Beijing time on July 1st, Manchester City officially announced that Bielefeld goalkeeper Ortega joined the team on a free basis. The two parties signed a three-year contract. In the new season, he will wear Manchester City's No. 18 jersey.
In the past two seasons, Manchester City's second goalkeeper Steffen has not had many playing opportunities. The World Cup is about to start at the end of the year. As the national goalkeeper of the United States, in order to ensure his main position in the national team, Steffen will be loaned to the English Championship team Middlesbrough for one year in the new season to gain more opportunities. Practical leveling opportunities.
In order to fill the vacancy left after Steffen left the team, Manchester City needed to introduce a competitive goalkeeper to be the substitute for No. 1 goalkeeper Ederson , so they signed the German goalkeeper Ortega.
Ortega played for Bielefeld in the Bundesliga last season. As the team's main goalkeeper, he contributed the most 124 saves among all Bundesliga goalkeepers this season. Despite the team's unfortunate relegation, Ortega is still considered by many experts to be one of the best goalkeepers in the Bundesliga. Ortega, whose contract with Bielefeld expired, joined as a free agent, saving Manchester City a considerable transfer fee. It is a great signing for Manchester City from both a sporting and financial perspective.
Ortega played for Bielefeld in the Bundesliga last season
For Ortega, moving from a relegated Bundesliga team to the world's top giants team seems to have completed a leap in his career. However, due to the particularity of the position of goalkeeper , if the main goalkeeper does not have injuries or major mistakes, it will be difficult for him to succeed as the second goalkeeper. It is said that once he enters a wealthy club, it is as deep as the sea, and what awaits him is most likely a long bench career.
However, the 29-year-old Ortega is in his prime, and there is no shortage of suitors given his ability. He chose Manchester City. Is he really willing to be a substitute goalkeeper?
Here, we use Ortega’s data performance last season to understand his strength, and based on this, we can look forward to his development prospects in Manchester City.
Basic situation and technical characteristics
Well-known data website WhoScored Based on the players' performance in the game, Ortega's technical advantages are summarized as "long pass ", " close save " and " concentration " . Among them, the two specialties of "long passing" and "concentration" are of particular importance to Manchester City.
Long pass : As we all know, Manchester City coach Guardiola has very high requirements for the goalkeeper's ability to play the ball. Ortega's accurate long pass is very suitable for Manchester City's tactical system. This must be one of the important reasons why Manchester City chose him. .
Focus : Manchester City's average ball possession rate in the Premier League last season was close to 70%, and most of the time they were in a state of suppressing their opponents. It is easy for a goalkeeper to become distracted if he is idle for a long time. If he is suddenly attacked by an opponent at this time, he may concede a goal. Therefore, concentration is an indispensable ability for Manchester City goalkeepers.
Goal-line technology
Here we compare Ortega's statistics in the Bundesliga this season with Premier League several outstanding goalkeepers and Real Madrid Courtois :
Save data comparison
Ortega Not only did he contribute the most 124 saves in the Bundesliga, his 73.3% save success rate was second only to Liverpool Alisson and Real Madrid's Courtois, and higher than De Gea, Ederson and Lahm. sdale.
Judging from the expected data indicator PSxG difference commonly used by football data companies to evaluate goalkeepers, Ortega is the best among the five goalkeepers. Ortega's expected goals conceded (PSxG) was 58.4, and he actually conceded 53 goals. The PSxG difference ( expected goals conceded - actual goals conceded) was 7.4. It can be understood that Ortega's extraordinary personal The ability saved "7.4 goals that should have been scored".
Last season in the Bundesliga Ortega kept a clean sheet against Manchester City's new teammate Haaland
Manchester City Ederson's PSxG difference was negative, which means that he conceded goals that he should not have conceded. In fact, Ederson's data ranks in the middle and lower reaches of the Premier League goalkeeper rankings. From a goal-line technical point of view, Ederson is not considered an excellent goalkeeper in the Premier League. Compared with the status of other Manchester City players in the Premier League, he can be said to be the weakest link in Manchester City's formation. (Comparison of
passing data
Modern football has increasingly higher requirements for goalkeepers’ passing ability. Judging from the comparison of passing data, the five goalkeepers are all very good at mid- and short-distance passes, and their success rates are close to 100%. . For long passes of more than 30 yards, Ortega's success rate is 54.9%, second only to Ederson and Alisson, who are known for their excellent footwork.
Here, we should also consider the Bielefeld team. Strength and playing style. Bielefeld 's average ball possession rate last season was only 39.9%, ranking last in the Bundesliga. In the game, Bielefeld was basically suppressed, so Ortega. The ball is often under pressure from the opponent, and it is even more valuable to have such an accuracy rate. If Ortega plays in Manchester City, which has a ball possession rate of 70%, his advantage is in a relatively loose backcourt environment. There is still a lot of room for improvement in the passing success rate.
From the table, we noticed that Ortega's number of long passes is much higher than that of other goalkeepers. It can be said that he is a goalkeeper who is very good at using his feet. Although Ederson has played 4 fewer games, his number of long passes is almost three times that of Ederson. This shows that the Bielefield team's trust and reliance on his footwork is limited by the team. In terms of strength and playing style, Ortega's long pass is an important means for the Bielefeld team to initiate offense.
Conclusion:
From the above analysis, we can see that Ortega is an excellent goalkeeper with both hands and feet. , His technical characteristics are also very suitable for Manchester City's tactical system.
Last season, Ederson won the Premier League Golden Glove Award with the most clean sheets. In fact, under Manchester City's strong offensive and defensive system, Ederson did not suffer enough. The shooting test, fewer goals conceded and more clean sheets are the result of the team's efforts.
It is true that Ederson's foot skills and passing ability are praised, but no matter how much Guardiola or modern football emphasizes the goalkeeper's passing ability. As the foundation of a goalkeeper, goal-line skills are still the most important ability of a goalkeeper, and Ederson had obvious flaws in this area last season.
Manchester City's No. 1 goalkeeper Ederson
Looking back on this year's Champions League league, Manchester City. In the second round of the semi-final against Real Madrid, they suffered a comeback 1:3. In this game, Real Madrid only had 3 shots on target, and Edson only had to save 1. The result was a huge difference.
On the other hand, Real Madrid goalkeeper Courtois repeatedly made brilliant saves in the Champions League final against Liverpool. Even when Real Madrid was passive, he kept the goal intact and became Real Madrid's biggest contributor to the Champions League. With a heartache, after watching Courtois's god-level performance, it is difficult for him not to have thoughts about Manchester City's goalkeeper position.
Looking forward to Ortega's future in Manchester City, it is clear that he will not immediately become the team's main force when he first arrives. But the catfish effect created by his arrival will make Ederson energetic to deal with competition. If Ederson fails to put in a convincing performance, Ortega is more than capable of being his backup rather than his replacement.
