Stefan Lainer
We will start with probably my favourite player in the Bundesliga at the moment, thanks to his playing style- Stefan Lainer. In an analysis written on Lainer in early July, I predicted he could be one of the signings of the season and he has certainly lived up to that tag so far, as I will explain.
So how has he been so successful?
Lets start offensively. Lainer has a pivotal role within Gladbachs tactics and their offensive system which involves getting up and down the line and delivering crosses into the box. His accuracy of cross is exceptional, be it his signature ground-driven cross or lofted cross. Lainer is second in the Bundesliga for crosses so far this season with 41 and leads the Bundesliga in cross accuracy so far this season with a brilliant 51.2% accuracy. Compare this to Trent Alexander Arnold, who currently has an accuracy of 28%, and only averages just over one more cross than Lainer per game.
We can see an example of one of these low driven crosses below, which is delivered perfectly for Marcus Thuram to score from. The timing of his run to get into this position is also excellent to maximise the space he has to deliver the cross.
We can see another example of this kind of low driven cross again, where Lainer has the vision to pick out the run of the arriving midfielder, and has the quality to deliver the pass in front of the player to allow them to run onto the cross and shoot with their first touch. The pace on the ball, combined with direction and accuracy makes the shot much easier for the attacker, and harder to defend.
Lainer is also joint top i
