby among the favorites in media for winning the league this season.
- Hammarby returned from Los Angeles and the training camp where they played three training matches. The first, against Red Bull New York, ended in a defeat with 3-1. Claudio Dadomo was the scorer for Hammarby. In the second game Hammarby faced Cal State University. Hammarby won with 3-0, scorers were Louay Chanko, Paulinho Guará and Sebastian Castro-Tello.
A couple of days later the last match was against Ventura Fusion, a match that Hammarby won easily with 5-0. Scorers this time were Petter Andersson, Nicklas Gustafsson and Paulinho Guará (3 goals!!).
Last weekend Hammarby played two training matches on the same day in Stockholm. The first against Gröndal ended in a green-white victory with 2-0, scored by Paulinho Guara and Claudio Dadomo. The second game, against IK Brage, finished 4-1 with goals by Magnus Törnstrand, Christer Gustafsson (two goals) and Alagie Sosseh.
Up next is the following weekend, two matches on the same day again, this time against IK Sirius and Falu FK. After that, on the 15th, is a training match against newly promoted IFK Norrköping.
Stay tuned!
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