The relegation battle between Östersunds FK and Helsingborgs IF ended in a goalless draw in the 11th round of the Allsvenskan. The home-side currently sit in 13th place just outside the relegation zone with one more point than Helsingborgs.
Amir Azrafshan’s Östersunds played a defensive 5-3-1-1 formation and struggled to create big chances against Helsingborgs’ 4-4-2. Defensively Östersunds did very well as Helsingborgs didn’t manage to get a single shot on target.
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, re-watch
- D – Below average in this match
Jordan Attah Kadiri
Player profile:
- Nationality: Nigerian
- Age: 20
- Date of birth: 11/03/2000
- Current club: Östersunds FK
- Career: Nasarawa United, Östersunds FK
- Position: Striker
- Preferred foot: Right
Jordan Kadiri played as the lone striker for Östersunds with Nebiyou Perry roaming around him and had a decent game. The Nigerian striker seems to have a lot of talent, but was too sloppy with his passing in this match.
Kadiri played as a target man for Östersunds and was superb in holding up the ball for his team. The Helsingborgs defenders couldn’t get Kadiri off the ball in ground duels and, despite being fairly average in height at just 6 foot tall, he was surprisingly strong in the air as well. Since Östersunds FK played a very low defensive line Kadiri played a very important role in keeping the ball, giving his team time to move further up the pitch.
With the ball at his feet Kadiri seemed really composed. His first touch and dribbling both looked very strong. Kadiri played mostly with his back turned to Helsingborgs’ goal and did very well controlling the ball with his chest multiple times. His strength combined with his good technique and some smart body feints made it really easy for him to beat some opponents when he was holding up the ball.
It was a difficult game for Kadiri since Östersunds didn’t really create any big chances for him. He beat his man at the front post one time after a good cross from the right, but his header went just over the bar. Kadiri’s shooting looked very good. The striker had two shots from difficult positions which just missed the target and one long shot which was saved by the goalkeeper. The striker only had two touches in the opponents box in this game.
His biggest weakness against Helsingborgs IF was his passing. Kadiri did very well holding up the ball, but made way too many mistakes in short combinations with his teammates. Kadiri only completed 63% of his passes, which all were short passes. He showed that he can play first touch passes well, so it might be a concentration thing, but he needs to improve in that aspect for sure. Also he seemed to be quite tired after 85 minutes and didn’t even try to run in the box when his teammate had the ball on the right wing, so it seems his stamina needs to improve as well.
Rating: A2
Kadiri was outstanding holding up the ball for his team, but lost it too many times with sloppy passes. I think he has a lot of talent and I’m curious to see him in a role where he has more freedom to make runs behind the defenders.
Nebiyou Perry
Player profile:
- Nationality: American/Swedish
- Age: 20
- Date of birth: 02/10/1999
- Current club: Östersunds FK
- Career: AIK (Y), FC Köln II, Trelleborgs FF (L), Östersunds FK
- Position: Left Wing
- Secondary position: Attacking Midfield, Right Wing
- Preferred foot: Right
Nebiyou Perry got his first start for Östersunds this season against Helsingborgs IF and showed some real quality on the ball. The left winger, who represented the United States and Sweden at different youth levels, played as the Shadow Striker/Attacking Midfielder behind Jordan Kadiri and roamed from his position a lot.
On the ball is where Perry really thrived. The 20 year old attacker has great technique and was really hard to get off the ball with his agility and dribbling, completing eight out of eleven dribble attempts. Perry isn’t the fastest player, but he dribbled past his opponents with ease multiple times and made three progressive runs. The winger has good awareness of the spaces around him and has a very high turning speed making it hard to pressure him.
Perry’s passing was very neat as well. The American barely made any mistakes and did very well in the small spaces in the final third. He prefers his right foot, but seemed very comfortable with his left foot as well. He was really good on the ball, but never really created a dangerous situation for his team. He got one shot off the whole game, which got easily blocked, and only got one touch in Helsingborgs’ box.
Physically there is a lot of room for improvement. He isn’t very strong and also seems to lack a little bit of pace. If he improves he can be a real asset in the Allsvenskan and probably at a higher level as well.
Rating: B2
Technically Perry is way better than the average Allsvenskan player, but there is a lot of important aspects that he needs to improve on to succeed.
Felix Hörberg
Player profile:
- Nationality: Swedish
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 19/05/1999
- Current club: Östersunds FK
- Career: Trelleborgs FF, Östersunds FK
- Position: Right Wing-Back
- Secondary position: Right Back, Right Wing
- Preferred foot: Right
Felix Hörberg put in a solid performance against Helsingborgs. The 5’1” right wing-back covered the whole right side for his team and put in a lot of work. He was almost always available to receive the ball on the right side when his team was attacking and tracked back nicely when Helsingborgs took over possession.
Hörberg isn’t the fastest player in the world, but possesses enough pace to be a nuisance on the right. He is quite strong for his height and did very well in ground duels against Helsingborgs. He anticipated very well defensively, intercepting six balls in this game. In aerial duels he was pretty vulnerable as his timing in the air is quite poor and he is unable to jump very high.
On the ball Hörberg was effective. His passing was good, with an 85% completion rate, and he seemed to have a decent passing range. His crossing however wasn’t the best and is definitely an area he has to improve on. Under pressure Hörberg stayed very calm on the right side. He wasn’t scared to take on his opponent and always found the right solution.
Rating: B1
Hörberg put in a solid performance against Helsingborgs, but needs to improve offensively to receive an A rating in my opinion.
Eirik Haugan
Player profile:
- Nationality: Norwegian
- Age: 22
- Date of birth: 27/08/1997
- Current club: Östersunds FK
- Career: Molde FK (Y), Olympique Marseille B, IL Hödd, Östersunds FK
- Position: Centre Back
- Preferred foot: Right
Eirik Haugan played as the right sided centre back in Östersunds 5-3-1-1 and had a good game against Helsingborgs. Haugan is only 5’11”, but competed well in aerial duels. The Norwegian defender is quite fast and has enough strength to make him a good centre back in a system with three central defenders and wing-backs.
Defensively Haugan put in a good effort. In his 1v1’s he sometimes didn’t have enough patience, which is an area which he can improve a lot on, but most of the time he waited for the right moment to strike. In the second half Haugan pushed forward a bit more, which resulted in some good interceptions by the 22 year old. He also put in two crucial tackles in his own box, which could’ve resulted in a goal otherwise.
Haugan’s passing was solid against Helsingborgs. His short passing was good, but he demonstrated a good passing range with his right foot as well. In the second half he seemed more confident on the ball, dribbling past his opponent a couple of times and pushing forward a bit more.
Rating: B1
Haugan did well against Helsingborgs, but because of his height I don’t think he would be the best fit in a formation with four defenders.
Kalpi Ouattara
Player profile:
- Nationality: Ivorian
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 29/12/1998
- Current club: Östersunds FK
- Career: ASEC Mimosas, Östersunds FK
- Position: Left Wing-Back
- Preferred foot: Left
Kalpi Ouattara didn’t manage to impress in against Helsingborgs and got subbed off after 66 minutes. Being only 5’8” Ouattara mainly struggled offensively against the strong right back Ravy Tsouka who easily outmuscled him. The 21-year old wing-back has decent pace, but didn’t have a lot of chances to use it this game.
On the ball Ouattara struggled quite a bit. He killed a dangerous counter attack with a bad long ball and didn’t manage to complete a cross. His short passing was alright, but sloppy at times. Ouattara seemed to be pretty clumsy with the ball at his feet. His dribbling was average, but he sometimes had a hard time controlling the ball.
Defensively the left wing-back did okay, though he mostly was up against Tsouka who isn’t really strong offensively. I could see him struggling a lot if he was up against a strong right winger who could outmuscle him.
Rating: C
With his pace Ouattara could potentially be a decent player in Sweden, but he didn’t impress in this game.
Frank Arhin
Player profile:
- Nationality: Ghanaian
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 16/02/1999
- Current club: Östersunds FK
- Career: Right to Dream Academy (Y), Östersunds FK, Dalkurd FF (L), Östersunds FK
- Position: Centre Midfield
- Secondary position: Striker
- Preferred foot: Left
It was a disappointing first start of the season for Frank Arhin who never really got to be involved in the game. Arhin played as the left sided midfielder and understandably got subbed off after 66 minutes.
There weren’t a lot of positive points I could take away from Arhin’s performance sadly. His passing was very sloppy from time to time and he was way too nonchalant at some points in the game. He showed that he has quite good technique, but he didn’t get involved in the game enough. Also he didn’t seem to use his right foot at all.
Defensively Arhin put in a couple of good tackles, but he got out muscled quite easily by his opponents. His positioning was quite bad as he gave a lot of space to the Helsingborgs players, which made him look pretty lazy at times.
Rating: D
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