Philipp Sander
Borussia M'gladbach · Midfielder · Germany · 1,256 min
Ballity Verdict
What makes this player special?
Philipp Sander covers both boxes. He is not a specialist who only protects or only arrives late — he is the midfielder who can win it, carry it, and still show up in the final third. That two-way presence is what makes him hard to replace in Borussia M'gladbach's structure.
Beyond the headline job, Sander remains plausible as carrier and duel destroyer. The secondary roles matter for how a coach can reorganise without changing the XI entirely.
On the pitch he has actually been used as CM (#8) / DM (#6). That matters: skill-set breadth is one thing; demonstrated deployment is another. Sander's authenticity claim starts from those minutes, not from a role board alone.
The trade-off is real: physicality shows up as a structural caveat in the profile. Any club buying the upside has to decide whether that hole is tolerable in their system — or whether they will need complementary players beside him.
Why Ballity says this
- Midfield / role totality: ball winner, carrier, duel destroyer
- Shown minutes: CM (#8) / DM (#6)
- Known caveat: physicality
Receipts
- · Player Profile
- · Role Breadth
- · Deployment authenticity
- · Sample · featured
Position
Midfielder
Appearances
14
Great+ roles
1
Age
28
Preferred foot
Right
Height
185 cm
Ballity insights
Peer context vs midfielders — how often they get the ball and what they do with it. Separate from role tiers above.
Usage rate
Share of team touches (non-GK) among midfielders with match data.
15.6% team touches
Peer band · Average
Pool percentile
50.0%
Also 61.7 touches/90 (season aggregate).
Efficiency
Output quality per action for midfielders.
63 score
Peer band · Average
Pool percentile
53.9%
Balance & structural weaknesses
How complete this player is on the position's job board — strengths and holes.
How we define this
Two-way = Great+ on ≥2 complementary axes. One-way = every other route Limited/closed. Weak routes = Average holes on complementary axes.
Strong as Physicality (Great)
Weak routes
Stat profile
Within Midfielder peers — percentile shape (not role scores).
Versatility Index
Precise 0–100 score — cross-group breadth (67%) plus within-group depth (33%), quality-scaled by tier. Distinct from the shape card below.
Index
32.5
Breadth 20.1 · Depth 12.4
- ·Fullbacks: Defensive FB (Great)
- ·Midfielders: Ball Winner (Great), Carrier (Good), Duel Destroyer (Good), Box-to-Box Midfielder (Good)
Versatility shape
Coarse directional pattern (Specialist / Dual-threat / Generalist) — not the 0–100 Index above.
Specialist
Great SpecialistDistinct Great+
1 Great+ roles total
Where he plays
Positions with deployment evidence — not statistical guesses.
Natural
Role translations
Where the profile could fit. Tap a position — then see which role style suits it.
Select a position on the pitch to see the best role, alternatives, and evidence.
Role-by-role detail
How each role is scored. Expand a row for a radar of role-shaped stats.
Similar players
Shape match across midfielder roles — cosine similarity of role scores (domestic leagues only). Slot 1 is the best same-league match; the rest are the next closest from the full pool.
Kaishu Sano
1. FSV Mainz 05 · Bundesliga 24/25
Closest roles
CarrierΔ9
Duel DestroyerΔ8
Ball WinnerΔ22
Lucien Agoumé
Sevilla · La Liga 24/25
Closest roles
- Ball WinnerΔ6
- CarrierΔ12
- Duel DestroyerΔ22
Nico González
Manchester City · PL 25/26
Closest roles
- Ball WinnerΔ5
- CarrierΔ7
- Duel DestroyerΔ7