Just over 2,700 supporters came when Malmö FF’s men’s and women’s teams (division 1) carried out their traditional training premiere. Bengals and saved New Year’s fireworks were fired from the heel as the players walked into Malmö IP.
— It smells like revenge. We want to show who we are again. It is today that it begins in earnest, says Anton Tinnerholm, who is back at the club after five years in MLS and New York City.
MFF’s new acquisition Anton Tinnerholm during the first training of the year.”Turn the page”
With seven SM golds and six group games in Europe since 2010, it is natural that MFF’s football Allsvenskan 2022 will be labeled a fiasco. Indeed, Malmö won their first title in the Swedish Cup since 1989 and once again reached the European Games, but seventh place in the series is simply not good enough considering the Skåne’s squad and financial muscle.
— Somewhere we have to turn the page and put it behind us, now we have to aim forward and above all. I heard someone say top three and I don’t want to hear that again. We’re going for gold, that’s all, says Tinnerholm.
Top three is the club’s official target as a placement in that tier guarantees qualification for Europe the following season.
— If we come third, it’s not okay in my opinion anyway. We have to aim for the gold, there is nothing else, says Tinnerholm.
Honeymoon for Rydström
Last year, MFF had three different coaches – Milos Milojevic, Andreas Georgson and Åge Hareide – but in November the club finalized Henrik Rydström for the coming season. The employment started on December 1 and he says himself that he is still in the honeymoon period.
– You can say that it is because there are no matches, says Rydström.
The former Kalmar coach Henrik Rydström is the new coach in MFF.
He has previously coached Sirius and Kalmar in the Allsvenskan, but Malmö FF as a club is not what he had expected.
— It’s a damn big club with a big apparatus, but at the same time it’s very close and familiar. Maybe it feels like you’ve come home, finally. I’m really enjoying myself, he says.
In addition to Tinnerholm, Canadian WC defender Derek Cornelius and striker Taha Ali are new to MFF. On the minus side are Adi Nalic, Erdal Rakip and Jo Inge Berget.
Disappointed Mountain
Berget expressed disappointment at not being allowed to continue, but according to the club, the Norwegian had previously turned down a contract offer.
— When we put all the things together, it would have been difficult to extend, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t think it’s a damn important and good player. Actually, they would have liked it to be possible to extend, says Rydström.
It’s about a generational change, says Rydström.
— We need to rejuvenate the squad. In the long term, you need to have fewer players over 30 and players who are not prone to injury.