Erling Haaland, Bundesliga (Photo by MARTIN MEISSNER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
The German top-flight season is coming to a close this weekend. Six outstanding players were the league’s top offensive players.
The extraordinary Bundesliga campaign of 2019-20 will be coming to a finish that is similar to most romantic comedies – they all end the same.
Bayern Munich has been crowned champion for the eighth straight year.
The large number “8” on the Bayern players T-shirts after the title-clinching match could also be perceived as an inverted infinity symbol as it seems they will just keep winning – forever.
Despite the seemingly pre-ordained nature of the titleholders beer dumping victory celebrations, there were several star players in the league that are deserving of offensive player of the year honors.
My criteria for this honor are relatively simple. The player must have played in half of club’s minutes or more in league play, scored seven or more goals, knocked in six or more non-penalty goals, and added three assists.
Only 15 players made the first cut.
I also took a closer look at each of the player’s advanced offensive statistics to determine which players contributed the most to their clubs. These numbers emphasized all-around play rather than just scoring goals or assists.
After this thorough analysis of those stars who made the first cut and drinking 12 espressos, I broke the field down to my top five Bundesliga players of the year.
An honorable mention goes to Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland.
Haaland captured the imagination and changed the dynamics of BVB’s squad immediately upon his arrival in Germany. He finished as one of the league’s top ten goal scorers with 13 in only 973 minutes. The Norwegian wunderkind averaged a goal every 74.8 minutes, tops in Germany.
Erling Haaland</a>.</p>
<p>Haaland captured the imagination and changed the dynamics of BVB’s squad immediately upon his arrival in Germany. He finished as one of the league’s top ten goal scorers with 13 in only 973 minutes. The Norwegian <em>wunderkind </em>averaged a goal every 74.8 minutes, tops in Germany.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #0" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/06/28/bundesliga-2019-20-offensive-players/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Two Players With One Way Tickets to England </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-482375 size-full" src=https://playingfor90.com/2020/06/28/bundesliga-2019-20-offensive-players/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1047,w_1600/https%3A%2F%2Fplayingfor90.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2020%2F06%2F1215622910.jpeg" alt="Leipzig" width="1600" height="1047" srcset="https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2020/06/1215622910.jpeg 1600w, https://playingfor90.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2020/06/1215622910-768x503.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Timo Werner, Leipzig (Photo by ALEXANDER HASSENSTEIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>5. Timo Werner, RB Leipzig</h2>
<p>In most seasons, the 24-year old German would have won the Golden Boot award for hitting 26 goals; however, he will finish second. He also drove home 23 non-penalty goals and added eight assists for his club.</p>
<p><a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/06/28/bundesliga-2019-20-offensive-players/"https://fbref.com/en/players/49fe9070/Timo-Werner">Timo Werner</a> also finished second in the <em>Bundesliga</em> in non-penalty expected goals (npxG) and fourth in expected assists (xA).</p>
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<p>Additionally, the new Chelsea forward was third in non-penalty expected goals plus expected assists per 90 minutes (npxG+xA/90) and fifth in total expected goals of every possession he was involved in per 90 minutes (xGChain90).</p>
<h2>4. Jadon Sancho, Borussia Dortmund</h2>
<p>No player has teased another club’s fan base about a potential move in the last year more so than <a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/06/28/bundesliga-2019-20-offensive-players/"https://fbref.com/en/players/dbf053da/Jadon-Sancho">Jadon Sancho</a>. By using social media like people use hand sanitizer, he has brought Manchester United’s fan base into a frenzy.</p>
<p>The frenetic energy is not unwarranted.</p>
<p>The 20-year old was one of three <em>Bundesliga</em> players who had double-digit numbers of both goals and assists, with 17 and 16 respectively. Jadon was also second in assists and third in goals in league play.</p>
<p>The English international had a combined xG of each possession during the build-up of play per 90 minutes (xGBuildUp90) of 0.48, which was third-highest amongst the 15 qualifiers. A high xGBuildUp90 rating suggests a player who significantly influences play during the start-up of an offensive attack.</p>
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<h2>3. Robert Lewandowski, Bayern Munich</h2>
<p>What? The man who scores goals for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and midnight snacks is third on your list of best offensive players? Yes.</p>
<p>The Polish international is the <em>Bundesliga’s</em> Golden Boot winner with a near-record 33 goals (29 in open play). He also added four assists for the champions. Robert is a pure striker and the best one in Germany.</p>
<p><a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/06/28/bundesliga-2019-20-offensive-players/"https://fbref.com/en/players/8d78e732/Robert-Lewandowski">Robert Lewandowski</a> is involved at the end of the attack rather than being a part of the attack.</p>
<p>He leads the German top-flight in npxG+xA/90 with at a whopping 1.15. He is also second in xGChain90, but his xGBuildUp90 of 0.31 places him third on his team and seventh among our qualifiers.</p>
<h2>2. Serge Gnabry, Bayern Munich</h2>
<p>The 24-year old did not lead FCB in goals or assists. He had 12 and 10, respectively, making him one of the three league players in double figures in each category.</p>
<p>Despite his underlying numbers, he was one of the best play-makers in the league, especially in the build-up in play.</p>
<p><a href=https://playingfor90.com/2020/06/28/bundesliga-2019-20-offensive-players/"https://fbref.com/en/players/88e357ef/Serge-Gnabry">Serge Gnabry</a>, among the qualified field, was fourth in xG per 90 minutes, third in non-penalty xG/90, and third in expected assists per match.</p>
<p>More importantly, the German was second in npxG+xA/90 (1.06), xGChain90 (1.34), and xGBuildUp90 (0.50).</p>
<p>Serge showed footballing intelligence and natural brilliance throughout the season, and his direct and indirect productivity was an anchor for the German super club.</p>
<p>He was not the only anchor for Bayern.</p>
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<h2>1. Thomas Müller, Bayern Munich</h2>
<p>One of the hallmarks of great football players is their ability to adjust their game to fit both the changing environment and their advancing age.</p>
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<p>It has not been a comeback for Thomas, but a complete transformation.</p>
<p>Like his teammate, Gnabry, he provided a stabilizing force and effective conduit to Bayern’s attack, especially after the managerial change from Nico Kovac to Hansi Flick earlier in the season.</p>
<p>The 30-year old led the German top-flight in assists with 20, by far his career-high. He punched in seven goals, which is a far cry from his high of 20 four seasons ago.</p>
<p>His advanced metrics tell a better story of his overall effectiveness as a determined force of nature. Thomas led the <em>Bundesliga</em> in shot-creating actions per 90 minutes, with over five per match. He also was second in goal-creating actions per 90 minutes at 1.04.</p>
<p>Müller also led all qualifiers by a wide margin in both xGChain90 (1.46) and xGBuildUp90 (0.73), making the diminutive interchangeable player the last person defenders wish to face.</p>
<p>This is high praise for a player who is both reaching the end of his prime and who also has teammates like Gnabry, Lewandowski, and Joshua Kimmich.</p>
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<p>Thomas Müller is my pick for <em>Bundesliga</em> offensive player of the year. I am sure that my choice was not the ending that many expected – like those romantic comedies that all end the same.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">