The transfer of Felix Nmecha causes discussions in BVB fan circles. The debate is not only about the national player’s personal attitudes, but also about his sporting quality. Data proves its potential – and uncovers areas with potential for improvement.
Successors and predecessors in central midfield at BVB: Felix Nmecha (left) and Jude Bellingham. IMAGO/Treese
Felix Nmecha’s move from VfL Wolfsburg to Borussia Dortmund on Monday has caused heated debates in recent days. Because the 22-year-old international has shared content on social media that could be construed as homophobic and transphobic, his new club are making efforts to dispel any impression that the content reflects Nmecha’s personal attitudes.
A number of BVB fans still view the obligation extremely critically. Nmecha, according to her point of view, violated Borussia’s basic code of values, which was only decided last November. The club would not counter this resolutely enough, but would give more weight to the player’s sporting value.
But how big can Nmecha, who is moving to Dortmund for a transfer package of around 30 million euros, actually be in the future? A look at the performance data of the midfielder, who is to act as a link between defense and attack in the future and takes on the difficult legacy of Jude Bellingham in the eighth position, provides information about his potential.
Nmecha is faster than Bellingham
It is noticeable that Nmecha performs weaker than Bellingham in almost all performance categories. But the comparison to the English difference player lags. Even if the New Madrilenian is two and a half years younger, he is already much further in his development – and correspondingly more expensive: The Englishman switched from BVB to Real this summer for a basic fee of 103 million euros, the sum can be changed through bonuses another 30 percent of the base amount increase.
Nmecha is significantly faster than Bellingham (34.67 km/h to 33.59 km/h), he also runs more on average (11.44 kilometers per 90 minutes to 10.88 kilometers per 90 minutes) and wins more duels ( 59.8 percent to 58.3 percent). The necessary physical power that BVB wants for its midfield is there. Especially since Nmecha is also taller than Bellingham (1.88 to 1.86 meters) – and yet surprisingly agile and technically strong. Highlight videos of successful feints and dribbles can therefore be found in abundance on the Internet.
Above all, Nmecha’s passing game can be improved
However, it is also obvious that Nmecha’s game still needs improvement in some areas. Especially when passing. Here he lags behind Bellingham in all subcategories: passes per 90 minutes (34 to 53), overall passing rate (77 to 83 percent), accuracy of passes into the offensive third (64 to 76) and passing accuracy on long balls (53 to 69).
Even players with a similar profile – such as Munich’s Leon Goretzka or the previous Frankfurt Daichi Kamada – are sometimes significantly stronger in this area. However, this also depends in part on the specific distribution of tasks. So it remains to be seen whether Nmecha in Dortmund will manage to increase the number of passes he has played or his passing accuracy.
His new coach Edin Terzic has already announced that he wants to support him in “developing as a footballer and as a personality”. This should be necessary to shed the ballast that weighs Nmecha’s start in Dortmund.
2023-07-04 13:17:33
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