When the training picture doesn't reflect reality
A consistent message from the Rosenborg camp under Alfred Johansson has been that the team “gets it done in training”. The players talk about good sessions, high quality and clear play. The challenge arises when the same image is not always reflected in matches.
The question that is increasingly being asked behind the scenes is therefore: Rosenborg see itself a little too much from within?
In everyday training, the players largely face their own teammates. The best play against the second best. The structure is the same, the relationships are familiar and the playing style is well-rehearsed. This can create a sense of control – and of quality. But the level you encounter every day is still Rosenborg's own level.
When performance in matches does not reflect training, a relevant question arises: Is the resistance in training good enough to give a realistic picture of where the team actually stands?
The dependence on single players
In recent seasons, Rosenborg has also been clearly dependent on players who can break the pattern on their own.
The sale of players like Sverre Nypan and Marius Broholm removed two of the team's most creative driving forces. Players who not only followed the structure - but who could create something when the structure stopped.
The same role has been filled by Emil Konradsen Ceïde . When he is in form, Rosenborg gains momentum, pace and unpredictability. When he disappears from the game, much of the offensive play often stops.
This raises a new question about Johansson's project:
How robust is the system without players who can resolve situations on their own?
System or individual achievements?
Johansson's philosophy is about structure, relationships and recognizable patterns. The idea is that the team, through repetition, will create the same situations over and over again – until it sticks.
But that's precisely why the contrast becomes clear when Rosenborg loses its most creative players. Because then there is a feeling that the system itself does not always create enough.
The result can be a type of football where the team looks better on the training field than in a match , because the matches require more unpredictable solutions than a structured training game does.
A classic team building challenge
This is not a unique problem for Rosenborg. Many teams with strong, practiced systems experience the same thing: When the best players disappear, it becomes clear how much of the production actually came from individual qualities.
For Rosenborg, further development is therefore not just about improving the system – but about finding out how much the system can actually withstand without its most crucial players.
Between expectations and reality
For Alfred Johansson, the task at Rosenborg BK has never just been about results. It has also been about identity.
In Trondheim, the expectations are clear. Rosenborg will play offensive football. The team will dominate matches, attack with pace and play in the classic 4-3-3 formation that has been part of the club's identity for decades.
Johansson came in with a stated goal of precisely this: to lead the club back to its roots. A more aggressive and forward-looking style of play, where Rosenborg would once again be the team that controls the matches.
But the road to get there has proven more complicated.
When the player material doesn't fit the plan
One of the challenges for Johansson has been that the squad has not always suited the football the club wants to play. The lack of clear wingers and offensive difference-maker players has meant that the coaching team has had to look for alternative solutions several times.
This has led to a number of positional experiments.
Adrian Pereira is initially an offensive left-back, but has at times been considered higher up the pitch – even as a right winger.
Jonas Svensson, who is actually a right-back, has played left-back in the pre-season, before ending up playing central midfield in the first league match.
The movement of players between roles can be interpreted in several ways. It could be flexibility – but it could also be a sign of a coach still searching for the right composition.
When a right-back is used as a left-back for one period, before later appearing centrally in midfield, it says something about a team that still hasn't found its final structure.
The question therefore becomes what is the driving force behind the development:
Is it the system that should shape the players – or the players who must ultimately define the system?
Injuries, instability and an unbalanced squad
At the same time, Alfred Johansson's everyday life at Rosenborg BK has been complicated by another factor: a long-term and extensive injury situation.
Over time, several players have been out for periods, and the availability of the squad has varied from week to week. For a team that is trying to build relationships and clear roles in a structured game, this naturally creates challenges.
When players keep dropping out, the coaching staff has to make adjustments – both in the starting lineup and in the distribution of roles. This may be one explanation for why Rosenborg has at times appeared as a team still searching for its final form.
At the same time, the injury picture raises some questions that the club will sooner or later have to ask itself:
Is this primarily bad luck, or could it also be about load management, training volume and medical follow-up?
For outsiders, it is difficult to give a clear answer. But when injury problems persist over time, it is natural for the question to arise.
A transition policy under pressure
At the same time, it is difficult to discuss Rosenborg's situation without looking at recruitment in recent years.
Several signings have not had the effect the club hoped for. Players who were brought in to lift the team have, to varying degrees, managed to leave their mark on the development.
When such investments do not yield the desired sporting return, a double challenge arises:
The squad becomes more disorganized – while the development space for younger players may become smaller.
For a club that has historically been known for developing its own talents, it is a situation that naturally creates frustration both internally and among the supporters.
Maybe it's time for a new honesty
Therefore, some also believe that Rosenborg is now at a crossroads.
Instead of trying to solve all challenges in the short term, a more fundamental recognition of where the club actually stands in terms of sport may be necessary.
Such a perspective is not necessarily about lowering ambitions – but about adjusting expectations for a period of time.
Because perhaps part of the solution lies precisely in what Rosenborg has historically been best at: developing young players, giving them time and building a team over several seasons.
It will require patience. But it could also be a more sustainable path back to the level the club wants to be at.
Patience or new track?
At the same time, there is another layer in the discussion surrounding Alfred Johansson and Rosenborg BK.
Because if the club were to truly choose a more long-term reconstruction – with a greater focus on developing young players and gradually building a team – it is far from certain that Johansson is the man who will lead that project all the way through.
Results still mean a lot in Trondheim. Rosenborg is a club where expectations are always high, no matter what phase the team is in. When results fail over time, the pressure on the coach also increases.
With the achievements the team has delivered in periods, it is therefore difficult to avoid the question: How much time does Johansson really have?
A young coach in a demanding role
Johansson is still a relatively young and untested coach at this level. Leading a club with Rosenborg's history, expectations and media pressure is one of the most demanding tasks in Norwegian football.
History also shows that patience in such clubs is rarely unlimited.
Thus, Rosenborg may face a classic dilemma:
Should they stick with a coach and a project through adversity – or try to turn things around by making changes on the bench?
A bigger question for the club
Ultimately, the discussion may not just be about Johansson.
It is also about what kind of club Rosenborg wants to be in the years to come. Whether they still expect immediate success, or whether they are willing to accept a period of more fundamental rebuilding.
Because it is only when the club clarifies that very question that it can also be decided what kind of coaching profile actually fits best.
An experienced coach who can stabilize results quickly – or a development coach who has time to build something over several years.
The answer to that question will largely determine both Rosenborg's path forward - and how long Alfred Johansson stays at Lerkendal.
We haven't even finished the first round of the Premier League . But this will definitely be discussed, and is probably already being discussed quite heatedly around here.
Remember we have our own page with the Eliteserien here!
