Player Focus: Juan Arango - Gladbach’s Venezuelan King

In the calendar year of 2011, nobody in European Football can boast such a dramatic change in form as Borussia Monchengladbach who started the year rock bottom of the Bundesliga and now find themselves locked in a Championship battle.

At the heart of their impressive form from February onwards is their pragmatic head coach Lucien Favre who has taken over the sinking ship from Michael Frontzeck and steered them towards a stunning Champions League finish this season. But with the likes of Marco Reus and Marc Andre ter Stegen taking the plaudits, a number of unsung heroes have gone under the radar.

Defensive stalwart Dante and skipper Filip Daems have been in excellent form, whilst Roman Neustadter and Havard Nordtveit have provided a solid base in the centre of midfield. Patrick Herrmann has performed very well in midfield and Mike Hanke has finally managed to hit the back of the net more than once for Gladbach.

However, one of the most under-rated figures for Die Fohlen is their classy Venezuelan star Juan Arango. The 31-year-old has played every game this season for Gladbach in the Bundesliga and has been a crucial figure in their good start to the Hinrunde.

The 103-time capped Venezuelan international midfielder spent most of his career in Mexico with the likes of Monterrey, Pachuca and Puebla before Spanish cracks Real Mallorca brought him to Europe for the first time in his career.

However, he swapped La Liga for Germany in the summer of 2009 when Gladbach spent over £3m on the experienced South American who has since featured in the White of Borussia over 75 times.

This season though, Arango has enjoyed his best form in a while with seven assists and four goals this campaign, one of which came in the DFB Pokal against Schalke last month.

He possesses an excellent level of technique and is capable of producing an effective set-piece with his strike against FC Koln coming from a free-kick. Arango does not seem to do simple goals with his other goals easily contenders for Goal of the Season.

The midfielder provides terrific balance on the left-hand side and is essential in Gladbach’s counter-attacking play with 640 successful passes from 899 – an overall ratio of 71.2%. On a game-by-game basis, Arango is regularly in possession with an average of 50 passes per game, an impressive statistic for a wide-midfielder.

In keeping with Favre’s 4-4-2 system, which places emphasis on quick attack from defensive positions, Arango plays, on average, three successful long balls per game and a total of 56 from 117.

His accuracy is key in getting Gladbach’s quicker attacking players, such as Reus and Mike Hanke, in possession as quickly as possible. Arango has an impressive 100% success ratio from through balls with 5/5.

In comparison with some of the league’s best wide-midfielders, Arango is a different breed with his dribbling stats almost half of Mario Gotze. The Venezuelan has made just 28 dribbles this season, compared to Gotze’s average of four per game but his total key passing stats easily outweigh the Dortmund winger at 50 to 34.

Also, the midfielder does a very decent job in protecting left-back Filip Daems with 28 tackles in total and 39 interceptions which is double more than FC Bayern’s defensive-midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger and four less than central-defender Daniel Van Buyten.

Based on his statistics, he has no weaknesses in his profile with Arango reaching the ‘very strong’ rating for aerial duels, long shots, direct free-kicks and set-pieces. He is ‘strong’ in the area of key passes and crosses too.

The statistics are calculated from this season’s ratings and his style shows that he likes to play long balls, high balls, shoot from distance, cut inside when in possession and forces opponents into fouls.

Over the course of the Hinrunde, Arango has three ‘Man of the Match’ awards and has an average WhoScored rating of 7.57 which makes him the eighth best player in the Bundesliga based on the overall rating system.

With Gladbach’s star attacker Marco Reus heading to Borussia Dortmund in the summer, Arango’s experience and quality at the top level could be vital in softening the blow of losing their 22-year-old starlet.

But Favre will need to act quickly as Arango’s deal at Borussia Park expires at the end of the 2011/12 season and there will be no shortage of suitors looking to capture the 31-year-old’s signature on a pre-contract deal.