Tactical analysis: pass-master Florian Wirtz and star striker Victor Boniface
Bayer Leverkusen's attacking duo are about as dangerous as it gets, as bundesliga.com explains...
Bayer Leverkusen already had something of a magician in their ranks, with Florian Wirtz, but with the arrival of Victor Boniface last summer, they now have a striker whose combination play with Wirtz lifted Die Werkself onto another level during the first half of the season.
The Nigerian fits the mould of a typical No9: big and strong - perfect for receiving balls forward with his back to goal and holding them up to bring his teammates into the game, and this is where Wirtz comes in. Not only is the Germany international one of the creative minds of this Leverkusen side, but he knows where the goal is and is not afraid to shoot. It may come as no surprise, therefore, that Wirtz's last three goals have all come from Boniface assists.
In the game against Eintracht Frankfurt, one move illustrated their partnership particularly well. Leverkusen regained possession deep in their own half and sent the ball long for Boniface. Under the pressure of Robin Koch, Boniface was able to hold the ball up, turn and send Wirtz on his way, with the youngster beating Tuta for speed and dispatching it into the back of the net.
Victor Boniface is not just a target man, though. He is also very athletic and, while he may not be the quickest player (ranked 161st for highest speed this season), he is explosive and versatile - and Leverkusen play to this strength.
Boniface is particularly comfortable on the ball, and he knows it. With 53 attempted dribbles, only Bayern's Leroy Sané has dribbled more often than the Leverkusen striker. He gets past his man more often than not too, with a success rate of 64.2 per cent, and is aided in his pursuit by the likes of Wirtz drawing players towards them before sending Boniface into one-v-one situations. In the game against Heidenheim, Wirtz receives the ball between the lines and, with a defender approaching, sees Boniface to his left. He plays him in, with just Patrick Mainka to beat, and he gives the central defender short thrift on his way into the penalty area, where he gets a shot in.
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Often enough, Boniface does not even have to rely on his dribbling skills in order to work his way into a shooting position. That is because he has, in Wirtz, a master of the killer ball delivery. Leverkusen are, as a team, very strong in terms of pass accuracy, but Wirtz is not one for a simple pass. Even when attempting more difficult passes, Wirtz finds his man more often than not, with 63 per cent successful passes out of the 285 he played in the first two matchdays of the season.
Xabi Alonso's team know what to expect when Wirtz has the ball, and they play to his strengths. Boniface often stands alongside his marker, blocking him with his body and opening a route for Wirtz to send him deep. Thanks to his explosiveness - and arguably more than just an intuition as to where Wirtz is going to send the ball - he can shake off his marker in a flash and receive the ball behind the defensive line, with a free run on goal.
There are examples of this in almost all of Leverkusen's games, but a very good one could be seen on Matchday 16 against Bochum. Wirtz is played in between the lines, where he has a tendency to drift, and he can turn and play in Boniface, who is already one step closer to the opposition goal. On this particular occasion, Boniface keeps his cool and slots in Leverkusen's fourth goal of the game.
Great duos combine well, and one of Wirtz's specialities is the one-two pass. The youngster has successfully played a one-two with a teammate 23 times this season, which is more than any other player in the Bundesliga. More often than not, Boniface has been his partner in crime in tearing opposition defences apart, with the pair combining six times.
Their combinations regularly lead to goalscoring opportunities, and it is not always a case of a classic one-two to break through: one of their eyes is almost always trained on their teammate, looking to play them in with a well timed and above all well placed pass. Against Bayern, they combined for a huge opportunity, with Boniface stretching out wide and receiving the ball behind Noussair Mazraoui. A one-two with Wirtz took him past Dayot Upamecano and into the box, where he drew several Bayern defenders towards him before pulling the ball back to Wirtz, who was left with only Manuel Neuer to beat. He was unable to provide the finish, though, and struck the post, but it was a deadly move that got him into such a position.
For as well as the pair combine and link up with each other, it is also important that they have an abundance of individual skill. Boniface is Leverkusen's top-scorer with 10 goals, while Wirtz has five to his name. Both have seven assists, with only Sané boasting more, meaning that together they have had a hand in 22 of Leverkusen's 46 goals this season. Ignoring Patrik Schick's hat-trick, when Boniface was rested ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations, four of the last five Werkself goals came from the Wirtz-Boniface double-act.
Werkself-Tore durch Koproduktionen von Wirtz und Boniface.
They are interchangeable, often swapping positions to keep their opponents on their toes, without a drop in quality perceivable in either role. Boniface's explosiveness and dribbling quality mean he can also create chances for his teammates, while Wirtz's intelligence allows him to fulfil the role of a striker without a second's hesitation, and he has already proven his own predatory instinct.
In addition to Wirtz's goal against Frankfurt, there were two further occasions in which Boniface teed up his teammate for a goal. Against VfB Stuttgart, Granit Xhaka sent Boniface deep and he squared the ball for Wirtz to socre, but there was an even more impressive combination between the two against Hoffenheim.
Just like with the aforementioned big chance against Bayern, they linked up on the left wing, this time with Wirtz initially on the ball. Boniface makes a dash behind the defensive line and Wirtz sends the striker to the goalline while making a run into the penalty area. Boniface dribbles back inside and finds Wirtz perfectly placed on the edge of the six-yard box, where the youngster just has to turn the ball in. It was a perfect combination.
After such a good first half of the season, it is a blow to the league leaders that they will have to cope without their star striker for the whole of January and possibly also part of February. Boniface is taking part at the Africa Cup of Nations with Nigeriay, meaning Xabi Alonso will be without his top scorer from the first 16 games of the season.
But the Spanish coach tested in advance for this, and it worked a dream with Schick netting a hat-trick against Bochum on Matchday 16, easing some of the fears that Boniface will be missed dearly. The Czech forward is another excellent striker and he is returning from an injury which ruled him out for much of the first half of the season. He is also a different kind of striker to Boniface.
Yet the way he took his first goal against Bochum showed that he does also have an understanding with Wirtz. The German picked up the ball in midfield and dribbled his way through before threading the needle with a pass through the defence. Schick, who had taken a position similar to the one Boniface often takes to the side of a central defender, in order to block them, turned and ran into the penalty area, where he was brought down by the onrushing Manuel Riemann for a penalty. Schick converted it himself for the first of his three goals.
It looked so good that maybe Alonso will have a headache when Boniface returns, transforming his star duo into a star trio.
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