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In an exciting game with a surprising outcome and a lot of goals, Aalborg BK met Bodø/Glimt in a winter pre-season friendly with a 5-3 win for the Danes.

Menno van Dam lined-up with a 1-4-3-3, which AaB often used in most of their matches in the season. Without the ball AaB deploys a 1-4-4-2 press where one of the wingers often joins as the second striker or whoever from the midfielders is close enough to cover the role and the rest try to rotate into place. While trying to find balance they usually use a 1-4-3-3 line pressure waiting for the first pass before they decide how they will form the 1-4-4-2 and become a bit more aggressive. Although this can shift as it did in the first goal they scored where both wingers approached aggressively in central spaces to block easy passes. With the ball they tried to support the stoppers after the first pass with the two central midfielders approaching the side overload along with the fullbacks and later support runs from the wingers. Even though they tried to play on the ground sometimes the spaces left by Bodø and their fairly aggressive response to the overloads forced them to be more direct at times.

Bodø Glimt’s Kjetil Knutsen used also 1-4-3-3 for his team, which became a 1-4-4-2 diamond with the 2 wingers stepping up in the press and the 9 falling to cover the defensive midfielder option (positions and roles could change but the structure remained mostly the same). The trigger lies in the first pass to the side when the central options were covered. With the ball Bodø used their center backs, especially Villads Nielsen and his ability to pass through the lines, to find options in the half-spaces after the first press and pick up from there to side overloads from full-backs, half-space runs from midfielders or close combinations with the striker/advanced central midfielder.

Villads Nielsen (Bodø Glimt), central defender born 2005.

Villads seems to be an acquisition that is useful for Bodø in terms of finding a central defender with characteristics which fit to modern football. Technically gifted for his position, really good on the ball and taking initiative to build attacks from the back through his first touch-orientation and his passing ability but also aggression on the ball. This can be seen through the season till now as a whole and it is definitely a reason behind choosing an U19 player to stand in the center of the defense.

While being gifted on the ball, his aggression and his defensive instincts is definitely an area that needs a lot of improvement. His positioning covers many of those small defensive issues but I really believe that if his defensive competences reach his technical level, it will help him become one of the most interesting centre-backs in this season’s Europa League.

Oliver Ross (Aalborg), striker born 2004.

As a starting striker for AaB, Oliver shows that his involvement in a high level has helped him with his intelligence on and off the ball. While not being particularly impressive in both aspects in the game, his energy and his acknowledgment on when and how to engage in the pressure and general defensive situations helped his team a lot off the ball and was supportive with his runs and exploiting the spaces Bodø left. His physical prowess and his basic technique makes him helpful as a winger but watching him through the season and taking into account that he is mainly used as a striker, he is a very interesting player to follow.

His development points could include some better timing in his runs especially when the ball was played a lot from his side and some better positioning good easily hurt Bodø’s aggressive press. Really interesting how he effectively exploited or helped his team exploits the opponent’s mistakes in the build up. If he goes on to take as many minutes as possible this season and improve his technical level he will definitely be an asset for AaB in the years to come.

Kelvin John (Aalborg), striker born 2003.

Being physically gifted and really aggressive (he wins most of his aerial duels while being 175 cm) and with well-timed offensive runs, Kelvin John is definitely an interesting striker. He shows some potential through his work rate without the ball and his physical competences while having a decent technical level. He has not got that many minutes as Oliver Ross has gotten most of the minutes as a starting forward for AaB, but in that particular game Oliver was used in the wing with Kelvin taking the striker’s position.

Melker Widell (Aalborg), central/attacking midfielder born 2002.

Melker can be considered as the the player that moves the ball forward, connects the team in transitions and is the main chance facilitator as it can be seen through the season in addition to the friendly. A technically competent player, especially in his turning which is very useful for his position. Intelligent player who can identify which spaces he should find himself into during the game and where to attack when he has the ball on his feet. His recent transfer to Swansea City AFC is definitely not something random and it is something that shows what this player can achieve, providing he meets his potential.

It would be useful for him if he is used as much as possible to both taking the ball from the back but because he has a particularly interesting way of finding the right technique and decisions to put the ball in the final third, it would be wise if he was used in advanced positions (inverted winger / attacking midfielder). All in all Widell is definitely a player to sign and follow to see his development and his probably very interesting future.

To FOLLOW also Bodø Glimt right-back Fredrik Sjøvold (2003), AaB’s central midfielder Kasper Davidsen (2005) and attacking midfielder Isak Hansen Aarøen (2004).

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