Alassane Plea signed for Borussia Monchengladbach in 2018 and has been an important player ever since. So far, the 29-year-old has scored 49 goals and assisted 39 times. He has consistently pulled out top performances for Monchengladbach in the Bundesliga. But this season, Plea has found it a bit hard to find the back of the net. But still, he remains an important player, with two goals and seven assists to his name. We look at some of his stats to understand his importance to the team.
Alassane Plea has made 11 appearances this season, starting ten and coming off the bench in one. He has two goals and seven assists this season in the Bundesliga. He has racked up four more assists in the DFB Pokal as well.
The above visual shows the percentile rank of Alassane Plea compared to other left-attacking midfielders in the Bundesliga. We can see from the pizza chart that he has good passing stats. Plea is ranked in the top 90 percentile for dangerous passes per 90 minutes. In other areas of passing, he has decent stats. He is also ranked in the top 70 percentile for goal contributions per 90 minutes. Another area where he has excelled this season is positioning, where he is ranked in the top 80 percentile.
Dribbling
The above visual shows the penetrating carries made by Alassane Plea in this Bundesliga season. He is fast and runs past players with the ball at his feet. He has made an average of 2.24 dribbles this season with a 63.4% success rate. However, this has come down from 3.49 dribbles per game last year. Nevertheless, Plea has made 48 penetrating carries this year and has been integral in breaking down defensive lines. In addition, he also makes an average of 1.63 progressive runs per game. We can observe from the visual how he cuts inside from the left flank and poses a threat every time he dribbles forward.
On the flanks
The above visual shows the actions of Alassane Plea as a winger. Plea usually plays either as a left-attacking midfielder or a left winger. When he plays as a winger, he uses the width to good effect. Plea either dribbles into space or cuts inside and makes a cross. He has whipped in an average of 2.04 crosses this season with 30% accuracy. Moreover, he is good at 1v1s and makes an average of 8.47 offensive duels per game, winning 43.4% of them.
Lack of goals
Alassane Plea has scored only two goals this season, one of them from a spot kick. The above visual shows the xG map of Plea from the Bundesliga this season. We can observe that he has attempted a total of 14 shots, out of which seven were from inside the penalty box. He also had six shots on target but converted only one of them. Plea has taken an average of 1.53 shots per game with a 46.7% success rate. We can further observe that most of his shots are from a wider angle, which may have contributed to the low xG.
Last season
The above visual shows Plea’s xG map from last season. He scored nine goals last season, with six of them coming from open play and three from spot kicks. Alassane Plea tried a total of 52 shots throughout last season, with a majority of them coming from inside the penalty box. He also had 20 shots on target, with an average of 2.34 shots per game and 41.8% of them on target. This season, the shots have also come down to 1.53 shots per game.
The above visual compares the radars of Alassane Plea with those of Leroy Sane. Both play as attacking midfielders for their respective teams in the Bundesliga. The former has better stats in aerial duels, dangerous passes, and goal contributions per game, while the latter exceeds in almost every other parameter. Both are having a good season and are so important for their clubs.
Alassane Plea has been an important player for Monchengladbach since he signed for them and has racked up 49 goals in his time with the club. He has once again shown that he can contribute even if he doesn’t score as much as he used to. Plea is an integral part of this team and has helped them to get to the eighth position in the league. He will be hoping to rediscover his finishing form when the season restarts.
Visuals via TFA data viz engine
