The reigning champion in the Allsvenskan, BK Häcken, started their 2023 campaign off well with a 0-2 away win against IF Elfsborg. Both teams lined up in 4-3-3 formations, with the only difference being BK Häcken playing a single pivot, whereas Elfsborg played a double pivot. BK Häcken were the better side and deservedly walked away with the three points.
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
Amane Romeo
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Ivorian
- Age: 20
- Date of birth: 20/02/2003
- Current club: BK Häcken
- Career: ASEC Mimosas, BK Häcken
- Position: Central Midfielder
- Preferred foot: Right
Amane Romeo joined BK Häcken at the start of last season and made his fair share of minutes, but only started in a handful of league matches. In the first Allsvenskan match of 2023 Amane Romeo did get his spot in the starting XI though, as the left-central midfielder.
According to Wyscout and Transfermarkt Romeo is only 169cm tall, but I found that hard to believe and estimate him at least 175cm, as he looked taller than left-winger Lars Olde Larsen. Physically Romeo was quite impressive. Especially his stamina stood out to me as he covered an enormous amount of ground really slotting into that box-to-box midfielder role. Romeo has quite long and lanky legs, but he showed good strength and balance in physical duels. With his long legs, he looked very fast over longer distances, whilst also being quite explosive on the first meters.
With a goal in the 71st minute, Amane Romeo closed out the match against Elfsborg. After a fast counter-attack Romeo received the ball around Elfsborg’s box, took a touch with his left foot and calmly finished with his right foot. Earlier in the match he had another chance to score, but his very cleanly placed shot from the edge of the box hit the post. Throughout the match Romeo showed to be very comfortable on the ball and was able to play with both feet, although his passing with his weaker left foot was quite inconsistent. His long legs made him look a bit clumsy at times, but he did very well to recycle the ball for his teams even in some tough situations. He would often receive the ball quite deep on Elfsborg’s half, but if he saw the need he would drop back and pick up the ball from his own half. Romeo stayed composed under pressure and was fine taking on some shoulder-to-shoulder duels whilst carrying the ball forward. The 20-year-old kept his passing quite simple this match, but showed that he can play a nicely weighted deep pass on a few occasions.
Rating – A2
I definitely think Romeo can play on a higher level than the Allsvenskan. After this season a move to a good club in the Belgian Pro League could be a very good move for him to further develop himself.
Ibrahim Sadiq
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Ghanaian
- Age: 22
- Date of birth: 07/05/2002
- Current club: BK Häcken
- Career: Right to Dream Academy, FC Nordsjælland, BK Häcken
- Position: Right Winger
- Secondary position: Left Winger
- Preferred foot: Right
The 22-year-old Ibrahim Sadiq played as the right winger for BK Häcken against IF Elfsborg and was very active throughout the match. The Right to Dream graduate joined Häcken last year and had a pretty successful first season with 7 goals and 4 assists in 19 matches. Sadiq also found the back of the net this game, but it wasn’t a very special goal as was left completely unmarked at the second post and headed the ball into an empty net.
Sadiq is a small winger standing at 167cm, but was still decent in physical duels. The Ghanaian isn’t the fastest over long distances but has decent pace over shorter distances. Rather than beating opponents purely on pace he would more often look for short combinations or with his good agility quickly cut inside.
Sadiq mostly stayed near the right touchline to receive the ball there and I really felt like he overcomplicated things too often. For example, his first three touches of the game were a lovely, but very difficult, 1st touch pass with his left foot, a poor cross from very far out and a moment where he tried to beat an opponent on the edge of his own box. Now I’m all about players who like to take a little risk, but Sadiq really has to pick his moments a little more carefully. The Ghanaian does have a fantastic right foot and played a couple of fantastic pin-point accurate switches. He also did really well with his first touches and it looked like he was basically two-footed. In the 24th minute, he beat two men on the right as he was cutting inside and put in a great shot with his left foot, which was going to go in the bottom left corner. Sadiq looked confident on the ball, but he had his struggles, especially in tighter spaces where his technique seemed to let him down a little.
Rating – B1
Ibrahim Sadiq definitely has some great qualities and is a very direct winger. I can see him performing on a higher level in the future, but based off of this performance, I had a few too many doubts.
Bénie Traoré
Player Profile:
- Nationality: Ivorian
- Age: 20
- Date of birth: 30/11/2002
- Current club: BK Häcken
- Career: ASEC Mimosas, BK Häcken
- Position: Striker
- Secondary position: Right Winger
- Preferred foot: Right
Bénie Traoré started for BK Häcken in the first match of the Allsvenskan 2023, after missing the entire 2022 season because of a fractured lower leg. Where the Ivorian most often played as a right winger in 2021, he started as the lone striker in BK Häcken’s 4-3-3 today. Traoré is quite small for a striker, standing at only 172cm, but displayed quite a versatile skillset against Elfsborg. However, he also struggled against the much taller centre-backs and wasn’t very involved in the game. In the 7th minute, it looked like Traoré started off the game with a goal. After a good run, he received a long ball and calmly finished it through the legs of Elfsborg’s goalkeeper. The goal was sadly disallowed though, because of a controversial offside call, which looked like a bad call from the linesman.
Now Traoré did well holding up the ball with his back to the goal whilst being pressed by a defender, but the though part was getting the ball to him. I don’t know if this was because of certain instructions, but Traoré never really dropped or moved to space to be able to get involved and normally stayed very centrally. He made a couple of smart runs in behind the centre backs, moving well into their blindspots, but he could’ve added more variations to his movement. Technically Traoré looked a bit inconsistent. Before Häcken’s second goal the 20-year-old did very well, but there were also some moments where he needed too much time.
Lastly there was a moment in the last minute of the game where BK Häcken had a 3v3 situation on the half of their opponents. After receiving the ball from Sadiq he went for a shot with his left foot, which was okay but not very dangerous, when he should’ve played the ball to the left where his teammate was left completely unmarked. Looking at the footage I simply think he didn’t scan enough and didn’t see his teammate.
Rating – B2
Bénie Traoré is an interesting striker and has quite a unique profile. He had a difficult match against Elfsborg and I think he can do a lot better than this. I will definitely be watching more of him this season.
Target Scouting 