Thread by @TheDevilsDNA

[What does Wout Weghorst bring to #MUFC - Player Analysis - THREAD]

Weghorst is almost done! In this thread, I dive deep to breakdown Weghorst's:

- Playing Style
- Strengths
- Weaknesses
- Ideal Role

It's a mega 25 tweet thread with lots of examples from 2-3 matches. Let's go!

Firstly, ICYMI I've already done a short thread on Weghorst which covers his 21/22 stats & some viz highlighting him. These establish Weghorst's basic profile & an indication to what kind of player he is, at least on the surface. Now let's go deeper!

A) STRENGTH 1: Link-up play

Weghorst's best trait is his link-up play. I'm including hold-up play in this section. He effortlessly recieves back-to-goal while fending off CBs & is able to lay off the boal to an approaching attacker. Assist to Baku:

Even in the 2nd phase, he has the ability to move across the line & receive in wide areas. In this sequence he finds space on the wing, controls well, lays it off to an oncoming midfielder & swiftly runs towards the box to maintain his central box threat.

The kind of passes that midfielders like to fizzle centrally (Bruno in our case) are routinely easily controlled by Weghorst. His first-time passes are perfectly weighted & he has great awareness to setup players behind him for a pass/shot in 1 touch.

Another example where Weghorst holds his place between the CBs ensuring they are pinned back. When the ball drops close to him, he's able to set it up perfectly for a midfielder in 1 touch. Expect to see Bruno, Eriksen, Casemiro get more chances like this

The 6'6" man's close control is actually much better than one would imagine. Even in crowded situations like this, he's able to quickly get the ball under control & wriggle out of situations in a Iniesta-like fashion & keep the attack going.

B) STRENGTH 2: Box Movement

His next best trait is movement like a proper 9. It's those simple runs & awareness of where the gap is where Weghorst shines. Whether it's between the CBs or behind a CB, he's always available. A simple run that led to a goal:

Constantly making himself a target in the box, Weghorst is a good recepient of crosses mainly because he gets behind well. In this example, a last-ditch touch saves the day, but Weghorst makes such runs routinely which will help Shaw, Bruno, Eriksen cross

It's not always between the CBs though. He was the awareness to peel away to the back behind the CBs if that CB-FB space is large. In this example, a better cross would have got him in on goal.

P.S. - Look at his frustration. He will be demanding

His runs are not limited to straight line ones. He has a v good awareness of where the defenders are. Here, he makes a nice curved run which keeps him onside & gets him into space through on goal. The angle was too tough for him (More on shooting later)

It's not all running though. He also has a good idea when to hold back. Here's a sequence wher Weghorst recongnizes his team having runners & many attacking the box. He picks the spot behind then & holds his run, which is where the ball drops & he scores.

In many situations, his runs drag away defenders, leaving behind space for someone to exploit, as shown. In combination, his movement is irritating for defences. He either notices where the spaces are & gets in them for himself or creates space for others

C) STRENGTHS 3: Pressing

We've already seen from the viz that Weghorst is 1 of Europe's best pressers. He's constanty running & making a nuisance of himself, hurrying defenders, esp immediately after a ball loss. He's perfect for a high pressing team.

Like his runs, his presses are also smart. Here he presses the defender into passing back & then makes an angled press covering the GK's angle knowing his teammates have the front covered. The GK barely gets a pass out. Overall, WW is a smart runner.

D) STRENGTHS 4: Aerial Ability

I've put aerial ability lower since he isn't as aerially dominating & powerful as some might think. But the 2 things he has are great reach (due to his height) & great control. Here he ekes out a well-timed headed pass

His good aerial control combined with his great movement mean that he does get headed goals close to goal often, like this. Don't expect powerful headers or athletic jumps that dominate CBs, but expect well-calculated & controlled run+header combos.

E) WEAKNESSES 1: Passing range

While WW's short passing is very neat, the moment he's asked to do somethng more ambitious, he struggles. The larger the pass distance, the greater his difficulty in retaining control. Here he attempts a chip & fails.

In that sense, he needs players close to him. Here he attempts a header pass but not one is following up. Don't expect good results by isolating him upfront & throwing long balls at him without support (Haller & Lukaku struggled at WHU & #MUFC coz of this)

Another example which highlights his excellent ball control. A good touch & 1-2 pass shows his excellent technique, but the moment he has to make a longer pass, he overhits it & his team loses the ball. The deeper WW & the team is, the tougher it gets.

F) WEAKNESSES 2: Carrying power

While he has great close control, he's not a good dribbler at speed. Here he shows great running, but after the touch, many players would have tried going on the outside. WW just cuts back in & plays a (dubious) long pass

G) WEAKNESSES 3: Shooting range

We saw this before. His shooting, like his passing & carrying is also good within a short range. Here, the space is enough for him to use his control & fashion himself a shot. But the angle is too much for him.

In summary, Weghorst's strengths of link-up play, movement & pressing & his weakness of low range of passing, carrying & shooting, make him the ideal 9 for a high-line possession team with runners around & far from ideal for a deeper team relying on transitions over large spaces.

In that sense, playing WW when #MUFC dominate possession, play high & commit numbers up the pitch makes sense. His pressing can win the ball back, his movement can explore spaces in low blocks & push them back & his link-up can keep passing sequences going & get others into play.

That's about it. Hope you liked the thread!

Note 1: I picked most clips from 1 game vs Frankfurt & some from the Bremen one to show what Weghorst does in 1 game instead of cherry-picking from many games.

Note 2: The gifs are low quality & sped-up coz of size constraints

[END]

Tried a player analysis thread with match clips for the first time. Let me know how it is. Feedback appreciated on this one.

Thanks to @CFCCentral3 for clearing my doubts on threads with gifs. He's the master of such player analysis threads. Check him out for #Chelsea content.

One thing I noticed from his games I probably didn't say as clearly in the thread. He's pressing like crazy in defence. He's running like crazy in offence.

He just never stops running. He's a machine and always a nuisance to opposition. His workrate will make fans love him.

Just to add, this is mainly the reason he struggled at Burnley. EPL has often misprofiled "tall/strong" CFs (Lukaku, Haller, Weghorst). WW isn't really a great CB-battler & his jump & upper body strength are avg. Much better space explorer & technician.