Scout Report -Marcel Sabitzer - A Red Devil

He joined Bayern Munich in 2021. In the 54 matches he played, he scored two goals and had two assists, which is hardly anything to get excited about. On February 1, 2023, he joined Manchester United on loan until the end of the season.

What position he plays in and 2022/23 season

He plays as a central midfielder, but his goal-scoring exploits come from his forward-thinking mindset. He played much further forward at Salzburg. His goal streak began when Sadio Mane was sold to Southampton in 2014, where he scored 19 goals. Sabitzer is a versatile right-footed player with experience in a variety of positions across the pitch. He can be deployed as a central midfielder, a wide attacker, between the lines, or as attacking support behind a centre forward. Sabitzer’s ability to move on the blind side of opponents, exploit gaps in the opposition’s midfield, and penetrate with forward runs of his own enhances his ability to progress play into the final third. From the heatmap, we can see that he has been deployed as a left-central midfielder. The bright orange spot signifies the actions he took in the form of passes,  shots,  assists, defensive contributions, and so on.

We will break his actions into

Passing

Pass Maps

Pass to final third

Progressive Pass

Assists

Defensive Contributions

Tackles made and Won

Interceptions made and won

Goal scoring ability

Touches Made

Passing

           Pass Maps

The Austrian has an excellent passing range. He is known for his line-breaking passes, and switching up the play to wide players on either side of the pitch. In the 15 matches that he played, he made a total of 868 passes, out of which he completed 402 passes. He completed 57.61 passes per match, taking him to the 96th percentile. From the heatmap, we can see that he made most of his passes on the left side, but he also switched up the play by passing to wide players on the right side of the pitch.