All you need to know about UWCL debutants Hammarby
Swedish side Hammarby have qualified for the Uefa Women's Champions League for the first time in their history. Here's what you need to know about the 2023 Damallsvenskan champions.
Hammarby have been coming into their own in the last few years. The beginning of their Uefa Women’s Champions League group stage campaign marks the moment this blossoming team finally reaches its full potential.
Captain Alice Carlsson has underlined how, in her five years at the club, the goal has always been European football. Not only have they delivered, but they did it in style, defeating Portuguese champions Benfica on route to the last 16.
Hammarby have been drawn in a tough group alongside three-time UWCL champions Barcelona, Manchester City and St Pölten. It all kicks off when they face St Pölten in their opener on Wednesday night.
Head coach and style of play
Hammarby are still very much a team in transition. In March, they lost manager Pablo Piñones-Arce, who steered them to a league and cup double in 2023, as he left to become technical director of the Houston Dash in the NWSL.
To replace him, they brought in Martin Sjögren, a familiar face in Damallsvenskan. He was most recently an assistant coach with men’s side IFK Norrköping having previously been the manager of Norway women's national team.
Sjögren has won Damallsvenskan three times, twice with LdB Malmö (now Rosengård) and once with Linköping. He’s got 10 years of experience coaching in the league, although the last time was in 2016 and a lot has changed since then. He was playing Uefa Champions League football with Linköping in the 2014-15 season and they beat Liverpool on the way to advancing to the quarterfinals, before going out against Brøndby.
With Sjögren’s arrival, the team went from five at the back (a 3-5-2 with wingbacks dropping down in defence) to a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3, in line with the sporting strategy of both the club and the manager. The loss of experienced centre-back Simone Boye, through pregnancy, and the addition of Stina Lennartsson at right back, further rationalised the tactical change.
Hammarby are a free flowing attacking side, but they sometimes leave themselves exposed at the back with their high defensive line. Last season, Hammarby won the league on goal difference having scored 60 (seven more than Häcken who were chasing them) but conceding 16 goals to Häcken’s 10.
This season, the Hammarby defence has managed 16 clean sheets in 22 games.
There have been a few occasions both last season and this season where they have let in goals due to simple, individual mistakes. It points to a certain youthfulness that sometimes turns into naivety. It’s understandable given they are a very young team, with a median squad age of 24, but it can be their downfall.
Hammarby have shown in their title and UWCL qualifying campaign that they can show up when it counts. However, there are uncharacteristic slip ups that sometimes follow.
Players to watch
One of the biggest improvements to Hammarby’s squad this season was the addition of last year’s Golden Boot-winner Cathinka Tandberg. The Norwegian target striker joined Hammarby in the summer after struggling in Linköping for the first part of the season, only recording four goals in 13 games. She has opened up about the toll it took on her mental health and the pressure that she was putting on herself. Since joining the Stockholm team, she has blossomed and already doubled her goalscoring tally, registering eight goals in eight games for Hammarby.
Tandberg’s goal in the 96th-minute of the second leg against Benfica was the quintessential example of her playing style. It looked like Emilie Joremo was chancing it when she delivered that ball into the box and subsequently fell over. There was Tandberg, as she always is, running onto the ball and steering it in, before falling over herself.
She’s a rough-and-tumble kind of forward, sometimes a bit scrappy but gets the job done as she is tenacious and reads the game well. The 20-year-old is most active inside the box but she’s got a great shot on her and can create chances and score from anywhere. Her hold-up play is strong and she can comfortably play with her back to goal.
There were some question marks around how she was going to work together with up-and-coming Swedish striker Ellen Wangerheim, a stalwart who has been with the team since she was 15. The attacking pair have complemented each other well as Tandberg is a traditional striker and Wangerheim has been deployed as a number 10 at times.
Norwegian influence
There’s been a large influx of Norwegian players in the Hammarby squad this season. It took local fans bit of adjusting but as we come towards the end of the season the general consensus has been that the Scandinavian neighbours know a thing or two about talent development.
Vilde Hasund, Smilla Vallotto and Thea Sørbo where already in the team, joined by Julie Blakstad who Hammarby managed to snatch from Manchester City, as well as Rosenborg-teammates Emilie Joramo and Anna Jösendal.
Several of these players featured under Sjögren during his time in the Norwegian national team, an edge that further helps the cohesion of the team.
Blakstad is a creative whirlwind with a lethal strike in her left foot. Her first touch is sublime and the decision-making is instinctive and accurate. She’s got six goals and seven assists domestically, as well as scoring in both the home and away tie against Benfica. With a dribbling success rate of 71% she’s comfortable on the ball, especially on her favoured left side.
Joramo is a central midfielder, usually in that double pivot alongside Sørbo or Asato Miyagawa. A target of Barcelona, she’s been lauded for her high work rate and is very comfortable on the ball.
Jösendal has a great working relationship with Joramo on that left side and is a good alternative for Blakstad as an attacking midfielder. This season, she’s struggled with injury but her last season in Norway saw her rack up eight goals and nine assists.
Vallotto is an outlier in this Norwegian bunch, brought up in Norway but born in Geneva and representing Switzerland. The attacking midfielder alternates between a centre attacking-midfielder role and playing out on the right wing, racking up four goals and seven assists so far.
Talent spotters
Hammarby have a knack for finding and bringing out the best in their young talent. Quite a few well-known names have passed through the club. Chelsea protégé Maika Hamano spent half a season on loan with Hammarby last spring and the young attacker made an instant impact with her 11 goals in 22 games and got to add a cup gold to her record.
Kyra Cooney-Cross came to Hammarby from Melbourne Victory and spent two seasons with “Bajen” before Arsenal broke the bank for her signature, making her one of the most expensive signings in the women's game. In the winter Hammarby also lost attacking duo Madelen Janogy and Matilda Vinberg to Fiorentina and Tottenham Hotspur, respectively.
Trying to stop European giants
Hammarby have been drawn against European giants Barcelona, WSL contenders Manchester City and Austrian side St Pölten.
The clash against St Pölten is undoubtedly Hammarby’s best chance at getting some points. They are an established side in the Austrian league, winning the league the last three seasons in a row, but they haven’t made a big dent on the European stage.
They have already encountered Swedish opposition, playing FC Rosengård in the Champions League in 2021. The first game was a 2-2 tie before Rosengård went on to win the second game 2-0.
Barcelona and Manchester City will be a much bigger challenge. It is highly unlikely that Hammarby can break down Barcelona’s acute passing and swarming high press, or Manchester City’s relentless overloading through the channels. The general pace and physicality of the game will be also be tricky, as the level is much higher in England and Spain than it is in Sweden. Hammarby struggled at times against Benfica.
By November, Hammarby will not have any more league games and can focus wholeheartedly on their European fixtures. In line with their youthful demeanor, they are optimistic about their chances despite their lack of experience on a European level and that, combined with a slip up and any one result going their way, might just get them over the line and into the knockout rounds.
Where Hammarby will have the advantage is in the stands at their home legs. The Hammarby fans are some of the most famous in Sweden and they’re unwavering support and noise has become legendary. They broke the attendance record for a Champions League qualifying game when 12, 000 supporters showed up for their home tie against Benfica, and displayed a tifo spurring on their side.
It will take more than just the amazing spirit of the home fans to get Hammarby beyond the group stage but this UWCL campaign is set to be memorable whatever happens.
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