Aleksandar Pavlović between the lines

1514 settled passes by a Bayern München centre-back from the middle third with Pavlović on the pitch, over 24 Bundesliga matches and 1639 minutes. He stood between the opponent's midfield and defensive lines on 58 of them (3.8%), was free and playable on 19, and was found there 2 times. The other 86% of the time he was in front of their midfield line, where the centre-backs played him on 21% of their passes.

Showing the full season. Use the match picker in the top bar to look at any set of games.

CENTRE-BACK HAS THE BALL IN THE MIDDLE THIRD: WHERE IS HE, AND DOES HE GET IT?

Between the lines: found, or not found

"When the centre-backs have the ball in the middle third, how many times was he played to while he was between the lines, and how many times did they not find him while he was available?"

58 moments with Pavlović between the lines. On 19 he was free (no opponent within 3 m, clear lane from the centre-back); the pass came 1 time. On the other 18 the centre-back played elsewhere. On the remaining 39 he was covered or the lane was blocked, and 1 of those passes still reached him.

WHERE HE STANDS WHEN HE IS BETWEEN THE LINES

Every moment a centre-back played a settled pass from the middle third while he stood between the opponent's midfield and defensive lines. Free = no opponent within 3 m and a clear passing lane from the centre-back.

FOUND OR NOT, WHEN HE IS FREE

WHERE THE BALL WENT INSTEAD

WHICH CENTRE-BACK PLAYS HIM

AGAINST THE OPPONENT'S BLOCK

THE READ

The honest answer is that Pavlović is almost never between the lines when the centre-backs have the ball in the middle third: 58 of 1514 passes over the season (3.8%). He plays as the deeper 6, in front of the opponent's midfield line, and that is where he gets the ball: 270 of 1308 passes in this selection (21%), 27% of the times he was free there.

When he does step between the lines, the centre-backs do not look for him: found 2 of 58 over the season, 1 of the 19 times he was free and the lane was open. In this selection the ball went instead to the centre-back (14), the no. 10 / winger (13), the midfielder (12). Section 05 shows this is a team pattern, not a Pavlović pattern: the centre-backs hardly play anyone between the lines directly from the middle third.

What he does once he receives it there

"Once he received this ball between the lines, what did he do with the possession, and to whom?"

287 completed passes from a centre-back to Pavlović in these situations: 270 received in front of the midfield line, 2 between the lines, 15 in or beyond their lines. Because the between-the-lines sample is so small, the flow below shows everything he does with a centre-back's pass from the middle third; the between-the-lines receptions are ringed on the pitch and described in the read.

FROM THE RECEPTION TO HIS FIRST ACTION, AND TO WHOM

HIS PASSES AFTER RECEIVING BETWEEN THE LINES

Arrow from where he released the ball to where it arrived; marker = where he received it. Receptions in front of the opponent's midfield line are faded so the rarer ones stand out.

WHO HE PLAYS

WHAT THE PASS DOES

The between-the-lines receptions in this selection: vs Freiburg (22 Nov, 19'): received from J. Tah between the lines, played forward to M. Olise (13 m); the possession ended in a shot; vs Freiburg (22 Nov, 73'): received from J. Tah between the lines, played sideways to N. Jackson (11 m, into the final third).

Across all 287 centre-back passes he received here, Pavlović splits his passing between forward and safe options: 41% forward, 40% sideways, 19% back, 93% arriving. His most frequent outlet is J. Tah (40, then J. Kimmich 26). 50 of his passes went straight into the final third; 49 of these possessions ended in a shot.

The moments, frame by frame

Every between-the-lines moment from tracking, at the instant the centre-back plays the pass. Opponent lines drawn as bands, the pass as a solid arrow, the pass that was there to him as a dashed line. Season view.

FC Bayern München 5-0 Hamburger SV, 13 Sep, 53'. J. Tah (LCB) has the ball in the middle third in established possession and plays J. Stanisic (RCB).

Match by match

24 matches with minutes, 14 of them 60 minutes or more. Season share of centre-back passes with him between the lines: 3.8%.

BETWEEN-THE-LINES MOMENTS PER MATCH

One column per match he played, in date order. Click a column to add or remove that match from the selection. Hover for minutes and the share of centre-back passes with him between the lines.

He was between the lines most often against 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 (14 of 69 centre-back passes, 2 May); as a share of the centre-backs' passes, the highest was against 1. FC Heidenheim 1846 (20.3%) and the lowest against 1. FSV Mainz 05 (0.0%). There is no match in which the centre-backs found him between the lines more than 2 times.

The same question for the other midfielders

Across every midfielder measured, Bayern München's centre-backs found a player between the lines 8 times out of 571 moments (1.4%), 6 of the 216 times that player was free.

Same moments, same definition, for every central midfielder and number 10 who was on the pitch for at least 150 of these centre-back passes. Season view.

The players who live between the lines here are the number 10s: H. Kane, L. Karl, S. Gnabry. Even they were found there only 3 times in 409 moments. Pavlović at 3.8% is where you would expect a deeper 6 to be, next to Kimmich at 1.9%.

So the question "why do the centre-backs not find him between the lines" has a team answer: from the middle third they almost never play into the space behind the opponent's midfield line directly, whoever is standing there. The ball goes through the pivots in front of the line or out to the full-backs and wingers, and the players between the lines are reached one pass later. If the staff want Pavlović found there, that is a passing pattern to coach into the centre-backs, not a positioning issue for him.