Keep an eye on: Mads Hvilsom

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              Name: Mads Hvilsom
               Age: 19 (23.11.92)
              Club: FC Midtjylland
          Position: Striker
International Caps: Denmark U20:  3 match(es)
                                  0 goal(s)
                    Denmark U19: 10 match(es)
                                  4 goal(s)
                    Denmark U18: 11 match(es)
                                  4 goal(s)
                    Denmark U17: 17 match(es)
                                  8 goal(s)
                    Denmark U16:  4 match(es)
                                  4 goal(s)
             Value: £275.000 (Transfermarkt.co.uk)

This week’s talent is a lean mean goal machine! The name is Mads Hvilsom and he has, throughout his youth years been a guarantor for goals.

At the age of fourteen, Mads Hvilsom joined the FC Midtjylland academy in 2006. Before he signed with the club, he had been on a trial in Norwich where his friend Dario Dumic, played. However, after some consideration Midtjylland became the next location for the boy from Hvidovre.
When Hvilsom joined FC Midtjylland, he was seen as one of the greatest Danish talents, by the Academy’s director. However, Hvilsom keeps his feet on the ground:

“It meant I had a pressure on me from the start, but a pressure that very football player has to deal with. Everybody dreams of being the best and it might not have the gone the way as it looked like from the start. However, I am trying to keep developing.”

Mads Hvilsom quickly became an important part of the youth teams in FCM, where he teared up on defends after another. Not only at club level, but also for Danish international youth teams, where he has played regular since he was sixteen. After scoring fifteen goals in eleven matches for the FCM U17 team, he was promoted to the Superliga squad for the match against AC Horsens. Here, Hvilsom had his debut as he got the last couple of minutes on the pitch and became the youngest debutant in the league [second youngest today]. However, the early debut might not have been good for the player. FC Midtjylland coach Glen Riddersholm said:

“Perhaps he had the debut a little too early at the age of sixteen. When he had the debut, the former coach should have given him a few more matches to take some of the pressure of Mads.”

Mads Hvilsom himself agrees with his coach:

“It was a great experience, but I am not sure it was the right decision to let me play. I was only sixteen, and as I look back, I would have done something different.”

The young striker ended the season on the U17-team, winning the national championship and the topscorer price. Hvilsom scored not less than twenty five goals in 22 matches!

Last year, Hvilsom was on loan in Viborg FF where he scored a hattrick in his first match. After returning to FCM he won the Danish Reserves league with the club, before going on a trial with Sogndal in Norway. However, playing in a foreign country is not a must for the striker:

“It is not a goal for me to play in the Premier League, I would be happy just to become topscorer in the Danish Superliga. Off course I dream of playing in a great league, but it is not as I am longing for it.”

The talented striker turned down the offer from Sogndal, and instead he went on a loan with the Danish 1. Division club Hobro. Unfortunately, Hvilsom became injured in his first match with a Cruciate ligament injury, that will keep him out for the rest of the year. However, both his coach in Midtjylland, and Hvilsom himself belives that he will come back. Riddersholm said:

“It gives him the possibility to reflect on how much he likes to play football, and at the same time he can strengthen his mentality and tactics. Given Mads’ character, I am sure he will come back with new strength.”
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Keep an eye on: Alexander Ludwig

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Keep an eye on: Alexander Ludwig
               
               Age: 18 (30.06.1993)     
          Position: Central Defense
              Club: FC Midtjylland,
                    Danish Superliga
             Debut: 30-04-2011 
                    against Aalborg BK
International Caps: 0
             Value: Unknown


He was meant to start in FC Copenhagen’s youth department, KB, but FC Midtjylland gave him an offer he could not refuse. This week’s talent is the defender Alexander Ludwig.

The defender started playing football in the Danish club Fremad Amager aged five, before moving to Tårnby BK, and further on to the FCM Academy in 2008. The eighteen year old player describes himself as a:
“Strong defender who is great in his duels in the air as well as on the ground, and with a strong left foot. A player who is joining the offensive play.”

A statement, Glen Riddersholm, Manager of FC Midtjylland can agree on. He describes the young talent as a “solid defender, who is strong in his defensive duels” and a “reasonable passing defender” stamping him as a “complete defensive player.” 

Ludwig experienced success already in his first year in FCM, when he was part of the team, winning the Danish Cup for U17, against Silkeborg in 2008. The title was followed up by a U17 league win in 2009 and 2010. Despite the success on the club level, the Midtjylland-player has never played a match for the Danish national team. However, Glen Riddersholm, who has had a past as U17 national coach for Denmark, does not see this as a future problem for the player:

“As a national coach, you make a lot of choices, and you cannot choose all players. It is simply impossible. No one says that the national coach chooses the right player every time, so it is not always a stamp of quality to have played national youth matches. On the other hand, it is not a drawback to have played international matches and got the experience.”

Instead, Ludwig has gathered international experience with FC Midtjylland through different cups. In 2009, he was part of the team playing in the Trofeo Beppo Viola, against the Italian teams Sampdoria, Lazio and Parma. Here, FCM ended as number two, next after Lazio in the group stages. 

He was also a part of the team winning the Tournoi International U17 Les Chapeaux, in France, where FCM met St. Andre and Genoa in the group stage. After qualifying for, and winning the quarter final and semi final against Marseille and HJK Helsinki, they met LOSC Lille in the final. After draws in regular and extra time, the match had to be decided in penalties. Here, Alexander Ludwig was one of the decisive players, with his goal, bringing the cup victory to the Wolves. The defender said about the tournaments:

“It is always a fun experience to play against international clubs and players with a high tempo, which you are not used to in Denmark. It is always god to play matches on a higher level, and I feel that I can use it when I have play in Denmark.”

In 2011, Ludwig has his debut in the Danish Superliga against Aalborg BK, aged 17. Even though FCM lost the match, the talent described the debut as “something special to be playing in the best league, in a young age”. The debut was followed up with a nomination as Development player of the year in 2011. However, none of this was enough to secure a new contract, which means that Alexander Ludwig will be on a free agent from the summer 2012.

Manager Riddersholm said that “We have had trouble saying goodbye to the player”, as he “is an incredible loyal and energetic player, who you, as a coach love to have in your squad”. The FC Midtjylland coach continued by explaining the reason why Alexander Ludwig would not have his contract extended by saying:

“We have evaluated that he will have some problems with our high defensive play.”

However, the manager believes that the player has potential to play in the Danish Superliga and perhaps could return to the club at some point in his career. Alexander Ludwig himself said about his new situation that he “don’t know where I will be playing next year” but that there were interested clubs. In the same breath, he did not reject that a club abroad could be a possibility:

“Never say never... If I should get a great offer, in a club where I can develop, I would definitely consider it.”

Both Danish Superliga and 1. Division teams has shown interest, according to the player.
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