IFK Norrköping played an away game against Östersunds. The visitors dominated Östersunds throughout the game, but the home team took the lead twice. IFK Norrköping played against a very defensive team, a compact block with a low position awaiting possession loss of IFK Norrköping in order to attack. It’s during two counter attacks that Östersunds scored their goals. IFK Norrköping stayed calm and could rely on Sead Hakšabanović and Ísak Bergmann Jóhannesson to get back on the game and to win in the last minutes of the match.
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 in this match
Sead Hakšabanović
Player profile:
- Nationality: Montenegrin/Swedish
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 04/05/1999
- Current club: IFK Norrköping, on loan from West Ham
- Career: Halmstads BK, West Ham Utd, Málaga CF (L), IFK Norrköping (L)
- Position: Left Wing
- Secondary Position: 10 / Right Wing
- Preferred foot: Right
As usual, Sead Hakšabanović started on the left wing in the attack, but he did not stay in this area. He is a really active player, he gets out of the left side to offer an option in all the front line. Off all players, the 21-year-old has the most touches during the game (101). His movement with and without the ball is energetic, he has the will to make an incisive run, cutting inside to find key zones quickly. He provoked a lot with the ball at his feet, seeking the 1v1 situations, but he wasn’t really effective in his dribbling during the match (2/6 dribbles succeeded – 33.33% success ratio), but his dribbling ability still delivered Nörrkoping a penalty which allowed them to get on level terms with the opponent.
He tried to vary his activity with the ball. He could attack alone, running with the ball to find space in behind or cut inside to open up space to passes, shots or crosses. He took the responsibility to animate the attack, but he sometimes should have had an eye for his teammates, forgetting to play with his partners. He showed a higher efficiency playing with short passes in the final third to create danger than with crosses. He was also in charge of set pieces but the team did not create a lot of danger in this aspect.
As Östersunds defended a lot and did not show a great will to attack, he did not have to defend that much which allowed him to focus on his attacking ability rather than chasing the oppositions full-back.
He was rewarded at the end of the game. In a counter attack that he leaded, he scored the final goal of the match after a good exchange with Ishaq Abdulrazak which secured the win for the team.
Rating: A1
Isak Bergmann Johanneson
Player profile:
- Nationality: Icelandic
- Age: 17
- Date of birth: 23/03/2003
- Current club: IFK Norrköping
- Career: ÍA Akranes (Y)
- Position: Attacking midfielder
- Secondary Position: Central Midfielder
- Preferred foot: left
Isaac Bergmann Johanneson got his first start in Allsvenskan with IFK Norrköping, he started as a right attacking midfielder operating on the right side during the first half before taking a more central position in the second half with more freedom. From a central position, the 17-year-old midfielder got two assists which allowed Nörrkoping to come back.
It’s a player who has a good reading game, he is intelligent and knows where to position himself to free up space or open passing lines to get into space on the oppositions half. He adjusts his position to compensate the movements from his partners, he could offer a solution in wide position to stretch the oppositions lines to offer more space inside and on the right wing he can easily get on his precise left foot to play passes, crosses or shots; when the right back was in a wide position, he occupied the half space position to give more freedom to the right back to attack in behind. In the second half, his cooperation with Seed Hakšabanović made the oppositions defensive line collapse with their complementary movements.
He showed great technical ability to keep the ball and create good movements in key areas. The 17-year-old is the player who made the most key passes during the match. Johanneson brought much-needed creativity to the team and held the ball well in the final third while also bringing danger with his good vision. He directly influenced the score with two assists; the first one to equalize and the second one to give the lead at the end of the game. In his first assist, he positions himself high up the pitch and he found a good position in the final third, whch allowed him to play a pass to Nyman who equalized. In his second assist, he occupies a wide position on the left side, he has time and space to play a beautiful diagonal pass for Simon Thern into the area who scores.
Johanneson is a young player who needs to work on his athletic ability, he had some difficulties in this game with this. This will only get better when he gets older and when he gets to play more matches.
Rating: A2