Jakob Napoleon Romsaas — Analytical Report
I’ve been really enjoying the Eliteserien this summer and one of my favourite players I’ve watched so far is Jakob Napoleon Romsaas, of Tromso. He has been a clear standout for a Tromso side that has been slightly underwhelming this year, although I do think their form will pick up. He’s still only 20, and has played roughly 5,700 senior minutes already, pretty evenly split between the top two tiers. This alone should be a marker of his potential. Although his numbers in terms of goals and assist may not necessarily indicate his season, I think he has the ability to move to a stronger league right now, especially to a team that suits his strengths, which I don't think Tromso do at the moment.
In possession
Romsaas has largely featured as a “striker” in a 3–5–2 for Tromso — and i put it in quotation marks for a reason. Often paired with a more traditional ‘9’ in Lasse Nordas, his trademark is to pull of the defensive line and occupy the space in between there and the midfield line. He has occasionally been part of the midfield 3 when required, operating as a LCM with license to attack often — although his primary position has certainly been up front. This sort of hybrid attacking midfield/striker role he plays means that he really doesn’t have a strong shot output 1.9 shots/90 with 0.23 xG/90 is certainly below average compared to others in his position. But this of course comes with a trade-off — he is vital in build-up. He is in the top 5 strikers in the league with passes to the penalty area, deep completions, and progressive passes. You can see below he can drop so deep as to collect the ball from the defensive line and play long, progressive passes, but is equally adept at picking the ball up in the half space (often left) and being a threat from there.
As you can see most of the receptions are on the left hand side of the pitch — usually between a the winger + full back where he can drive at defenders. In fact, the majority of his receptions are between the lines across the pitch, but clearly there is a tendency to float towards this left half space. You can see in my second visualisation down below that most of his dribbles come from this area, and all his box entries through dribbling are from this left half space.
His passing, however, remains more balanced between the left and right side of the pitch. You can see his tendency to drop slightly deeper in the forward pass map above, but again the majority of his passes into the penalty box come from the left and right half space — so evidently an area where you need to give him the ball. But why is he so good in this area? Simply put, he is incredible at receiving in tight spaces. He’s a type of player that the ball seems to stick to when he receives it — even if his touch isn’t the best, he has a wiry, 6'2 (187cm) frame that is able to control the ball extremely well in crowded areas. His dribbling ability also complements this. He has good flair, excellent agility and when you just think he is going to lose the ball, he finds a way to make it work. He shows real desire to keep the ball (something that also benefits his OOP play) and is capable to attack defenders with both feet. While not blessed with top speed, he has enough acceleration of the mark to have enough time to pass/shoot/cross
His passing game generally complements his dribbling quite well. Whilst his dribbling ability will probably remain his biggest asset, he has good vision and can pick a pass well. What he needs to work on is his timing — sometimes holding on to the ball a bit too long for my liking. And this is really his biggest downfall in his in possession play — his decision making. He does lack that composure on the final third, and that is most evident in his shooting. He is really eager to shoot from areas that aren’t always the best. I’ve put his season shot map in below (courtesy of FotMob) to illustrate this.
Plenty of shots from outside the box, as you can see. I’ve seen a few this season which have been from promising counter attacks, where he could have easily kept running and fashioned himself a better opportunity. He also lacks a bit of conviction in his finishing, and just lacks that ruthlessness that you want to see from an out an out striker. And this really is why I believe he would be more suited to a different position — I would like to see him drop deeper into attacking midfield, or even into the wide channels, where his dribbling ability and box penetration through passing and dribbling can really be maximised
Out of possession
Jakob’s desire and aggression to keep the ball whilst in possession equally complements his OOP work, which I really like. Tromso have one of the higher PPDAs in the league, at 12.02, so he doesn’t press high too often. But I really like his discipline in defence. He’s always alert, generally reads the game pretty well and puts in a lot of work — interceptions, aerial duels, ground challenges, you name it. He’ll do it. This is reflected in his defensive percentile rankings below.
I don’t have a lot of defensive data on my striker template but you can instantly see that he’s in the top 10% of strikers in terms of successful defensive actions. This is of course with a caveat. He has played in centre midfield a couple of times this season — not enough to warrant a change in terms of players compared to but something to bear in mind. As a team Tromso are slightly below average in defensive duels/90, so its not like they put out a massive amount of challenges — Romsaas is just a workhorse.
Conclusion/Final thoughts
Romsaas is one of my favourites in the league, and a really exciting, enjoyable player to watch. he has a tremendous amount of games under his belt for his age and I really think he has the ability to push on to a stronger team or league. Like a lot of young players — he has his weaknesses. I really think his weakest point (shooting) can be negated quite a lot with a possession change, which would also play to his strengths of creativity and dribbling. He’s a player who I like to think would thrive in a chaotic, more unstructured team. Instantly I think of Henrik Rydstrom’s Malmo side and Fabian Hurzeler’s St.Pauli (now Brighton). Take Malmo for example — I think he could fill the Nanasi/Bolin type role quite well. And actually most teams that play 3–4–2–1/3–4–3 would be a good fit, in the attacking mid/winger hybrid role. Certainly this 3–5–2 for Tromso doesn’t suit him completely, as I feel he’s almost shoehorned in to either CM or ST when his perfect role is just in between.
I hope you enjoyed! All data via WyScout, and any feedback/criticism is welcome.