There are typical leagues where players can develop freely as they get more minutes and clubs have a stronger preference towards their own academy products. The Eredivisie and the Belgian Jupiler League are leagues of this kind but we can add Denmark and the 3F Superliga. Over the last couple of seasons, the Danish league grew into its unique status and the quality of football has also risen.
To prove this statement, we decided to create a team out of under 23 talents. The twist is that only Danish players are eligible to be selected to show how the future of Denmark lies in the hands of the youngsters playing at home. This means that great players like Mohamed Kudus from Nordsjaelland or Jón Dagur Thorsteinsson from Aarhus won’t feature in this data analysis. However, in the article, you will see the incredible depth at almost every position and the quality that these players show.
Methodology
The 3F Superliga is different in its structure from the other leagues. After 26 rounds of the regular season, the 14 teams continue either in the relegation playoff or the championship playoff depending on their previous positions. In this analysis, we focus on the statistics of the regular season. The players must be under 23 years of age while they had to spend at least 600 minutes on the field.
Every position will have a shortlist of players and based on various statistics, we will create the young team of the year. We cannot limit our research only to the best eleven, therefore we will add substitutes, players who were close this year to feature in the first team.
Goalkeepers
Shortlist:
- Oliver Christensen, 21, Odense
- Oscar Hedvall, 21, Silkeborg
The selection is relatively small with Christensen and Hedvall only matching the previous criteria. Christensen massively impressed during the season as Odense conceded only 30 goals in the regular season. Hedvall was an early casualty of Silkeborg’s bad season start, he was relegated on the bench after the first eight games as a starter.
Christensen held his expected conceded goals tight to the actuals goals over the season. He ranks third in both metrics which makes him a reliable goalkeeper. Hedvall, on the other end of the spectrum, conceded 2.5 goals per game and despite the high figure, he kept it below his expected stats.
