Along with Atalanta, Borussia Mönchengladbach were one of the most exciting, and surprising, teams within Europe’s top five leagues throughout the 2019/20 season.
With much of the attention being on the German team’s attack, it’s easy to miss that they finished with the third-best defence in the Bundesliga.
Paramount to this was their experienced goalkeeper, Yann Sommer.
The Swiss number one has played over 200 games for Mönchengladbach, but his latest two seasons has proven he’s one of the most underrated keepers in Europe.
This tactical analysis will look at why Sommer and his team have been so successful defensively over the last two seasons.
In a recent data analysis, Sommer emerged as one of the best goalkeepers currently in their peak, giving us the incentive to analyse him further.
We will look at how the 31-year-old compares to other goalkeepers in different aspects of goalkeeping.
We will also look at his strengths and weaknesses and what we can expect from him during the 2020/21 season.
How Does His Performances Compare To Other Elite Goalkeepers?
Although Sommer is now playing behind a very solid defence, he has still been instrumental to his side’s success, particularly over the past two seasons, finishing fifth and then fourth in the table.
Throughout the 2018/19 season, Sommer had a PSxG +/- value of 9.8, this means that he saved nearly 10 goals more than he was expected to.
Although not as impressive, in the 2019/20 season he still saved 4.4 goals more than he was expected to.
The above graph compares goalkeepers within the top five leagues who have played at least 1.500 minutes.
It looks at the average shot difficulty that they have faced and the goals they have saved above/below expected.
