The Borchers Boost: How a 21 y/o attacking talent is elevating VPS’s Veikkausliiga season – scout report

Vaasan Palloseura (VPS) have enjoyed a stellar start to the 2024 Veikkausliiga season. After eight matches, they sit third in the table with 16 points, level with Kuopion Palloseura in first and Ilves in second, having lost just one game so far. This has been one of their best starts to a campaign over the last decade, during which they have established themselves as a consistent top-flight presence.

However, most of VPS campaigns have seen them finish in the bottom half of the table, with the club even suffering relegation to the second tier in 2019. They finished sixth in 2020 before getting promoted to the Veikkausliiga the following year, finishing third in the regular season before moving to the top of the standings in the playoff round.

Their first season back in the top flight saw them finish 10th in the regular season and second in the relegation playoffs. An unprecedented improvement under Jussi Nuorela, who has been with the club since 2021, led to VPS finishing fourth in the regular season last year and third overall.

This time around, they look set to be involved in a title challenge, and a key reason for this has been the acquisition of young striker Mads Borchers from Swedish side Varbergs BolS ahead of the campaign. In eight league games, Borchers has notched up five of his sides 15 goals while also providing an assist. He seems to have fit seamlessly into Nuorelas system and could be the latest talent to come out of Denmark.

This scout report will perform some tactical analysis on Borchers strengths, weaknesses, and potential to understand his fit in VPS tactics this season.

Player Profile

Borchers, born June 18, 2002, has only just taken his first steps in professional football but has already shown more than just a glimpse of his potential. The youngster began his youth career with SUB Sönderborg before moving to Esbjergs youth side in 2017. Two years later, he moved to their U19 side, where he shone, scoring 18 times in 41 matches, earning himself a spot in their senior side.

Borchers played three games for Esbjerg before being loaned to 07 Vestur in the Faroe Islands in January 2022. He impressed once again at Vestur, netting 15 times and laying out six assists in 28 matches. Upon returning to Esbjerg, he was sold to another top-flight team in HB Tórshavn in January 2023 and showcased his all-around ability there as well, scoring eight goals and providing seven assists in 21 matches and lifting the Faroese Cup.

In July, he moved to Varbergs, where he hit a bit of a wall, netting just once in 16 appearances. VPS came calling for his signature earlier this year and signed him on a one-season deal.

As his heatmap from the season so far shows, Borchers typically operates in central areas in and around the box. However, he has also shown a tendency to play from out wide and drop deeper, which shows in his stats as well.

Dribbling

Before we get to his goalscoring, lets take a look at some of Borchers other strengths, one of which is his dribbling.

In the league this season, the Dane has attempted 3.48 dribbles per game. While this is slightly below his career average of 4.46, his success rate of 57.1% is higher than his career figure of 52.3%. He wins 1.5 fouls per game, which could be improved, but his ability to get past his man is a crucial element of VPS attacking play, given that the team tries to force turnovers with its press (9.46 passes per defensive action) and has enjoyed success on the counter (50.7% of 0.75 counterattacks per game end in a shot).

As a result, Borchers ball reception and dribblin