Superliga 2022-23 Preview: 10 Players To Watch
Mo Daramy, one of the players on my ‘10 To Watch’ list for last season (2021-22)
I get asked a lot about which players to keep an eye on before a Superliga season begins so it has become customary to create a ‘10 To Watch’ list. For anyone who watches the league regularly, many of these names will come as no surprise. But for everyone else it offers a glimpse into some of the stars of tomorrow. The fact that the Superliga is the launchpad for the careers of some of the most exciting players in Europe is one of the reasons I love to watch it, and it certainly feels like the eyes of the scouts of many of the top European teams are increasingly on the league given some of the big money moves in recent years.
My list last season can be seen as both a success and a failure. A success in that the majority of the names went on to sign for teams in the top European leagues. A failure in that if you’d hoped to see the vast majority of the players by the end of the season you’d have left disappointed as the likes of Mohammed Daramy (Ajax), Jonas Wind (Wolfsburg), Oliver Christensen (Hertha Berlin), Jens Cajuste (Reims) and Wahid Faghir (Stuttgart) all departed before the season was out. The less said about my predictions of a standout season for Allan Sousa the better.
So without further ado these are the 10 I have picked for the 2022-23 season, in no particular order:
Mads Hermansen (Brøndby) - Goalkeeper
With Oliver Christensen departing Odense over the summer for the Bundesliga and Hertha Berlin, the Brondby stopper, himself an Odense native, emerged as the next big goalkeeping prospect in the league. At 21 he has already represented Denmark at U17, U19 and U21 level which offers some insight into the esteem in which he is held. Having won the league in the 2020-21 season, Brøndby felt like a team in transition in 2021-22 with the prolific duo of Jesper Lindstrøm and Mikael Uhre both departing in summer and winter windows respectively. Title-winning keeper Marvin Schwäbe also departed to FC Köln leaving the door open for Hermansen to take the opportunity to become the #1. It’s fair to say that he took the opportunity with (forgive the pun) both hands. 5 clean sheets is nothing to write home about but the manner of his performances certainly was. With a presence that belies his relative youth, he finished the season with a save percentage of 71.6, placing him 4th in the league on this particular metric. With a full season now under his belt and Brøndby shaking off a shaky start to the season to finish 4th and claim a place in the Europa Conference League, there’s every chance that Hermansen’s development takes a further leap next season.
Victor Kristiansen (FC København) - Defender
FC Copenhagen’s academy has produced a number of significant talents over recent years. Both Mohammed Daramy (Ajax) and Jonas Wind (Wolfsburg) departed during the course of the 2021-22 season, each for well in excess of €10m, monumental fees in the context of the Superliga. Having already established himself in the starting XI, I have little doubt that Kristiansen will be one of the next crop of players attracting similar attention from Europe’s top clubs. Despite injury limiting his league campaign to 21 appearances, he was an ever present fixture in FCK’s preferred back 4 when fit, showing fantastic defensive nous combined with effective attacking overlaps (his combinations with Daramy were especially notable). The prospect of Champions League football should keep him in Copenhagen for another season at least, but with the young defender already a fixture in Denmark’s U21 team it won’t be long until clubs come knocking for a left back with such prowess at both ends of the pitch.
Jakob Breum (Odense) - Winger
OB turned around a lacklustre first half of the season, putting in a much stronger showing after the winter break. Central to that was the performance of young winger Jakob Breum. At 18 he is only just finding his feet in senior football but a return of 4 goals and 2 assists from 840 minutes of action hints at the promise he offers. Operating primarily from the left wing but with the ability to play on the right, he likes to receive the ball at or just before the final third before driving down the flank, making use of his obvious talent as a dribbler, before cutting inside onto his favoured right foot. Typically he has a shoot-first mentality and this has produced some wonderful goals at both club and international level (where he has 5 goals from 7 appearances with Denmark U19s). Whilst his dribbling is phenomenal and enables him to have the time and space to operate, his final ball is the part of his game that, to my eyes anyway, needs some refinement. This season he often got into situations where he correctly made the decision to pass but without being able to find his teammate. I get a Robert Pires-esque vibe from him, as a goalscoring right-footed left winger with both superb dribbling ability and sharp vision. If his development continues on a similar trajectory to this season then 2022-23 promises to be a breakout year for him in Odense. Finally, I can only continue to implore OB fans to start a “Breum, Breum, Breum shake the room” chant, it’s an open goal.
Andreas Schjelderup (FC Nordsjælland) - Midfielder
With two seasons in the Superliga under his belt before he turned 18, Andreas Schjelderup typifies FC Nordsjælland’s youth-led approach. The Norwegian midfielder began his career at Bodø/Glimt before opting for a switch to FCN and given the talent that the Eliteserien outfit has produced in recent years it should be no surprise that Schjelderup is cut from a similar cloth. He strikes me as somewhat of a hybrid player: in some respects a throwback to the era of the classic number 10 / trequartista, with the ability to operate behind a central striker, with superb close control and the ability to finish from distance or close range, whilst also being able to play off the left as a more modern-style inverted winger in a front 3. It often feels like he is mature beyond his years as he is able to find ways to avoid being pressed on the ball whilst also showing a superb ability to make the right decision under pressure. Injury hampered his progress last season, only completing 90 minutes twice since the turn of the year, but FCN’s seemingly endless conveyor belt of attacking talent means he should have the attacking foils to thrive next season. That said, with Adingra departing for Brighton, Nodsjælland may need to look to the market to find a proven goal scorer to lead the line. Norwegian football is on the up at the moment, with Bodø/Glimt’s European exploits and the likes of Haaland, Ødegaard and Hauge turning heads in the biggest leagues in the world, there’s every chance Schjelderup’s name joins them before too long.
Roony Bardghji (FC København) - Winger
The hype around Roony Bardghji was extraordinary. Even before he turned 16 he was being touted as the biggest talent in Nordic football for a generation. So often, players who thrive at youth level fail to adapt to senior football either because they temper their attacking instincts in favour of the more conservative option to avoid making a mistake, or the increase in physicality nullifies their technical skillset. It was less than a week after his 16th birthday (and thus eligibility to play Superliga football) that Roony found his name on the starting lineup as FCK faced AGF at Parken (a match I was lucky enough to be in attendance for). Not only did he deliver on the promise but he won Man Of The Match for a performance that drew plaudits across the football world. He was unlucky to finish the game without a goal to his name but he only had to wait a week to break his duck, smashing a long range drive into the bottom corner against AaB and wheeling away in jubilation. He held down a starting berth for the weeks to come and in a team with a large number of quality wingers this was an indication of the talent he possesses. Development in football is not linear and we must all recognise that when the 2022-23 season begins he will still be 16 and should be afforded the time and space to grow but there is no doubt that his ceiling is enormous and he could go right the way to the top. As an aside, if you’re interested in his journey from youth team prospect to starting in the Superliga, FC København put out a great 4-part mini series (with English subtitles) which you can find here.
Sebastian Jørgensen (Silkeborg) - Winger
It’s impossible to talk about Silkeborg’s incredible 2021-22 season that saw them finish 3rd and qualify for the Europa League, without talking about wingers Sebastian Jørgensen and Nicolai Vallys. The two combined like Jordan and Pippen, Pacino and De Niro, a cold beer and a hot day. Jørgensen spent his time giving nightmares to defenders across the league down the right flank and through the middle, finishing the season with 11 goals (4th overall in the league), 9 assists (2nd overall) and 68 chances created (4th overall). Left-footed but operating on the right he is adept at cutting inside and shooting however his superb dribbling ability also gives him the option to go on the outside, meaning defenders don’t have an easy way to nullify him. There’s every chance Silkeborg’s dynamic front 3, supported by the laser-eyed passing of Mark Brink, catches any team cold who hasn’t done their homework in Europe next season.
Nicolai Vallys (Silkeborg) - Winger
If Sebastian Jørgensen was giving defenders headaches, Nicolai Vallys was compounding those headaches with vivid nightmares on the other side of the pitch. With 10 goals (5th overall) and 10 assists (1st overall) you shudder to think and what his season would have looked like had he delivered on more of the big chances he missed (11 in total, only the departed Sebastian Grønning of Viborg had more). The Silkeborg front 3 is so hard to defend against, with Hellenius’ physical presence and superb finishing giving both wingers a target whilst also drawing defenders’ attention, creating room for Vallys & Jørgensen to buzz into the free spaces. It’s a fluid system where the players look to exploit the spaces that open up and do so with alarming proficiency. As his statistics make abundantly clear, Vallys is not simply a top-class finisher or provider, he is the rare combination of both and with intelligent off the ball movement, adept decision-making and impressive two-footedness he was able to thrive last season under Kent Nielsen. A chance to shine on the European stage now beckons and with his plethora of talents it’s hard to imagine that at 25, Vallys won’t be on the radar of clubs beyond Denmark’s borders come the next transfer window.
Mihajlo Ivancevic (Odense) - Defender
After arriving in January from Spartak Subotica, the towering Serbian centre-back has, in a short space of time, shown glimmers of what makes him such an exciting prospect. Adept at using both feet, he’s a natural leader (having captained his former team at 22) and combines an aggressive approach to defending with a calmness in possession. Increasingly, modern central defenders are being expected to be adept passers of the ball and Ivancevic is no exception in this regard, looking assured in posession. With a useful turn of pace to boot he could prove to be one of the standout defenders in the league with half a season of bedding-in already under his belt.
Raphael Onyedika (FC Midtjylland) - Midfielder
Onyedika only came into the FCM team this past season, replacing his Nigerian compatriot Frank Onyeka who departed for Brentford in a big money move by Superliga standards. Coming off the back of a superb loan spell at Federicia where he won a place in team of the season, he instantly looked at home back in Herning and finished the season as the Superliga’s Young Player Of The Year. He proved to be the perfect foil for the mercurial Brazilian, Evander, demonstrating a notably well-rounded game that combines great physicality with a superb footballing IQ. He reads the game wonderfully and has shown a great ability to press high up the pitch, often forcing errors from opposing centre backs, whilst on the ball his good footwork make him very press resistant. He’s also shown he can be a goal threat, with a notably good finish against Randers from outside the box as well as a superb display of close control to score against Celtic in Europe. He is the archetypal box-to-box midfielder with the ability to contribute meaningfully at both ends of the pitch and it is clear that he can, like Onyeka, go on to a top European league sooner rather than later.
Christian Sørensen (Viborg) - Defender
Whilst it is tempting to complete the list with yet another upcoming talent, Sørensen needed to appear here purely because he’s been one of my favourite players to watch last season. Viborg caught a lot of teams by surprise in 2021-22 as they entered the Superliga with a swashbuckling attacking style that would ultimately lead to Lars Friis being poached mid-season by AaB. At the heart of it was Christian Sørensen, a left back with a truly uncanny ability to create opportunities for his teammates with his devastatingly accurate left foot. Over the course of the season he laid on a league-leading 118 chances for his teammates, 45 more than the second placed player - Evander. The fact he finished the season with only 8 assists (3rd overall in the league) was more down to the poor finishing of his teammates than anything else (his xA was 14.8). In fact only FC Midyjylland missed more big chances than Viborg over the season. With the big number 9 Sebastian Grønning departing in January, Sørensen was less potent but still offered a big threat down the left, propelling Viborg to a place in next season’s Europa Conference League. At 29 his chances of moving to a top 5 European league are likely gone but I’m sure Friis would not pass up the opportunity to bring his former left-back to Aalborg if they can persuade Viborg to part with him.
BONUS ROUND: Simon Adingra (FC Nordsjælland) - Winger/Striker
I wrote this before his €7m transfer to Brighton had been announced, so consider this entry as more of a ‘here’s what you could have won’.
It was a season to forget for FC Nordsjælland as several departures, notably Kamaldeen Sulemana, pushed their team, already the youngest in the league, into a relegation battle. Ultimately some smart January signings helped steady the ship and avert a disaster but it was largely a transitional season. One of the players who truly shone however was Simon Adingra, an Ivorian academy product who can play across the front three but is most comfortable on the left. Whether starting or coming off the bench, Adingra brought energy and clinical finishing to a Nordsjælland front line that often lacked both. Comparing him with the departed Kamaldeen Sulemana (currently tearing it up in Rennes) is perhaps premature but his ability to take players on (3.5 successful dribbles per 90, 2nd overall in the league) and get shots away (3.7 shots per 90, 1st overall) make such a comparison inevitable. He ended the season with an impressive 9 goals / 3 assists and combined with his effectiveness pressing in the final third (1.4 possessions won per 90, 2nd overall) his importance in Farum cannot be overstated.
Note: Stats for the article were taken from the excellent Fotmob app
