In this scout report, we focus on SK Brann from Norway in their game against Rosenborg. We have chosen to look at two young players who are considered great talents.
The game ended in a 1-0 victory for Rosenborg, but in this report, we will focus on the young talents from SK Brann.
Ratings:
- A1 – Very good, could play higher
- A2 – Strong potential to play higher
- B1 – Good, strong player at level
- B2 – Potential to be a strong player at level
- C – Average for the level, rewatch
- D – Below average in this match
Marthine Østenstad (21)
Date of birth: 18–3–2001
Nationality: Norwegian
Position: Central defender
Current club: SK Brann
International: Norway U23
Østenstad is a central defender who plays for SK Brann. She can play as right central defender in a back four and a back five, as she did against Rosenborg in their 5-4-1.
Her defensive qualities lie in that she is very decent and solid in the duels, both on the ground and in the air. She maintains a high line and is good in the man-to-man marking, but is easily beat when the attacker is fast. She stays compact and in close vicinity of her other central defenders, but isn’t as versatile as the system asks of her. She makes up for that by defending with her presence and limiting the high quality chances.
Going forward with the ball, the central defensive trio goes high up the pitch. Østenstad is comfortable on the ball and plays like an inverted full back in possession of the ball. She recognises runs from the midfielders and attackers, and isn’t afraid to take risks in her passing – because the reward will be high tough. She has a good distribution of the long ball as well.
Rating: B1. In terms of defending she is decent and solid, but she lacks the reading of the game ahead of when it’s happening. She needs to think a few steps ahead for her to move into the absolute elite of European football. Her attacking vision and execution of passes is very good.
Elisabeth Terland (20)
Date of birth: 28–6–2001
Nationality: Norwegian
Position: Left midfielder
Current club: SK Brann
International: Norway
Elisabeth Terland played as the wide midfielder on the left in the 5-4-1 formation employed by SK Brann.
What Terland does well is that she stays deep initially, but moves quickly up the pitch when Brann have the ball. Then she stays wide, gets the ball, carries it from the middle third to the final third, and looks to give a cross. Her passing ability can be described as direct, sometimes hasty, but always looking to have a high tempo attack on the transition.
She has a good shot and tries to utilise that from distance. You can see her often going for long shots, but her cross deliveries are good too. She’s an asset in set pieces, both in attack and defence – because she likes to connect with the ball and be direct.
Her positioning in defence isn’t optimal, as she gets caught on the break, but her defensive abilities are okay. So she can recover from her bad positioning with a defensive action: interception or tackle.
Rating: B1. If she sorts her defensive positioning out and is a bit more composed in her actions going forward, she will score more goals and have more assists. She can beat her direct opponent in a 1v1 and combined with the things mentioned, she could well move to the A category.