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With reports of Yann Sommer’s ‘gentleman’s agreement’ to move in the summer after Manuel Neuer’s reinstation into the Bayern Munich team, it is interesting to see how the Bundesliga keeper could contribute to Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United.
As reported by The Peoples Person last week, the Bayern man could be available for as little as €8m in the next transfer window. Man United have a long-standing interest in Sommer, along with a desperate need to strengthen their goalkeeping department – certainly in terms of quantity, and most likely in terms of quality too.
Given his attributes, it would appear that the Switzerland international would stand a very good chance of usurping David de Gea were the two to slug it out at Old Trafford. Sommer possesses a number of qualities that the Red Devils are in dire need of if they are to progress as a team.
Distribution
What immediately stands out about Sommer is his laser-like passing. In terms of distribution, he can comfortably claim to be in the same tier as the likes of Allision Becker and Ederson. The Swiss international is a valuable asset to his team in possession and this is borne out in the statistics. Across Europe’s ‘Big 5’ leagues, Sommer is in the 96th percentile for touches taken among goalkeepers.
Bearing in mind much of that data was accrued from his time as Borussia Monchengladbach – hardly a domineering possession side – it shows just how much his defenders trust him. He also launches his kicks just 17.6% of the time – only the fourth percentile – demonstrating his proficient short game.
If United want a goalkeeper who helps them to build from the back and can truly be an eleventh man in possession, there are few better suited to the task than Yann Sommer. Peter Schmeichel would certainly agree, having once said, “Yann Sommer is one of the most underrated goalkeepers in Europe. Not the biggest, but how he can play football. Not many goalies can do that.”
Shot-Stopping
But there is no trade-off in terms of his shot-stopping ability either, and it does not appear that United would be missing much by way of acrobatics in trading De Gea for Sommer. The Swiss is known for his highlight-reel saves and his consistency in pulling them off seems to exceed that of the Spaniard at this time. Sommer’s save percentage of 73.2% betters De Gea’s 70.8%, but we can go even deeper than that.
Over the last 365 days, De Gea’s post-shot xG (expected goals based on how likely a goalkeeper is to save a shot) minus his goals allowed stands at 0.0, as per fbref. That essentially means Man United are where they ought to be in terms of goals conceded – goalkeeping heroics have not, on average, had any impact.
For Sommer, that figure stands at 0.13 per 90 minutes, placing him in the 78th percentile among goalkeepers in Europe’s ‘Big 5’ leagues and showing the value his shot-stopping directly benefits his defence. By using post-shot xG we can measure shot difficulty and it seems that Sommer is more regularly able to pull off the remarkable.
Command
In terms of stopping crosses, Sommer is unlikely to be much of an improvement upon De Gea. Standing at six-foot tall, the Swiss is on the short side for goalkeepers, and it does show in his numbers. According to fbref, Sommer stops 4.6% of crosses, placing him in just the 27th percentile among goalkeepers in Europe’s ‘Big 5’ leagues. That is still an improvement upon De Gea, whose 3.2% of crosses stopped places him in the tenth percentile. It is not an indication that Ten Hag can shore United up against threats from balls into the box, however.
What may be more of an indication is Sommer’s communicative ability. The Bundesliga shot stopper is a vocal keeper who keeps his defenders in check in a far more forceful manner than United’s current number one. At 34 years of age and with 80 caps, he has a wealth of experience and is not afraid to apply it. He did his best to do just that in Qatar last winter.
It is fair to say that Switzerland were a huge disappointment at the 2022 World Cup, having been overrun in all three of their group stage matches. But Sommer still managed to keep a clean sheet against Cameroon despite facing five shots in the box on target, days before conceding just the once against a rampant Brazil side. Capitulation may have followed against Portugal, but Sommer’s dependability was never in doubt – he was by far the best Swiss at the tournament.
There have been many times in the past couple of seasons where a lack of leadership skills in Man United’s backline have caused issues. Signing players like Lisandro Martinez has helped, but often the defence looks to its goalkeeper to provide instruction and Yann Sommer certainly seems like the kind of personality capable of handling that pressure.
His brief stint at Bayern Munich, who he joined in the January transfer window, has put that notion to the test. There are probably no bigger gloves to fill in world football than those of Manuel Neuer, but Sommer has performed admirably in difficult circumstances.
There have been mistakes to be sure, and he has by no means left fans believing he can oust Neuer, but United are likely to see his time in Bavaria as a valuable learning experience. Among the greatest goalkeepers in Manchester United’s history had his struggles for another European giant, after all.
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