Player Profile:
- Position: Centre Back
- Nationality: Norway
- Date of Birth: 03/01/2006 (18 Years)
- Current Club: Valerenga Football Elite
- Preferred Foot: Right
- Height: 183cm
Aleksander Hammer Kjelsen is an 18 year old Norwegian central defender who currently plays for Valerenga in Norway. Kjelsen made his debut for the first team in 2023 at the age of 17 and was promoted to the first team via the academy.
In terms of his physical presence, the Norwegian stands at 183cm which is traditionally shorter than the usual centre back. Although he is not the tallest, he is very balanced and uses his lower body strength to make challenges to win the ball back. It should be noted that Kjelsen does play as part of a back 3 and acts as a wide centre back as opposed to a typical centre half. So, where he would struggle against a taller centre forward in aerial duels, he is more than capable of dealing with 1v1 situations on the ground and his speed to track back.
The 18 year old is technically skilled and possesses a calmness on the ball and under pressure. Kjelsen is able to ping simple passes as well as longer range passes with accuracy. Kjelsen is suited to 1v1 situations and makes clean tackles to win the ball back. However, the young centre back does need to improve on his man-to-man marking and does have a tendency to lose his man when the opposition are building up. Overall, when on the ball, he is naturally a ball playing defender and has the composure to dictate play.
Tactically, Kjelsen does control the tempo and is able to understand when to play the simple pass vs a longer pass. The Norwegian should potentially be placed as a right back or even an inverted full back. This is due to his lack of aerial presence and also dealing with stronger centre forwards, where physically he may struggle however, as a right back, he would be potentially better suited.
Kjesen is a calm individual who does demonstrate a good mindset to work for his team on the pitch. For the B team, the 18 year old is more vocal and communicates well with the team. However, in the first team, he is slightly more reserved and potentially can do with more consistent games to grow his confidence on the pitch. Having said that, the team does play out from the back and he does offer to take the ball from goal kicks and puts himself in clear spaces to receive the ball, rather than shying away from responsibility.
Overall, Kjelsen is someone that has the potential to develop into a great defender. As mentioned previously, switching to a right back position and developing his skillset in that position, would potentially be a better move for him. Currently, Valergenga are utilising him as more of a wide centre back on the right of a back 3, however if they switched to a two paired centre back side, then this could change things in terms of his overall development. His ideal position could be an inverted full back as opposed to a wing back, as he is calm on the ball, retains possession well and can pick out a solid pass. If he was kept as a centre back, then he would need more development in the gym to work on his frame and be coached in the right way to deal with strikers with more physical presence.
