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
Mikkel Kaufman
Player profile:
- Nationality: Danish
- Age: 19
- Date of birth: 03/01/2001
- Current Club: FC Copenhagen
- Career: Aalborg BK, FC Copenhagen
- Position: Centre Forward
- Secondary Position: Attacking Midfield
- Preferred foot: Right
The first thing that struck me when watching Mikkel Kaufmann was his physical stature. He stands at 6 feet 3 inches tall and has a muscular frame and has the physical attributes to be a good target man. However this isn’t how he was utilised in this game and it certainly isn’t all he’s limited to.
He showed a good turn of pace, which was most often used in pressing the Silkeborg defence, rather than running in behind. At one stage he pressed all the way back to the goalkeeper, forcing an error which almost led to a København goal. He did make several attempts to run behind, but his teammates weren’t able to find the right pass. There was one particular time where he dummied to run one side of the centre back, only to go the other and leave him behind completely, but unfortunately the pass was just too close to the goalkeeper.
As mentioned above, he has good body strength and he utilised this well in tussling with defenders regularly and by holding the ball up for midfield runners.
His technical ability was impressive, showing ability to control the ball from the air under pressure from defenders and his passing was good. Unfortunately there weren’t any shooting opportunities for him so I couldn’t asses his ball striking.
Though he didn’t get any good chances of his own in this game, he did claim the assist for Copenhagen’s only goal as he was aware of Stage arriving unmarked on the edge of the box and played a clever first-time flick for in front of him that the midfielder was able to strike without breaking his stride.
Rating: A1
I think Kaufmann has all the attributes to play as a deep-lying forward or a classic number 9. He was physically very impressive but he also played with a maturity beyond what I’d expect of a 19 year old. When I watch him next I hope to see a little bit more from him in terms of finding space to get shots away in the penalty area, but I think this was a difficult game for him in that regard as Silkeborg were playing with men behind the ball and trying to counter attack. Even without seeing him get a clear chance in this game, I’d be surprised if the Superligaen is the highest level he plays at in his career. Considering Copenhagen paid Aalborg £2.7m for him in January, I’d expect they have a very good chance to make a decent profit on him in the future.
Victor Nelsson
Player profile:
- Nationality: Danish
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 14/10/1998
- Current Club: FC Copenhagen
- Career: FC Nordsjaelland, FC Copenhagen
- Position: Centre Back
- Preferred foot: Right
Victor Nelsson was a standout performer in this game. Physically he was imposing and dominant, regularly getting his body ahead of the Silkeborg centre forward to make interceptions.
He also demonstrated very good awareness on several occasions, anticipating danger and sweeping behind to make several recoveries when his defensive partners or right full back were caught out of position. When he needed to make a sliding tackle, his timing was exceptional.
He was caught under the ball at one corner which led to a goal mouth scramble, but aside from that his defensive performance was without blemish for me. I also felt that he could have done better with a headed clearance from a set piece which did end up leading to a goal.
In possession he was very comfortable. He primarily played raking passes out to the right back. As such, he would often let the ball come across his body from the left before taking a touch to push it in front of him and spreading it wide. These were mixed between passes in the air and passes zipped on the floor.
He was also confident enough to pass through the Silkeborg forward line into the Copenhagen midfield, which is essential to a team looking to dominate possession.
He had to be subbed because of an injury before the 70th minute and I felt very disappointed to watch the last 20 minutes of the game without him playing.
Rating: A1
Nelsson is another player that Copenhagen bought in the summer transfer window and I think at the very least he’ll be a player that plays in the heart of their defence for many years, but again, I think the likelihood is they could be making a strong return on that investment in a season or two. I don’t think he’d be out of place in the Premier League or he could be an option for a side chasing promotion in the second tier of one of the top European nations.
Mohammed Daramy
Player profile:
- Nationality: Danish/Sierra Leonean
- Age: 18
- Date of birth: 07/01/2002
- Current Club: FC Copenhagen
- Career: FC Copenhagen
- Position: Left Wing
- Secondary Position: Right Wing / Centre Forward
- Preferred foot: Right
Mohammed Daramy came on at half time to replace Biel, with him taking up position on the left and Rasmus Falk switching to the right.
As soon as he came onto the pitch he demonstrated explosive pace and he kept the right back looking over his shoulder at all times. When he got the ball to feet his first thought was to run at the full back and back him up towards the box or to go down the line to put a ball across. There was one particular time that he did this that almost led to a goal but it was well saved by the goalkeeper.
Although Daramy is a right footed player, he immediately brought more width, as he held his position high and wide on the left and when he got the ball he was prepared to run down the line and cross and shoot with his left foot. There was one notable opportunity that he had when he was found in space on the left hand side of the penalty area. He may have wanted to shoot with his right, but that was blocked off and he wasn’t afraid to take the shot on with his weaker foot. The strike went wide, but I was encouraged to see that he wasn’t one dimensional as some wingers can be.
In terms of technical ability, he showed good ball control in his dribbling, keeping it tight to his body not allowing it to get away from him. On the basis of this performance I felt there was more to his game than being a speed merchant.
Rating: A2
I make this rating with the caveat that I’ve only watched him for 45 minutes, but if he’d played the whole game and performed this way for the full 90, I’d be giving him an A1. His pace and directness brought a completely different facet to Copenhagen going forward. Suddenly they had far greater speed to transition and caused a lot more problems to Silkeborg. I will look forward to watching him again and if he continues to play like this I think he’s got a very bright future ahead of him.
Jens Stage
Player profile:
- Nationality: Danish
- Age: 23
- Date of birth: 08/11/1996
- Current Club: FC Copenhagen
- Career: Brabrand IF, Aarhus GF, FC Copenhagen
- Position: Central Midfield
- Secondary Position: Defensive Midfield / Right Midfield
- Preferred foot: Right
Stage scored his side’s goal in this game with a well placed side footed finish on his weaker left foot, but his performance still managed to leave me a bit cold.
As mentioned above, in the first half Pep Biel was drifting inside a lot and as such Stage, who was operating on the right side of a two man central midfield was getting a bit lost. As such, he barely saw the ball, though he did some very good work out of possession, cutting passing lanes, winning duels due to his physicality and recovering loose balls on a few occasions. In possession the game was passing him by.
In the second half he was picking the ball up in deeper positions and contributing to the transitioning the ball from defence to attack, but he didn’t do anything particularly dangerous in attack – aside from the key moment, when he timed his run into the box to perfection and finished well.
Rating: B1
The second half of the game bumped his rating up by a lot. In the first half he would have been a C, but the quality of the goal alone was enough to bump him into the B band and the truth is, not everybody can be a glamorous attacking player. Some midfielders are functional number 8s and that’s ok. Perhaps next time I watch him I’ll appreciate that more.
Pep Biel
Player profile:
- Nationality: Spanish
- Age: 23
- Date of birth: 05/09/1996
- Current Club: FC Copenhagen
- Career: Rayo Vallecano (y),CD Llosetense, RCD Mallorca B, AD Almudévar (loan), Dep. Aragón, Real Zaragoza, FC Copenhagen
- Position: Right Midfield
- Secondary Position: Central Midfield
- Preferred foot: Left
Biel only played the first 45 minutes in this game. He started brightly, coming inside off the right flank and playing an in-swinging cross from the right half space which only just eluded Kaufmann. He also showed quick feet to dribble through a couple of players, but in coming inside often he was taking the space of the right-sided central midfielder and it got quite congested.
Just before half-time he committed a terrible foul by studding somebody on the thigh, but it went unnoticed by the officials.
Rating: B2
He showed enough in the first few minutes for me to think he was a good player in terms of technical ability and whilst the congestion in the right half space was a bit of a problem, I think he could have been a dangerous player in the second half so I was surprised to see him go off. I’ll be interested to watch him again and see if this was just a problem in this game. I think it was just a tactical substitution to attempt to get a bit more width in the team considering Silkeborg were defending deep.