Silas Wamangituka: a Bundesliga Match Facts model professional
In Simon Rolfes, the Bundesliga and its partner AWS have an expert who knows the Bundesliga from A to Z. Bayer 04 Leverkusen's Sporting Director, Rolfes wore Die Werkself's colours 288 times between 2005 and 2015, and represented Germany on 26 occasions. Rolfes is the ideal man to write a weekly column for the 'Bundesliga Match Facts Zone' on bundesliga.com, analysing current trends and giving unique insight on the Bundesliga Match Facts.
This week, VfB Stuttgart's shooting star Silas Wamangituka is given a Bundesliga Match Facts examination.
By Simon Rolfes
It was the stand-out moment of Matchday 19. In the 72nd minute of Stuttgart's 2-0 win over 1. FSV Mainz 05, Wamangituka picked up possession of the ball inside his own penalty area and launched a 70-metre sprint which culminated in him scoring the second goal of the game. Not only does it have the potential of being voted Goal of the Season, but it also underlines just how much of a difference speed can make.
One of the league's quickest players, Wamangituka simply could not be caught – even with the ball at his feet.
The 21-year-old was once again clocked by Speed Alert breaking through the 35 km/h (21.75mph) barrier – for the third time this season. Only RB Leipzig's Dayot Upamecano and 1. FC Union Berlin's Sheraldo Becker have broken that barrier more frequently so far this season.
It is not just his pace which has made Wamangituka one of the shooting stars of the season, however. His finishing skills are of the highest order, with his 11 goals so far in 2020/21 currently the most by any midfielder in the Bundesliga - and four of them have come in his past four appearances.
While he may have scored the goal with the highest probability (99.5 per cent) against SV Werder Bremen on Matchday 10, and while there are a couple of penalties in his collection, Wamangituka has still shown a ruthless streak in front of the opponents' goal. A look at his xG value illustrates just how effective he has been, with just 6.9 goals expected from him so far this time in view of the chances he has had. Considering he has put the ball away 11 times, he is exceeding his xG by 4.1. This puts him in the top three across the Bundesliga board, with only Robert Lewandowski (9.9 goals above xG) and Thomas Müller (4.9) ahead of him.
Watch: Silas Wamangituka's stunning goal seals Stuttgart's win over Mainz
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>>>Speed Alert: the decisive advantage
Where Wamangituka differentiates from the Bayern München pair is the fact that he is neither a centre forward, nor an attacking midfielder. In fact, Wamangituka is most at home on the wing, be it on the right or on the left, and as such he spends plenty of his time tracking back to help his team out defensively.
Furthermore, the following image of a selection of Stuttgart's Average Position charts shows how versatile Wamangituka, with his No14 shirt cropping up on both wings and also as a second forward, can be, and perhaps it should be noted here that when Stuttgart signed him from Paris FC in 2019, he was playing for the French club as a centre forward. That explains why he is so clinical in front of goal.
>>>Bundesliga Match Facts: what is Average Position?
Of course Wamangituka fits right into Stuttgart's spectacular attacking system, which is heavily reliant on quick counterattacks. This is where he finds the room to make such a deadly impact with his pace.
On Matchday 20, my club Bayer 04 Leverkusen play host to Stuttgart. We are definitely more than aware of what damage this player, who not only emerges from a Bundesliga Match Facts analysis as a model professional, is capable of doing to us. It is therefore going to be crucial that we are positioned well when in possession on Saturday, in order to prevent Stuttgart from hitting us on the break.
That is where Silas Wamangituka could do us the most harm, but I'm very confident we will be able to emerge from this game triumphantly.
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