Denmark international and forward Amalie Vangsgaard joined Linköping FC from FC Nordsjälland in the Danish Women's League during the summer of 2021. We saw the Dane play as a wingback for the second half of the 2021 season, but this season, she is the top goal scorer in the Damallsvenskan with 18 goals scored in 19 matches.
Vangsgaard is the guest in the latest episode of Fotbollkanalen's podcast Their Pitch, and her Linköping teammates Nellie Karlsson and Stina Lennartsson describe the goal-scoring machine like this:
"We would describe the football player Amalie as a powerhouse and a real monster in the box. She is also a winner and always complains about the referee regardless of whether it is a training session or a match. She is every defender's nightmare and the kind of player you want in your team!"
Vangsgaard's spider from the football analysis platform PlaymakerAi supports Karlsson and Lennartsson's description of their teammate. The red fields show Vangsgaard's average for the season so far, and the black is the average for the position forward in the Damallsvenskan. The Dane is better than the average forward across every metric but two; tackles per 90 minutes played and xT (Expected threats) passes.
A killer in the box
Compared to Evelyne Viens, who plays a forward for Kristianstad's DFF, Vangsgaard is more of a traditional number nine. Viens sits second in the top scorer league and might be considered a forward with more playmaking qualities than the Dane. Although Vangsgaard is a constant threat in the box with her perfectly timed runs and her quality of scoring goals in many different ways; strong in the air and with the ball at her feet, she is a big "shooting threat" and the most significant threat compared to all other players in the Damallsvenskan as we can see in the picture below. Viens is found a little further down on the shooting threat axis but more to the right of the image, showing that she has higher values in xT per 90 and Chance Creation Threat. That makes the Canadian more of a hybrid where Vangsgaard's role and profile are more prominent as a typical goalscorer.
To take a look at where Vangsgaard is operating the most out on the pitch in her role as a number nine for Linköping, you can see the image below, which shows the Dane’s high xT passes and where they have taken place during the season.
Goals and shots
An attacker’s best ability, apart from the goals scored, can also be found in the way they move and the fact that they always seem to appear at the right place at the right time. That’s no coincidence. A goalscorer like Vangsgaard is physically strong in the penalty area. They have a distinct feeling of where to position themselves the best to get the chance of scoring whenever their teammates have the ball, ready to pass or cross it inside the box.
The Dane’s shot map gives us a clear view that she doesn’t just take her finishes inside the box but also outside and from many different angles.
The player Linköping was missing?
Many might wonder who was going to fill the shoes of Uchenna Grace Kanu, Linköping’s top scorer the previous season. The answer? A 25-year-old Danish striker who had taken a break from football to see if professional football was something she wanted to do or not. Andrée Jeglertz’s system and tactical approach seem to suit the Dane perfectly and, not only her but, to win games, you need to score to get those three points every time. Vangsgaard has shown that she has become a key player for Linköping FC this season and the question that needs to be asked now is: Will she stay in the Damallsvenskan or will she go abroad like many other players that have developed in the Swedish top-flight?