Ratings
- A1 – Very good, could play higher
- A2 – Strong potential to play higher
- B1 – Good, strong player at level
- B2 – Potential to be strong player at level
- C – Average for the level, rewatch
- D – Below average, don’t follow up
Max Svensson
Player profile:
- Nationality: Swedish
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 19/06/1998
- Current club: Helsingborgs IF
- Career: Helsingborgs IF
- Position: Left Wing
- Secondary Position: Central Attacking Midfield/Centre Forward
- Preferred foot: Right
Svensson was one of the brightest attacking players in the match. He looked to run with the ball at every opportunity as was dangerous coming inside from the left-wing – made a couple of opportunities for himself by dribbling into central areas but didn’t particularly test the goalkeeper with them. Although he was dangerous coming inside, he could perhaps have mixed it up and taken some opportunities to go down the line as well, but he looked a little one-footed on this first watch.
His first touch looked good and aside from a reluctance to use his left-foot, he looked a good technical player. One stand out moment was him controlling a cross field pass and turning in side in one movement, allowing him to carry the ball away from the fullback before he could react.
He got the assist for the opening goal as he carried the ball from his own half to edge of the opponent box, backing up the defenders who didn’t want to challenge him, before he played a nicely weighted pass for Mikkelsson to finish first-time.
Apart from his one-footedness another potential area of weakness may be decision making as he attempted a couple of dribbles in his own half which could have been costly. One in particular was in the Helsingborgs defensive third; he fell over and it led to a Sundsvall shot on goal from a central position.
Rating: A2
One of the best players on the pitch on a technical level and certainly the most dangerous over the course of the game, though it took him about 15 minutes to make an impression on the game. Will definitely be watching him some more to get a better assessment of what his potential might be, but would be confident he could make it in a higher European league than Allsvenskan.
Armin Gigovic
Player profile:
- Nationality: Swedish/Bosnian
- Age: 18
- Date of birth: 06/04/2002
- Current club: Helsingborgs IF
- Career: Helsingborgs IF
- Position: Central Attacking Midfield
- Secondary Position: Central Midfield/DM
- Preferred foot: Right
Gigovic was the player that caught my eye initially. He was very intelligent, always on the move, looking to find space and demanding the ball as you’d expect from any good number 10.
He was also a keen presser, winning the ball high up the pitch in the first few minutes which led to a shot on goal for his team. In the second half he took a knock by throwing himself into an aerial duel he was never likely to win, though Helsingsborgs did end up with possession and went on to score the winner at the end of that sequence of play.
He dribbled with the ball often, sometimes choosing to when moving the ball quickly with short, sharp passes might have been a better option, but he had good close control meaning that he often had to be fouled to be stopped. There were also a couple of occasions where he took some wild shots from range, which were just a complete waste of possession, though he did force the best save of the match with a curling effort from the edge of the box that was destined for top corner. He would have deserved the goal.
Rating: A1
He’s raw, but I could tell after a half that his future doesn’t lie in Sweden. He faded as the game went on, but that’s not surprising for an 18 year old. There was a sense that something might happen every time he picked up the ball. I googled him immediately after I watched the game as I was sure he’d be linked with clubs elsewhere and it came up with links to Wolverhampton Wanderers. If he did move there I would expect him to be given game time in the U23s or a loan to the EFL, but I don’t think it’d be a stretch to imagine him playing in a Top 5 league in the future. I will watch him more to see if I still feel this way after a few games.
Filip Sjoberg
Player profile:
- Nationality: Swedish
- Age: 20
- Date of birth: 12/04/2000
- Current club: Helsingborgs IF
- Career: Helsingborgs IF
- Position: Right Wing
- Secondary Position: Central Attacking Midfield/Left Wing
- Preferred foot: Right
It took Sjoberg over 10 minutes of the game before he got his first touch of the ball and that summed up his performance to me. He was just on the edge of proceedings. When he finally was involved it was mostly combination passes between him, the right sided central midfielder and the right back. He didn’t do too much wrong and looked after possession well but wasn’t particularly exciting and didn’t look like causing any problems for the Sundsvall left back. Considering the other two players behind the striker were running with the ball a lot, perhaps he brought some discipline and shape on the right. There was one opportunity for him to carry the ball on a counter attack where he showed good skill in a one v one and his opponent had to foul him to stop him and he also started a counter attack after taking a good touch under pressure and playing a pass through defenders to Gigovic.
There was one opportunity where if he’d got the pass right Helsingsborg would have had a 2 v 1 but he picked out the Sundsvall defender with his pass and the chance was gone.
Rating: B2
I think he was an average player in this game, but considering he is only 20 he looked good enough on a technical level to get regular game time and could be a good player at the level in the future. I’m not sure he’ll be a particularly exciting winger, but many teams have use for a workhorse on the wings. Could be a harsh assessment of his playing style, but he didn’t look anything like as exciting as his teammates in the attacking midfield trio.