Bayern Strikes
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Talking Tactics: Sane and Werner at Bayern Munich

By Kartik Sahni

Germany's forward Leroy Sane (R) celebrates scoring the opening goal with his teammate Germany's forward Timo Werner during international friendly football match Germany v Russia in Leipzig, eastern Germany on November 15, 2018. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP) (Photo credit should read ODD ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images)
Germany's forward Leroy Sane (R) celebrates scoring the opening goal with his teammate Germany's forward Timo Werner during international friendly football match Germany v Russia in Leipzig, eastern Germany on November 15, 2018. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP) (Photo credit should read ODD ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Manchester City’s German midfielder Leroy Sane ( C) leads the charge to celebrate with Manchester City’s English midfielder Raheem Sterling after Sterling scored the winning penalty in the penalty shootout to claim victory in the English League Cup final football match between Manchester City and Chelsea at Wembley stadium in north London on February 24, 2019. (Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or ‘live’ services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo credit should read GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)
Manchester City’s German midfielder Leroy Sane ( C) leads the charge to celebrate with Manchester City’s English midfielder Raheem Sterling after Sterling scored the winning penalty in the penalty shootout to claim victory in the English League Cup final football match between Manchester City and Chelsea at Wembley stadium in north London on February 24, 2019. (Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or ‘live’ services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo credit should read GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images) /

Attacking Prowess

Bayern boasts one of the best-attacking squads in Europe. Looking at the current statistics from UCL this season, the Bavarians have clocked a non-penalty xG plus expected assists tally of 6.19. This places them on the first spot in terms of their attacking prowess.

Flick has fine-tuned Bayern’s attack since taking over as the head coach. He is building a fearsome attacking team with Gnabry, Lewandowski, and Thomas Muller as the leading contributors. Getting either of Sane or Werner’s signature appears to be the final piece of the jigsaw

Sane is a menace for the opposition’s defenders. His athleticism allows him to participate in every bit of the attacking phase. Starting from building the attack out from the back, Sane would often drop deep to create overloads. He is the preferred option as a link-up player from the wide areas.

One of the key strengths of Sane is to collect the ball and absorb pressure. Sane, an astute dribbler, can take on three or even four defenders in a jiffy. The German winger attempted an average of 4.51 dribbles per 90, with a success rate of 57% in his previous two seasons with Manchester City. He was the third-best player in terms of goal-creating actions (GCA) with a per 90 minutes metric of 0.77 in the 2018-19 season in the Premier League. While Sane creates spaces for his teammates, Werner aims to thrive in the pockets of space to deliver the final blow.

Werner is not as good a ball carrier compared to Sane. The Leipzig forward has recorded a progressive ball-carrying distance of 141.6 yards per 90 minutes (average metric for two seasons including 2019-20). This compares with Sane’s count of 174.2 yards (average for 2017-18 and 2018-19).

Nevertheless, Werner compensates for his lack of involvement in the build-up by scoring goals. Putting the ball in the back of the net is business as usual for Werner. He has clocked an average non-penalty xG score of 0.56 per 90 for 2018-19 and 2019-20. His role as a free-roaming forward under Julian Naglesmann has seen his xA tally per 90 increase from 0.18 in 2018-19 to 0.27 in the current campaign.

The German striker constantly looks for space in the final third. He utilizes this gap to tuck in behind the last line of defense, collect the ball, and then use his blistering pace to beat his marker. He usually drives forward from the wide areas to strike his adversary’s goal.

Scoring goals; beating defenders in a one-V-one; creating threatening chances. These are the primary skills a coach looks for when signing a player in the attacking department. Sane and Werner fill these checkboxes with aplomb.