Mathias Kvistgaarden - Scout Report
The Danish U-21 international has impressed this year for title challengers Brondby IF.
Name: Mathias Kvistgaarden
Club: Brondby IF
Nationality: Denmark
Age: 21 (Born 2002)
Position: Striker (right/left), winger (right/left)
Preferred foot: Right
Height: 1.73m
Sixteen games into the 2023/24 Danish Superliga season, Brondby sit in third place, two points off of the top two, who are tied for first. They are also in the semi-finals of the DBU Pokalen, the domestic cup in Denmark. Twenty-one-year-old Danish international Mathias Kvistgaarden has been a big part of their success so far with five goals and five assists so far in the league. These goal contributions have come from 5.82 xG (0.41 p90) and 2.05 xA (0.15 p90), combining for a nice 0.66 xG+A p90.
In the three games I watched, Brondby lined up in a 3-4-1-2, with Kvistgaarden in the front two, usually starting on the right. He was given a freer role than his strike partner Ohi Omoijuanfo. Kvistgaarden was always trying to receive the ball in different areas while Omoijuanfo was more of a box presence. Brondby liked to push their wingbacks high up the pitch and have them interact with Kvistgaarden and the midfield three, who would provide support via a variety of runs. Brondby relied on these interactions to create space for crossing opportunities from the halfspace or the byline.
Technical:
Kvistgaarden is a player that is very comfortable on the ball. He has a very high technical floor and there is a lot of security in most of his actions (passes, dribbles). You will hardly see him lose the ball as a result of him taking a loose touch.
First Touch:
Mathias’ technical floor means he has an excellent first touch very often. He hardly stops the ball dead, always putting it a yard or two in front of himself - this allows him to step into his next pass or carry, allowing the momentum of the attack to keep flowing. Especially when receiving with his back to goal and a defender on his back, Kvistgaarden consistently takes an assured first touch to keep the ball away from the defender. When he receives in wide areas, he receives on his back foot with his hips square to his defender, which makes it easier to engage in a 1v1 duel and also allows him to go to either the left or the right of the defender. It is important to note that a lot of his receptions come from through balls or when he had his back to goal. When receiving with his back to goal and a defender on his back, Kvistgaarden often checks his shoulder to see if there is space behind the defender to see if he can flick the ball past him and run onto it.
He is also very good at adjusting his body quickly + using different parts of his legs to control when receiving inaccurate or mishit passes.
Close Control/Dribbling:
Kvistgaarden is not a player who takes many touches when he receives the ball, he opts to move the ball in 1-2 touches, especially under pressure. He was comfortable receiving in congested areas, shielding the ball and manoeuvring past opponents.
When carrying the ball up the field, he typically takes lots of touches while dribbling (small steps), but can successfully transition that into larger steps with larger touches to fully accelerate and get past defenders. He also dribbles with his back mostly upright, which increases the effectiveness of his body feints. Despite this, he was hesitant to engage in 1v1s on the wing, often electing to cut inside or pass backwards. When he did, he was often unsuccessful (1/8 successful dribbles in three games watched) in creating separation from the fullback and saw a lot of his crosses blocked as a result.
Shooting:
Kvistgaarden can strike the ball cleanly and with power using both feet, which is his shot of choice from distance. When finishing from inside the 18-yard box, Kvistgaarden usually opts for a side-foot finish which could become more clinical by fixing the follow-through (follow-through should be pulled more towards corners of the net, his shots are consistently within the keeper’s reach). He has a good ‘snap’ shot, a shot taken within a few steps of getting past a defender, showing an ability to create a shot from nothing. He is a strong header of the ball, he has scored a few of them this season.
Passing:
The majority of Kvistgaarden’s passes are layoffs/sets when receiving with his back to goal or through balls/passes into players ahead of him when he can turn. These passes are executed cleanly, often weighing his passes correctly, especially shorter 5-10 yard passes. This is helped by him usually taking a first touch in front of himself, as it allows him to step into his pass and put proper power behind it.
A large majority of his passes are made with the inside of his foot, he does not tend to switch it up in terms of passing variety. Kvistgaarden is a player who likes to keep everything fast and close, so as a result he hardly attempts any long balls. He is an excellent header of the ball and as a result, his flick-ons/headed passes are reliable.
Tactical:
Kvistgaarden is a very smart player who prioritizes keeping the ball, likes to play with his head up, and performs most of his actions within 1-3 touches of receiving a pass. Although this tendency to move the ball quickly is a fantastic tool to have in tight spaces, in wide areas it occasionally led to Mathias rushing his next action and causing a turnover.
Off-Ball Movement:
Kvistgaarden’s movement off the ball is excellent. Over the course of the 90 minutes, you will see him constantly moving, making in-to-out runs from the centre of the pitch into the halfspace and from the halfspace into the wide channels. When Brondby had the ball and the opposition hadn’t yet retreated into their box, Kvistgaarden would constantly be found stationed in the space in between the opposition backline defenders. From here he was able to make runs such as the one seen below.
From these positions, he was also able to drop into space available between the opposition’s midfield line and defensive line. On occasion, he was slow to recognize this space which put his teammates under pressure. When he did recognize the space to drop into, however, he was able to keep the attack going via a quick pass back or by turning if there was space afforded to him.
He has great spatial awareness - his head is on a swivel whether he has the ball at his feet or not. Always looking for where to move next, he has a great understanding of third-man runs and positional rotations. The timing of his runs in the box is also another one of his strong suits. He has a good understanding of when to start his movement in the box - as soon as the crosser’s head goes up, Kvistgaarden tries to lose his defender and find space.
Decision-Making:
Kvistgaarden is a smart player with good ideas on the pitch, but more often than not he is very risk-averse and prefers to keep the ball. He occasionally tries to take a defender on the half turn but is reluctant to try unless he is certain there is space to run into afterwards. In congested zones, this risk-averseness is not as much of a negative as it is out wide. Kvistgaarden is very reluctant to take on his man when 1v1 on the wing, instead electing to pass the ball backwards. Aside from this negative, Mathias’ decision-making seems to be very mature and calculated.
Out-Of-Possession:
Brondby’s opponent had a man sent off in two of the three games I watched, so there was not much out-of-possession work for Brondby players. However, when it was required, Kvistgaarden showed good energy when pressing the opposition centre-backs. When Brondby played against three at the back formations, they would push up one of the midfield three and press in a 5-2-3, matching opponents’ 3-2 build-up shape. Against’ Randers’ back line of four, Brondby lined up in a 5-4-1 against a 2-4 shape, where Brondby’s ball-side wide midfielder in the four would press the ball-side centreback with a curved pressing run. This is a role that Kvistgaarden performed really well, forcing the Randers left centreback into a few mistakes.
Physical:
Speed/Acceleration/Deceleration:
Kvistgaarden’s initial burst of speed is quite fast, with quick short steps that at initial watch reminded me of Timo Werner. He is able to maintain this speed over larger distances with or without the ball.
As seen in the video, he is able to decelerate and accelerate very quickly, which is a fantastic tool to use when trying to find space in the box or when making a darting run into space.
Shielding/Ball Protection:
A lot of Kvistgaarden’s receptions are with his back to goal, so he needs to be able to protect the ball when facing pressure from behind. He gets low and gets his arms out very well, meaning that the oncoming defender cannot simply go around him and poke the ball away. If the defender comes in with force, Kvistgaarden is strong enough to sustain contact and keep the ball. The same cannot be said for when Mathias is running with the ball and he receives a shoulder-to-shoulder tackle. It seems that his upper body is not as strong as his core and lower body, as sometimes he is easy to nudge off the ball when coming in from the side.
Jumping Ability:
For someone his size (5’8/9), Kvistgaarden has a fantastic leaping ability (strong lower body, again). He has the ability to ‘hang’ in the air which he partners with great jump timing to get his head onto a lot of long balls. His leaping ability is recognized by Brondby’s coaching staff - whenever there is no short outlet in the first phase, there is a long ball played to Kvistgaarden’s head. He is also the man at the front post on a lot of Brondby’s set pieces, both defensive and offensive.
Psychological:
Kvistgaarden is a willing runner and energetic presser who hardly stops moving throughout the match. Even when Brondby were up by a couple of goals against ten men, Kvistgaarden would still be chasing down long balls and passes into the wide channels. When having to track back in a 5-4-1 out-of-possession shape, he showed great defensive responsibility by adapting to a different role and executing it well.
Social:
Kvistgaarden seems to be well-liked by his teammates, always going to celebrate with the team following goals. He is not particularly well-liked by opposition fans as he has gained somewhat of a reputation for diving.
Areas of Improvement:
Shot volume
As a striker who is technically secure and has the ability to find good positions to receive the ball, Kvistgaarden should work on attempting to shoot from different angles and areas around the box to improve his goalscoring output
Risk-taking
When he pops up on the wing following an in-to-out run, Kvistgaarden often receives with the opportunity to take the defender on 1v1. This is something he often passes up, choosing to pass the ball backwards. In situations like these, Mathias should look to exploit 1v1s with his physical and technical attributes and get into the opposition box
Player Comparison and Outlook:
Mathias Kvistgaarden really reminds me of Liverpool’s Diogo Jota. Not only are they very similar in terms of physical build (Jota is a few centimetres taller), but the way they move with and without the ball is very similar. They are both fantastic off the ball and comfortable in both central and wide areas. Both have great lower body strength, shown in their fantastic leaping ability at a smaller size. Jota is the more clinical player, but Kvistgaarden has the potential to replicate Jota’s numbers one day, should he improve where he needs to.
Celtic reportedly bid twice for Kvistgaarden in the summer of 2023, with both approaches being rejected by Brondby. The Scottish side has reportedly revived their interest, eyeing up a bid for the upcoming winter window. Given the fact that they sit just two points off of first place, it is unlikely that Brondby let Kvistgaarden go before the conclusion of the Danish league season in March unless a substantial offer comes in. Given where he needs to develop, I believe the best step for Kvistgaarden post-Brondby would be to move to an upper-table Championship side, a lower-table French side, or a club in a physical league, like Celtic, so that he can continue to develop physically and be better equipped to deal with the toughness of top-level European football.
