Harry Kane, FC Bayern Munich striker, dominates. This is what the data shows. Therefore, after less than half a year, he doesn’t have to shy away from comparison with Bundesliga record players like Gerd Müller and Robert Lewandowski. VfL Wolfsburg could feel this next.
In 1969, when players in Germany’s top league also liked to pursue musical paths in addition to their football careers, Bayern striker Müller sang about his own accuracy with the humorous “Then it goes boom.” And it often went wrong, very often in fact. Three years later, in the 1971/1972 season, 40 times. A record for eternity. That was what people thought until Robert Lewandowski – also in the Munich jersey – scored one more goal in the 2020/2021 season.
Kane scored prototypically against VfB
The Pole has now moved on to Barcelona and after a year of a central striker vacancy, FC Bayern again has an attacker in Kane who often goes wrong. 20 times so far in 14 Bundesliga games. If the 30-year-old stays at this pace, he could shake Lewandowski’s record, which one might have thought would really last for eternity this time. Müller, Lewandowski, now Kane – Bayern have a new “bomber”. And maybe even more?
Against VfB Stuttgart last Sunday, Kane, who moved from Tottenham Hotspur from the English Premier League to the German record champions before the season, scored in a typical way for him: goal with his right, goal with his head. Boom boom. The Englishman scored 15 of his 20 Bundesliga goals with his right foot and five with his head. All values with which he leads the league.
Kane scores on 20 percent of his shots
No question: Kane is king. The convincing 3-0 win against the league’s surprise team would not have been necessary for this realization. He has achieved outstanding statistics since his first Bundesliga game in August against Werder Bremen, when he scored an opening goal and an assist. But why is the 95 million euro transfer so good? Is he just an excellent enforcer? The beneficiary of a well-oiled machine?
By no means only, because his performance score also means first place in the Bundesliga with 80.80. According to the GSN data, England’s national team captain is what Bayern were missing last season: an efficient attacker. If he shoots from play, the probability that he will score is exactly 20 percent. Only Stuttgart’s Serhou Guirassy and Dortmund’s Niklas Füllkrug are marginally more efficient here.
What is the Performance Score?
- Goals, passes, fouls, shots or even offside positions: the basic game data and further analyzes such as “expected goals” or “action scores” are placed in a higher-level context by an algorithm in the “performance score” – for example, position-related.
- With the “Performance Score” all players are initially set to 0 and are evaluated based on pure performance data combined with data models.
- This value therefore provides an assessment of how well or poorly a player is currently playing.
- The “performance score” is a component of the GSN index, which in turn is a general, long-term assessment of all of a player’s skills, potential and qualities.
Kane is a model of consistency: He has been on the pitch for almost every possible minute and has only been involved in no goals in two league games – in the 2-1 win against Mönchengladbach at the beginning of September and in the 1-5 debacle against Eintracht Frankfurt a week and a half. In between there were three Bundesliga months with at least one scorer point in every game.
And yet, despite all his finishing skills, Kane’s qualities don’t just lie in front of the goal. Often enough in the game he drops into midfield – preferably a little to the left of the center – collects balls (sometimes in his own half) and distributes them. He is one of the best Bundesliga strikers when it comes to setting up his teammates with key passes. In this respect he is only outdone by Leverkusen’s Viktor Boniface.
The best scorer in the Bundesliga
In addition to his 20 goals, Kane also has five assists. A total of 25 scorer points – six more than his closest rival Guirassy. Kane is involved in more than 50 percent of Bayern’s 47 goals.
For comparison: In his record season – his tenth in the Bundesliga at the time – Lewandowski added seven assists to his 41 goals and was involved in 41 percent of all Bayern goals. In 1971/1972, in addition to 40 goals, Müller also provided 17 assists and thus accounted for 56 percent of Munich’s goals. Müller scored every 76 at the time, Lewandowski scored every 60 minutes three years ago – Kane currently scores every 66.
Not sprinting, but running strong – and very game intelligent
Bayern’s “Bomber” 3.0 is not particularly good at sprinting, but he is very strong at running for a striker. He runs the third most of all Bundesliga attackers. His more than 142 kilometers in 14 games make him a very useful player for the team who – even if he is not a proven pressing player – is not above running into opposing passing lanes.
Moving forward, Kane benefits from his game intelligence, his football IQ, and his ability to read situations: he repeatedly puts himself in excellent positions, anticipates spaces and opportunities and can then break away from his opponents with just a few steps. In this sense, he moves in a similar way to the Müllers – Gerd once, Kane’s teammate Thomas still today.
Niko Kovac, coach of VfL Wolfsburg and opponent at the end of the year (8.45 p.m., in the NDR Livecenter), sees exactly that as a big task for his team. He wants to help the “exceptional striker” in the team: “It’s only possible together” to close the spaces and “keep the game compact” – so as not to let Kane get into finishing positions.
Kane doesn’t just score “easy” goals
Kovac’s problem, as it has been the problem of many opponents this season: It is by no means the case that the 30-year-old only executes and only scores “simple” goals from close range. In fact, according to the data, this only applies to a third of his goals – this would also include his three penalties. A third of his goals are also categorized as “difficult”: for example his long-range shot from his own half against Darmstadt 98.
Kane’s strength lies primarily in his multidimensionality and team usefulness. All of this makes him the highest-ranked player in the Bundesliga with a current GSN index of 95.17 – King Harry greets from the top. It’s still unclear whether he can sing. And from a football perspective, it remains to be seen whether he will add another dimension to his phenomenal first half of the year in Germany with a goal with his left hand against the “Wolves”. Then it would have happened at least 21 times in the Bundesliga.
What is the GSN Index?
Four-pillar principle:
- “Football characteristics”: technique, game overview or first contact: assessments of 130 football-specific characteristics from more than 300 scouts worldwide.
- “Football potential”: Where are players improving, where are they stagnating or regressing? An algorithm analyzes data from the first pillar and compares player types.
- “Performance on the field”: goals, passes, fouls, shots or even offside positions: the basic game data and further analyzes such as “expected goals” or “action scores” are placed in a higher-level context by an algorithm – for example position-related.
- “Playing level”: Each team or league has a numerical value that measures its strength. Oberliga or Champions League: The higher the opponent’s level of play, the more positive it has an effect on the GSN index.
Rating scale:
- 85 – 100: World class
- 70 – 85: international class
- 60 – 70: Average Bundesliga or the top 5 leagues
- 50 – 60: Average 2nd Bundesliga
- 40 – 50: Average 3rd League 30 – 40: Average Regional League
Two GSN index values:
- Current GSN Index: shows the current, all-round quality of a player based on the data from the four pillars and algorithm calculations. more possible
- GSN Index: Artificial intelligence uses the data to determine the best possible future performance level of a player.
This topic in the program:
Sports current | 12/20/2023 | 11:25 p.m
