On the third matchday of the Danish 3F Superliga Bröndby IF suffered their second defeat. In a pretty even match Silkeborg, who are continuing their strong form from last season, was more effective and got the deserved three points. Manager Niels Frederiksen sent out Bröndby in a 4-3-1-2 with a very dynamic midfield and offensive fullbacks providing width on both sides. Silkeborg quickly took the lead by a goal from the ex-Aston Villa striker Nicklas Helenius. After this Bröndby had a lot of big chances to score but they couldn’t find the back of the net. Tobias Salquist sealed the game in the final minutes, heading in a corner kick.
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
Anis Ben Slimane
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Tunisian/Danish
- Age: 21
- Date of Birth: 16/03/2001
- Current Club: Bröndby IF
- Career: Akademisk BK, Bröndby IF
- Position: Centre Midfield
- Secondary Position: Attacking Midfield, Defensive Midfield
- Preferred Foot: Right
Anis Ben Slimane played as the right-sided central midfielder, with Joe Bell sitting as the most defensive midfielder and Mathias Greve on the left. Where Greve stayed on the left side of the pitch for most of the game, Slimane was everywhere and had a lot of freedom to roam around the pitch. The Tunisian international showed some exceptional skill and was the best player on the pitch, in my eyes. According to Transfermarkt, the 21-year-old is two-footed but I feel like he still feels a lot more comfortable with his right foot. I rarely saw him use his left foot, even when it would benefit him.
Slimane’s positional freedom really suits him well. He was always trying to make triangles and play short combinations with his teammates. He showed great technique and thrived in smaller spaces with a lot of opponents around him. Slimane showed great spatial awareness and played a couple of fantastic first-touch through passes. His passing overall looked very strong, showing great passing range. The central midfielder would almost always try to be involved in Bröndby’s play, making good runs in the box, moving a lot between the lines or even dropping back in their build-up play. Technically Slimane looked almost flawless this game, displaying good first touches and solid dribbling. He looked very composed on the ball and did very well beating his opponents on the ball, which created a lot of space for his side.
For someone with his flair and technical ability, Anis Ben Slimane is actually surprisingly tall standing at 1.88m with quite a stocky build. The midfielder is quite strong but mainly showed this when he had the ball, shielding it from his opponents very well on a few occasions. Defensively he could use his body a lot better still, as he lost a couple of duels he normally should be easily winning. Looking at his pace he looked quite average and didn’t really stand out, with decent acceleration and top speed.
Rating – A1
I definitely think Anis Ben Slimane is ready to play at a higher level. Reportedly there are quite some clubs after the Tunisian midfielder from England, Germany, Italy and Belgium. A step to one of the top five leagues is huge but I can see him doing well in some of the German or Italian sides.
Henrik Heggheim
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Norwegian
- Age: 21
- Date of Birth: 22/04/2001
- Current Club: Bröndby IF
- Career: Viking FK, Bröndby IF
- Position: Centre Back
- Preferred Foot: Right
I’ve seen Henrik Heggheim play a bunch of times when he was still at Viking FK and really liked him back then. Heggheim played as the right centre back next to Sigurd Rosted and played quite a solid game. My main concern with Heggheim two years ago was the physical side of his game. The 1.89m tall defender had a really lean build when he was in Norway and it’s very clear that he gained some muscle mass now. He wasn’t involved in that many physical duels but it was still clear that he reads the game very well. He knows when to step out of the defensive line and made a couple of good interceptions.
The 21-year-old is solid in the air but there was one moment this game where he left Silkeborg’s striker Helenius completely unmarked after a cross from the left. He looked like he was stuck in the ground when Helenius was heading the ball and was very lucky that it wasn’t a very good effort. Bröndby really tried to look for Heggheim with their corner kicks. The youngster did well winning the header at the near post twice, but his opponent just managed to block both balls.
As I described last time Heggheim is a very strong ball-playing defender. He has a lot of confidence and is very comfortable on the ball, even though it looked like he tried to play a little safer this game than he did for Viking. The young defender only dribbled in the midfield a few times, trying to create space. His distribution of the ball still looked fantastic. He played a lot of good line-breaking passes and also showed great passing range with some fantastic switches to the left side of the pitch.
Rating – A2
I feel like Heggheim still has some steps to make physically if he wants to make a step up. There are quite some centre-backs in Bröndby’s squad, so I hope he manages to keep his spot in the starting lineup after this game.
Sebastian Sebulonsen
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Norwegian
- Age: 22
- Date of Birth: 27/01/2000
- Current Club: Bröndby IF
- Career: Sola FK, Viking FK, Mjöndalen (Loan), Bröndby IF
- Position: Right Back
- Preferred Foot: Right
Just like Henrik Heggheim and also Joe Bell, Sebastian Sebulonsen recently joined Bröndby IF from Viking FK. Since moving to Bröndby Sebulonsen instantly got his spot in the starting XI, starting all of his first five matches. Against Silkeborg, the right back played a really poor match, in my opinion. Especially on the ball, Sebulonsen was extremely sloppy, with a lot of poorly played passes.
The 22-year-old fullback is a real powerhouse. Standing at 1.87m with an athletic build Sebulonsen possesses a lot of strength. He also has decent acceleration and great top speed, making him really hard to beat in defensive 1v1s. His only weakness here is that he is not very agile and quick changes of direction could surprise him. I felt like he didn’t really use his pace that often in offensive situations though. I thought he was quite late with his overlapping runs and you could often hear Bröndby’s coach yelling his name in these situations.
The couple of times his overlapping runs were times well and he got the ball though, there wasn’t a lot to be excited about this game. He completely overhit a couple of crosses and just seemed to lack some accuracy on them this game. He looked quite comfortable on the ball on the ball in tight spaces but his passing was at times very poor. One moment here really stands out when he has the ball on Silkeborg’s half in a three versus one, in the final few minutes of the game. He tries to play in a teammate a few meters on his right, but overhits hit and kills the counter attack.
Rating – C
There are some things to like about Sebulonsen and I think he can definitely do the job for Bröndby IF, but this was a really poor match from him.
Target Scouting 
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