Nico Schlotterbeck (born 1 December 1999) is a German professional footballer who plays as a center-back for Bundesliga club SC Freiburg and the German national team. On 31 July 2020, Schlotterbeck joined Union Berlin on a one-year loan. After the loan finished, he joined SC Freiburg. Now, he is heavily linked to Borussia Dortmund.
For most teams, central defenders are the starting point of their attack and need to be accomplished on the ball both through dribbling and passing. As more teams adopt high-pressing systems, they need to be capable of resisting pressure from the opposition when in deep build-up, mobile enough to cover in behind if the press is broken, and aerially dominant to stop the opposition from playing over the top. Given the variety and difficulty of these tasks, talented center-backs are seemingly always in high demand. As such, it’s no doubt that various clubs are interested in acquiring Freiburg’s 22-year old Nico Schlotterbeck.
In this tactical analysis, we will take a look at Schlotterbecks data in the 2021/22 Bundesliga campaign. In this analysis, we will also provide a suggestion on how his future team should play.
Defensive
He is good in the defense with him tackling the opposition and winning and intercepting the ball in the defensive 3rd and attacking 3rd. Schlotterbeck ranks 97 and 99 percentile in winning the tackles in the defensive third and the penalty area and he ranks 91 percentile in interceptions.
Schlotterbeck is not just a conventional ball-playing center-back: he is unique in how rounded he can be as a creative weapon. Defensively, it can be difficult to assess center-backs with statistics as their defensive output often depends greatly on their team’s relative quality and style.
Schlotterbeck’s performance for statistics such as tackles, dribblers tackled, and interceptions place him in the 90th percentile and above. While a reflection of his quality to a certain degree, such metrics are indicative of his role with Freiburg’s system.
