As you would expect, there is plenty of hype and excitement around Bayern Munich’s 20-year old midfielder Aleksandar Pavlović - and rightly so.
The midfielder made his breakthrough into the Bayern Munich first-team at 19 under Thomas Tuchel last season, coming into the team in the autumn. A seriously impressive performance in the win over VfB Stuttgart in late December was the game that earmarked his stamp on the first-team, and made many people realise the level of talent Bayern had on their hands here.
You don’t need stats to know how good Pavlović is, you can tell by watching him, But, boy, do the stats marry up to what the eye test shows.
The stats that show how good Aleksandar Pavlović is
The numbers provided by the ever excellent DataMB, show just how good the 20-year old has been so far this season for Bayern Munich. They have also shown just how good Michael Olise has been, if you want to take a look.
According to DataMB’s numbers, in terms of the Bundesliga, Pavlović ranks in the; 97th percentile for progressive passes, 92nd percentile for both forward passes and forward passing accuracy, as well as 90th percentile for duel percentage.
So, what is not quite so good on Pavlović's part? He ranks in the 54th percentile for key passes, 44th percentile for progressive carries, and 53rd percentile for defensive actions.
The reality is, these do not matter too much. His job in the team is not to create chances. Whilst it would be optimal for his progressive carries to improve a little bit, it is not a priority. There are other players in the team to do that, and it is something that should improve with time as he continues to stamp his authority in midfield.
As for defensive actions, perhaps even less concerning than key passes. Bayern are so dominant that there are not many defensive actions to engage in. Duel percentage is a better barometer, and as mentioned above, he is in the 90th percentile for that (albeit smaller sample size does help).
There have been plenty of calls, rightly or wrongly, for João Palhinha to be starting games for Bayern this season, with the financial outlay on his signature. Pavlović is a big reason why one of the most reputable defensive midfielders in the game cannot get off the bench for Bayern. A huge testament to him at just 20-years old.