We’ve basically had what can be considered a Bundesliga take-over during the past 3 episodes, and this is the one out of the three that we were really looking forward to publish! We’ve got quite a liking for players who simply don’t fit the stereotypical mold of what people expect from them on the pitch, and Julian Brandt is most definitely one of those players!
Born in Bremen, Julian’s parents wasted no time in placing him into a football developing academy, as by the time he was 5 years old he was already learning the fundamentals of German technicality, which has now seen him being regarded as one of the more technically brilliant players that Germany have at their disposal in reminiscence of AM(C)‘s like Marco Reus and Mario Götze of the past. However, with all of his ability with the ball at his feet, Julian is much more than just a fancy ‘Floating Advanced Playmaker’ as you will learn throughout today’s episode…
SM24 ATTRIBUTES
We still remember watching Brandt’s rise to prominence as an effective AM(L) representing Bayer Leverkusen in a 4-2-3-1A alongside the likes of Havertz, Karim Bellarabi, with Charles Aránguiz in the middle of the park and the clinical Kevin Volland up front… Back then Brandt played predominantly as a ‘F.A.P’ who could also operate as a ‘Technical Winger’ if his team needed width. But ever since he joined Borussia Dortmund back in 2019 he kept transforming as a player season after season, and with the minimized usage of ‘Classic no. 10’s’ and the rise of ‘Wide Forwards’, Julian has had to operate in more deeper and central positions on the pitch which we fully believe resulted in him turning into the German version of Bernardo Silva since Brandt can now play a multitude of positions with enough tactical nuance to not seem out of his depth, so much so that we’ve seen him play in a double pivot alongside countryman Emre Can over the course of the 23/24 Bundesliga season. Therefore, we say all of this to make the point that Julian Brandt being “more than meets the eye” is a general understatement…
TECHNICAL ATTRIBUTES
Okay, so we’ve just rambled on without a single mention about Brandt’s SM24 attributes (😅)… It’s safe to say as a technical player Julian provides so much to any team with his highlights being things like his Control, Dribbling, Movement, and Positioning (🍾) .There isn’t much wrong with these attributes to be fair, but we do have to make some slight adjustments…
WHAT WE THINK
First things first, we had to make an adjustment to Brandt’s Finishing since although he has proper Composure in and around the final third, he has never been a prolific goal scorer to warrant an 81… ; His Short Passing is way too generous. Brandt isn’t a player who you’ll see playing passes “through the needle” with the right amount of precision, and timing (which are things necessary to have a Passing rating of 90+) ; Don’t know about you, but we recall using Brandt back in Fifa 19, 20, and 21 with him being deemed a “Set Piece Specialist”, so we’re kinda confused as to what happened on SM24… ; His low Creativity further proves our point on him having too high of a Short Passing attribute since passing and vision work hand in hand. Regardless, a 72 is still a tad low for Julian.
PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES
If there’s one thing we’ve realized whilst writing these season 10 episodes is that attacking players have really come leaps and bounds in terms of thier physical application on the pitch! Gone are the days where AM,F(RLC)’s would possess a lot of technical capability but never want to track back and do the “dirty work”. The rise of better nutrition and better preparation has seen things like Workrate and Stamina being prerequisites for today’s players, and although Julian may only have a 69 for his Stamina, it’s his Workrate that one should be very impressed by since it indicates a player who may only have 75 minutes in the tank but will give his absolute all during those 75 minutes.
WHAT WE THINK
MENTAL ATTRIBUTES
To complete today’s episode, we take a look at Brandt’s atrributes associated with his Mentality. It is safe to say that he is well represented within this area of his game because he’s always had an elite level mentality ever since he was given his debut as an 18 year old for Bayer Leverkusen. We won’t be surprised if Brandt is given the Captain’s armband when Reus and Hummels decide to call it a day on their Dortmund careers.
WHAT WE THINK
Season 10’s finale is on its way…
The Soccermanager Experience 