Luca Netz scout report: The young German left-back thriving at Monchengladbach

Luca Netz is an 18-year-old German left-back currently playing for Borussia Monchengladbach in the German Bundesliga. Netz joined Monchengladbach this previous summer for a fee equivalent to £1.8 million from Hertha BSC. It was perhaps surprising to see Netz leave Hertha so easily this summer, and according to the left-back himself he turned down clubs such as Manchester City. He has hit the ground running this season with Adi Hutter’s side instead, and has rightly gained plenty of plaudits for his performances. Netz has been a regular in the u21 national side, and it likely won’t be long until he’s knocking on the door of the senior team.

This tactical analysis and scout report provides an analysis of Netz’s most interesting attributes whilst giving an overview of how he fits in with Monchengladbach’s tactics.

Positioning

Netz has played as a standard left-back on a number of occasions this season, however, he has predominantly played as a wing-back, and his heat-map (shown below), backs this up. Nevertheless, it is still quite striking as to just how much action Netz has in the opposition half, with clearly more touches made in this area rather than inside his own half. It’s also interesting to see how there is a fair amount of action in the corner of the opposition 18 yard-box, testifying to just how far forward Netz will push for Gladbach.

Netz is given full autonomy of his left flank in attack and is expected to push forward in attack. He can provide with and stretch the opposition back line, but equally we can see him take positions like the one in the image below with relative frequency. Netz is confident pushing into positions inside the opposition 18 yard-box, and whilst he hasn’t scored yet this season he is a threat on goal, averaging 1.55 shots per 90, hitting the target with 37.5% of these.