Based in a tiny fishing village in the very south of Sweden, Mjällby AIF were in the second tier as recently as 2019. Today, they are preparing to make their European debut next season and are just one win away from lifting an unforgettable Allsvenskan title.

By Neel Shelat

Since their foundation in 1939, Mjällby AIF have spent less than 15 seasons in the Swedish first tier. Based in a quite remote village in the second smallest province in the country, their 6,000 capacity home ground is capable of holding the local population multiple times over. Naturally, then, they have never been anywhere close to competing against the nation’s strongest clubs from places like Stockholm and Gothenburg. They only made their top-flight debut in the 1980s and never managed to stay up for successive seasons until after the turn of the century. But in recent years, something special has been brewing in Blekinge County.

Soon after their first multi-year Allsvenskan stint came to an end in 2014, Mjällby appointed a new chairman in Magnus Emeus. Sweden’s 51% rule is similar to the German 50+1 rule, in principle, making all of their clubs effectively fan-owned and controlled. So, the locally born businessman did not change the club’s fortunes overnight with a big cash injection, but he did start laying the groundwork for achievements that might then have seemed unthinkable.

Simple and sensible management

Given their relatively small stature and consequently tight budget, Mjällby are anything but big spenders in the transfer market. Even presently, they predominantly rely on free transfers to shape up their squad. Following their last relegation, they focused their scouting on the lower leagues of Sweden to rebuild with very limited resources. After returning to Allsvenskan in 2020 and enjoying some relatively successful seasons, they managed to make a couple of notable sales and earn a little bit of money to reinvest on the squad. They then expanded a bit and all started looking for targets in other parts of Scandinavia, still sticking to the principle of finding underrated talents. To this day, they have only paid eight six-digit transfer fees, most of which are under €250,000.

No matter how good a job Mjällby’s recruitment team does or how well they are supported by their youth academy, the disparity in resources means that the Hällevik-based club are never going to have the same squad quality as their league rivals. So, the coach has the big responsibility of providing the best possible platform for the players to excel. Fortunately for them, Anders Torstensson has done just that.

The now-59-year-old Swede first joined the club as an assistant coach in 2007. His first season in the hot seat came in 2013, after which he moved on to a couple of other lower league clubs and also served as a principal in a local school. His second stint in charge of Mjällby came in 2021, and he was reappointed for a third time in 2023.

While Torstensson is credited for his leadership, the key to his success perhaps lies in his willingness to trust his fellow staff members. Most notable among them is Karl Aksum, who is regarded by FIFA’s training centre as “a world-leading authority on visual perception in elite football” and has a PhD on the topic from the Norwegian School of Sports Sciences. He has been credited with revolutionising Mjällby’s style of play, as their average possession went up from 43.6% in 2023 to 51.2% following his arrival in 2024.

Eye-catching and effective style of play

Mjällby’s possession average has gone up further to over 54% this term, but that stat alone says very little about exactly how they like to play. The Allsvenskan leaders are always a very intriguing team to watch but especially so when they face high-pressing opposition, as is quite often the case in Sweden. Typically lining up in a 3-4-3 formation, they like to position their attackers high but bring the rest of the team quite deep when building out, looking to bait their opponents out of shape before quickly playing through with slick passing and/or releasing one of the forwards. That is why they are fourth in the league for short passes completed but down in 12th for long balls – they only punt it forward in selective circumstances.

Interestingly, Mjällby would likely not be so susceptible to being opened up in such a way if they were to face themselves. Although they can press high at times, Torstensson’s side often look to defend in a compact block and with a disciplined back five. This approach has helped them hold on to the vast majority of their leads, enabling them to come away with all three points on 19 of the 23 occasions in which they have gone ahead in the 26 league games played so far this term.

Mjällby have by far the best defensive record in Allsvenskan with just 17 goals conceded, but their underlying numbers are not quite as incredibly impressive. They have significantly outperformed xG on both ends of the pitch, so some standout seasons from many of their players as well as a great deal of good fortune have been just as crucial as their tactics to their title charge.

Standout players

Surprisingly, the top scorer for the champions elect only has seven league goals to his name this term as almost everyone in the side has chipped in with a few. While they might not have a standout figure to credit for their record in front of goal, they certainly have to be very grateful to goalkeeper Noel Törnqvist for their mightily impressive defensive record. The stats suggest that the 23-year-old custodian has prevented more than nine goals above average thanks to his shot-stopping alone, and he is an impressive ball-player too. It should be no surprise, then, that he has already sealed a move to Serie A upstarts Como.

Central defender Axel Norén has also impressed enough to earn a first call-up to the Swedish national team this year, but his occasional partner Herman Johansson is even more eye-catching. More often deployed as a right wing back this season, he is the team’s joint top-scorer with seven league goals, most of which have come from being at the right place at the right time in set-piece situations.

Fellow wing back Elliot Stroud also deserves some credit for his excellent deliveries, which have contributed to Mjällby scoring over a quarter of their goals from dead ball situations. He himself has six goals and five assists to his name as he is a real threat in open play as well.

Young Gambian forward Abdoulie Manneh is the only other player above Stroud in the scoring charts thanks to his constant clever movement and willingness to let fly from all angles.

But perhaps one of the most important figures is Jesper Gustavsson, an academy graduate who is one of just two players to have reached the 300-appearance mark in Mjällby’s history. The club captain was absent for their biggest game to date as they lost the cup final in 2023, so it will be all the more emotional for him when Mjällby finally lift their first-ever major trophy, thanks in no small part to over 2,000 minutes of his pulling the strings and dictating the play from midfield.

The Swedish fairytale could be decided if Mjällby win at IFK Göteborg, next Monday.

(All images courtesy of Michael Smolski, Football is Everywhere, with thanks to Mjällby AIF)

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