Danish football is a fascinating place. Tom Vernon and Right to Dream are revolutionising player development through integration with FC Nordsjaelland, of whom Vernon is the chairman, and FC Midtjylland’s shared ownership and philosophy with Brentford have brought them their first three league titles.
Both are clubs that operate a certain way and have punctuated the dominance of FC Kobenhavn. FCK have won the league twelve times since the turn of the millennium.
The dethroned kings of the Danish league in the second half of the decade prior were Brondby, one of the great historic names of European football. After 16 years in the cold they finally claimed their eleventh championship in 2020/21, edging out Midtjylland thanks to a win against Nordsjaelland.
20-year-old midfielder Morten Frendrup played 82.3% of Brondby’s Superligaen minutes under head coach Niels Frederiksen last season. Born in a village in the Holbaek municipality, Frendrup was signed to Brondby’s youth set-up in 2014 and has adapted well to life in both the yellow of his club and the red of Denmark’s age-level representative sides.
Brondby have had to contend with European football in 2021/22, settling for a place in the UEFA Europa League group stage after losing both legs to Red Bull Salzburg in Champions League qualifying. May must feel like a long time ago for Frederiksen, whose team made a rotten start to the new season.
Frendrup’s plus/minus for goals scored and conceded while on the pitch – affected by the team’s performance, of course – has been in the black every season since 2018/19. Last season it was significant (+0.84 per 90 minutes) as Brondby became champions and this season it’s more marginal (+0.19 per 90 minutes), but the player’s game and role in the team are evolving.
Both Frendrup and his club should reap the rewards of his growing importance even as the team itself adjusts to a very different season as defending champions.
With the ball
With his team in possession, Frendrup displays a terrific awareness of what’s around him. His is a game of space and he is already its master.
When Brondby move the ball around at the back, Frendrup seems to drag a 20-yard circle of space around with him. He moves in the shadows, always showing for a pass. He gets the ball. He controls it. He plays it on and he moves again.
Coaches like to talk about playing in the future and Frendrup is a textbook example. He knows his options when receiving a pass and is adept at letting the ball run across him to turn into clear grass.
For a player of modest years in a team of champions, Frendrup is remarkably measured in possession. He’s comfortable with the ball and likes to dictate the tempo in midfield with simple passing when available. He’s a sharp bounce passer who keeps the ball moving; a rhythm player rather than an incisive one.
His more progressive passing is aided by decent vision and two good feet and he will, if there’s nothing else on and the risk is limited, try a longer pass. The execution of those passes leaves room for improvement, though it’s a case of differing wavelengths as often as botched technique.
His distance passing is best when it’s about vision, about spotting the recipient in space, rather than a high degree of difficulty.
Frendrup is physically strong on the ball, is happy to receive it in tight areas and generally has assured footwork. He doesn’t have a trick to escape, but will stand his ground under pressure until a pass opens up.
There’s another outcome, of course: Frendrup isn’t above trying a risky turn in midfield with his back to goal, and he believes in his ability to slow the game down and speed it back up again. He can be dispossessed as a result. At 20, he’s still learning.
Although he is often Brondby’s deepest midfield player, Frendrup – like so many young midfielders – must challenge himself to score more goals. In 2021/22 his shooting accuracy has improved. 37.5% of his Superliga shots have been on target this season compared to 28.6% in his 31 league appearances in 2020/22.
He scored his first league goal against FCK in a 2-1 win in October. His knack for finding a few yards served him well in front of the penalty spot, where he timed his run well and was perfectly positioned to receive a cut-back from the left and whip a gorgeous first-time finish into the top corner. There will be more.
Without the ball
Frendrup is fast and very mobile. He covers a lot of distance in matches by zipping around off the ball. He is the classic energy in the engine room, a loveable ratter who is tenacious and combative, but fair. He snaps into tackles as if his life depends on it.
In 2020/21, Frendrup won 61 tackles in Superligaen, more than any other player and with the most per 90 minutes (2.32) too. He’s currently third in the ranking this season – team-mate Josip Radosevic and Odense’s Aron Thrandarson are ahead of him – but he has in fact advanced to an average of 2.50 tackles won per 90 league minutes.
Tackling being an aspect of his game that’s shown statistical improvement this season, he is conceding fouls far less frequently. His average number of fouls conceded per 90 minutes has dropped to 0.96 from 1.98 in the league. After being sent off for two bookable offences twice in 2020/21, Frendrup has just one caution to his name so far in 2021/22.
But it’s his work away from those direct engagements that really catches the eye. Frendrup has a handy habit of being in the right place. He makes interceptions for fun, often in the opening exchanges, and is usually on hand to sniff out a loose ball thanks to his excellent reading of the game.
On the deck or in the air, when the ball is up for grabs – misplaced, miscontrolled or just unclaimed – Frendrup is almost always the player cruising onto it like he planned it all along.
When Brondby lose the ball behind him, Frendrup gets himself turned and makes sure he’s the first man arriving to support his defenders. Whether he’s been able to step forward or glide wider when in possession, he’s soon turned tail to pick up his defensive position again.
When it’s turned over in front of him, his positional discipline means he’s ready at the base of the midfield. That’s also his role when the opposition play out more slowly, allowing him to secure the midfield higher up at the back of a collective press.
That management of space is, unsurprisingly, his great defensive strength. As he continues to get more matches under his belt he’ll be keen to add actual defending to his repertoire.
In some recent matches he’s contributed excellent defensive performances tactically but struggled in his own box. At Ibrox in the Europa League, Rangers defender Leon Balogun opened the scoring with a powerful leap and header from a corner. Frendrup was a mismatch.
In the preceding league outing, a 3-2 win against Vejle, he shouldered responsibility for both goals conceded. For the first, he opted to be present rather than active in shutting down the player who made the goal. For the second, an uncharacteristic lack of trust in his left foot led to an eagerness to shift on to his right and a weak, reluctant and desperate swinger with his left that gave the ball away in a dangerous position.
Prospects
These are the mistakes of a young player, not a bad one. Frendrup is fine-tuning his game as an impressive midfield all-rounder and the rough edges will dull in time.
He settles into games immediately and plays his position beautifully. He’s winning more tackles and committing fewer fouls in the process. He’s hitting the target with more shots. His passing rhythm gets more confident by the match.
He doesn’t get ahead of the attack many times in the average game but he is dynamic and adventurous when he does, and his threat will grow. He’s already started to add some piercing runs with the ball late in matches and they will start to pay off when it counts.
Better yet, he’s growing in stature. He’s a player Frederiksen can trust in the middle of the park because he’s disciplined and increasingly comfortable in the withdrawn midfield role that will surely be his ultimate destiny in the sport. Frendrup will mature into a reliable and productive system player, and into a leader.
His biggest area for improvement is imposing himself on a match. Some matches impose themselves on him instead. He has spells where he’s not involved as much as he’d like, not as influential as he eventually will be, but that will come with experience.
In the summer of 2021, Brondby sold Jesper Lindstrom to Eintracht Frankfurt of the German Bundesliga. Lindstrom is 21 years old and a full Danish international, and has started half of Eintracht’s league games since his move.
His is a blueprint for Frendrup but Lindstrom is a player whose direct control of matches Frendrup should surpass. Where Lindstrom impresses in explosive moments, Frendrup’s potential is as a setter of pace and a picker of locks.
If he leaves Denmark in the next couple of transfer windows Frendrup will be asked by his next club to play with patience, composure and intelligence. Brondby aren’t having the season they would have wanted in 2021/22 but Frendrup individually is emerging as a fine midfielder with those three characteristics in abundance.
There will be interest, both from clubs outside Superligaen and from Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand. In September 2021, Frendrup made his Under-21 debut. He won’t have escaped the notice of the senior team staff since then.
For now, he’s an intriguing prospect. He’s at once polished for his age and a little too fearless. Properly harnessed, both of those traits will serve him well in what looks a really positive future.
Name: Morten Frendrup
Position: Central Midfielder
Club: Brondby IF
Nationality: Danish
Date of birth: 7/4/2025
Height: 180cm
Data correct at 31st October 2021. Sources include: Transfermarkt, FBref.com, Understat
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Chris Nee
@SphinxFtbl