Arminia Bielefeld had a very good campaign in the 2019/2020 edition of the 2. Bundesliga, the team managed to end the season in 1st place and win automatic promotion to the Bundesliga. Having won the title of the 2nd tier in Germany, Bielefeld are now looking to establish themselves in the country’s top division and for that they need be able not only to get new players in and improve the squad, but also to keep their best players that gave the club a lot and helped win promotion.
Marcel Hartel was a key player in Arminia Bielefeld’s journey to win the 2. Bundesliga last season, the 24-year-old German midfielder was the team’s top provider with 11 assists, a number that also puts him as the joint top provider in the league last season. Back to the Bundesliga after 3 seasons in lower divisions, Hartel looks like a player that still has a lot to offer to his team and will certainly be an important part of it in the new season that is already underway.
In this scout report we’ll take a look at Marcel Hartel’s statistical profile in order to determine his output as well as some aspects of his style of play. A comparison of Hartel’s data with other Bundesliga midfielders will give us a good comparison and, despite some aspects that need to be taken into account, will provide a first glance at how he will adapt to a higher level. To complete the scout report we will do a tactical analysis of Hartel’s actions in the different moments of the game and see how he adapts to tactics, positions and more.
Player Profile
Marcel Hartel is a 24-year-old midfielder who can fulfil various roles across the middle of the park. In the 2019/2020 season Hartel played mostly as a left-central midfielder in a double pivot or as an attacking midfielder but he is able to play on both sides of the pitch comfortably.
In the image below we can see Marcel Hartel’s heat map for last season, the map highlights the areas of the pitch where he performs the most actions and, therefore, where he operates most times.
The heat map shows us how Hartel is involved in the various stages of his team’s build-up phase, depending on his position and side of the pitch he is playing, Hartel is seen dropping deep to start the build-up phase, combining to progress the ball up the pitch or even receiving the ball in between the lines to face the opposition’s defensive line and create danger. He is what we can call a playmaker in general and, depending on his position, he can be a deep-lying playmaker or a more advanced one but usually drifting to one side of the pitch. The ability to fulfil different roles and play in different sides of the pitch comes not only from Hartel’s skill and intelligence, but also from his ability to use both feet very comfortably, meaning he is able to execute actions with better angles from different areas of the pitch.
In order to have a better understanding of Hartel’s abilities and style of play, we took a look at the data. Calculating percentile ranks for some key stats allowed for a comparison with other defensive, central, and attacking midfielders from the Bundesliga. While this is not a completely realistic comparison, due to the difference in quality and style between 2. Bundesliga and the Bundesliga, it allows us to have a picture of what could potentially be Hartel’s ranks in the Bundesliga this season. The comparison should always be seen having that difference between the leagues in mind, however, it gives us a glance of how Hartel’s statistical profile fits in his new league.
