Molde FK grabbed a convincing 4-1 win against fourth placed Valerenga in their 11th match of the Eliteserien, securing their second place behind Bodø/Glimt. Valerenga put up a good fight, but two individual errors made it a hard game to win for them.
The away side played a 4-3-3 formation with one defensive midfielder and two midfielders with more freedom to roam around the pitch and played quite attractive football. Molde set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Aursnes and Hussain as their defensive and were more effective on the half of Valerenga.
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
Osame Sahraoui
Player profile:
- Nationality: Norwegian
- Age: 19
- Date of birth: 11/06/2001
- Current club: Vålerenga IF
- Career: Vålerenga IF
- Position: Left Wing
- Secondary position: Attacking Midfield
- Preferred foot: Right
Legend says that the Molde FK defenders are still trying to get Osame Sahraoui off the ball. The winger was untouchable against Molde and really put on a show.
Sahraoui played as the left winger for the first 72 minutes and played the final 20 minutes of the game as the right centre midfielder. His technique is what really stood out this game. Sahraoui showed some great dribbling with both feet and dribbled past his opponent with ease, penetrating Molde’s defensive lines. He turns very quickly and is quite explosive. Often players who dribble as much as he does try and take on too many players and lose the ball, but most times Sahraoui knew when to play a simple pass and when to try and dribble. However there were one or two situations where he took a little too much risk on his own half, but luckily for him there were no big consequences.
The 19-year old was a constant threat for Molde cutting inside from the left and trying to play short combinations with his teammates. He also showed some very good vision, creating a couple of big chances, and was very unlucky not to get an assist this game.
Defensively Sahraoui also worked hard every duel. He clearly isn’t a defender and didn’t win a lot of his defensive duels as he is a bit too impatient. Sahraoui anticipated well at times, recovering three balls on the half of Molde FK.
The last twenty minutes when Sahraoui was playing in the middle of the pitch he was even more dangerous at times. Linking up closely with Aron Dönnum they created a lot for Valerenga, but again the end product seemed to miss. Sahraoui didn’t really got a lot of opportunities to shoot and only got one shot on target, which was saved well by the goalkeeper.
Rating: A1
If Sahraoui continues like this the assists will come. I didn’t see a lot coming from his left foot, which might be a limitation to his game. Sahraoui showed a lot of potential and talent and I keep following him for sure.
Aron Dönnum
Player profile:
- Nationality: Norwegian
- Age: 22
- Date of birth: 20/04/1998
- Current club: Vålerenga IF
- Career: Vålerenga IF, HamKam (L)
- Position: Right Wing
- Preferred foot: Left
Aron Donnum didn’t play a very good game against Molde FK, but there is just something about him that makes him an interesting player. The 5’9” is very strong on the ball and tried beating his opponent a lot, with not a lot of success. Donnum seemed to have a lot of confidence and was most dangerous cutting inside to his preferred left foot, but also tried to go around the outside at times.
Donnum was trying short combinations a lot with his teammates and showed good vision and passing, with 87% passing accuracy. In smaller spaces Donnum seemed to struggle at times with the ball at his feet. He has okay technique, but not as refined as Sahraoui does.
This game Donnum probably should’ve scored. He made a couple of very intelligent runs, but just couldn’t finish the chances he was given. This wasn’t always his fault as he got quite unlucky in some situations where he stayed calm, but still cost his team.
Physically Donnum posses quite a bit of pace, but he struggled against the rapid John Kitolano. The 22 year old attacker seemed quite strong, but only managed to win three out of nineteen offensive duels. His stamina seemed very good as he managed to keep making runs the full 90 minutes.
Rating: B1
Donnum has something special, but played too sloppy to get an A rating. He is a good player for the Eliteserien, but needs to play better to succeed in stronger leagues.
Christian Dahle Borchgrevink
Player profile:
- Nationality: Norwegian
- Age: 21
- Date of birth: 11/05/1999
- Current club: Vålerenga IF
- Career: Vålerenga IF, HamKam (L), Notodden FK (L)
- Position: Right Back
- Preferred foot: Right
Except for one moment Christian Borchgrevink played a very solid game against Molde. In the 78′ minute the young right back gave the ball away in midfield after a bad pass and was instantly punished for it. After a cross from Hussain Ohi Omoijuanfo was there to head in the ball.
Besides that Borchgrevink did very well against the titleholders in Norway. The 21-year old has great stamina and covered the whole right side all game long. In the 86′ minute he made up for his earlier mistake with a good assist to Bard Finne who scored the 3-1. Borchgrevink not only has lungs of steel, but also possess a good amount of pace and is strong enough to win most of his defensive duels.
So physically Borchgrevink checks all the boxes, but on the ball the right back is solid too. The Norwegian is very composed and isn’t scared to dribble past his opponent when under pressure. Borchgrevink did well keeping possession for his team in build-up, mostly playing simple passes.
Defensively Borchgrevink did very well against Eirik Andersen, who got subbed off after 70 minutes. He was very patient in 1v1’s, did well in aerial duels when needed and made a crucial tackle in his own box which would’ve been a goal otherwise.
Rating: A2
He may have been a little sloppy at times, but Borchgrevink is a very good attacking full back.
Odin Thiago Holm
Player profile:
- Nationality: Norwegian
- Age: 17
- Date of birth: 18/01/2003
- Current club: Vålerenga IF
- Career: Ranheim (Y), Vålerenga IF, Tiller IL (L)
- Position: Centre Midfield
- Preferred foot: Right
At the age of Odin Thiago Holm made his first start for Valerenga IF and there are not a lot of harder teams to play against in Norway. The young midfielder made a solid impression though and didn’t look out of place at all.
Holm had a difficult start to the game with a sloppy pass and a pretty ugly foul, but after the nerves were gone he did well. Holm covered a lot of ground and made good runs to always be available to receive the ball.
On the ball Holm didn’t really do any crazy things. He showed good technique and passing range. He wasn’t that involved, but remained possession for his team very well. The 17-year old also showed to have some nice long passes up his sleeve.
Holm surprised me defensively. He isn’t a very strong player, which is no surprise with him being 17, but still did well in 1v1’s. If he would put a little more aggression in his duels, he would win even more of them.
Rating: B1
Odin Thiago Holm could be a good player for Valerenga. Holm played very mature, but should try to get involved more.
Kristoffer Klaesson
Player profile:
- Nationality: Norwegian
- Age: 19
- Date of birth: 27/11/2000
- Current club: Vålerenga IF
- Career: Vålerenga IF
- Position: Goalkeeper
- Preferred foot: Left
Young goalkeepers make mistakes and so did Kristoffer Klaesson. I was pretty impressed with his kicks in the first few minutes, but then he made two big mistakes in a short period of time. The first time it didn’t have consequences, but when he didn’t get the ball of the ground the second time he was punished. Molde’s striker Omojiuanfo easily intercepted the bad pass and played a nice back heel pass to Aursnes who finished and opened the score.
The rest of the game Klaesson did very well. His goalkicks were very good and he made some important saves for his team. He showed good reflexes and handling. He also showed a lot of bravery when he saved a pretty dangerous 1 on 1. At 6’2” Klaesson isn’t the tallest goalkeeper and he seemed a little insecure with high balls.
Rating: A2
Looking through the two mistakes, Klaesson could be a very good goalkeeper in the future. Being first choice at 19-years of age is not easy for a goalkeeper.