We need to talk about André Silva
Eintracht Frankfurt have a habit of taking undervalued strikers and turning them into goal machines. Sébastien Haller and Luka Jović both caught the eye when calling the Deutsche Bank Park home. Their impressive output resulted in West Ham breaking their club record to sign the former, while the latter moved to Real Madrid, with the Bundesliga side pocketing close to £100million for the duo.
Jovic is now back playing for Die Adler having returned on loan. The 23-year-old has three goals from three cameo appearances and talk is whether or not he could fire them into the Champions League. But we aren’t here to talk about Frankfurt’s new No.9, we’re here to talk about the man responsible for 40% of the goals scored by Adi Hütter’s side – André Silva.
The 25-year-old spent last season on loan from AC Milan and his return of 12 league goals was his best haul since a breakout campaign with FC Porto back in 2016/17. It didn’t work out for Silva in Italy and he struggled to recapture his form during a loan spell in Spain with Sevilla.
Following the restart of the German top flight in May, the Portugal international scored eight goals in ten games for a total of 12 in the campaign. His record of a goal almost every other game convinced Fredi Bobic, Eintracht Frankfurt’s Sporting Director, to make the move a permanent one.
The team currently sit in sixth position but are just five points behind second-placed RB Leipzig. In Silva, they have one of the best strikers in the league at their disposal.
In fact, only Robert Lewandowski can better him for most metrics. Occasionally, you’ll get forwards who are in a rich vein of form and their return isn’t sustainable over the long-term, but nothing about Silva’s 12 goals in 15 outings appears to be out of the ordinary.
For example, he’s only just outperforming his expected goals (xG) total and he’s almost at par when you look at his post-shot xG. He’s averaging 3.5 shots per 90 in the Bundesliga which highlights the fact he’s not relying on one shot to score one goal like some attackers. Silva is heavily involved in the penalty area, too, ranking fourth for touches in the box.
So long as Eintracht Frankfurt keep creating chances for him, he’ll keep scoring.
In an interview with Bundesliga.com last season, Silva was asked about his role for the team.
“As a kid, I liked to play football, I like to help my team and I like to – at the end of the game – feel important to the team, that I helped the team to win and not lose. My job at the moment, like a striker, is to score goals, to gain the ball in the air and to protect the ball in the front, so my teammates come more forward. So, I think it’s my job. But the most important in the final is the three points or the winning.”
As evidenced in his passes made and received maps above, Silva is everything you could want from a modern-day centre-forward. He’s comfortable covering the width of the pitch to link with the wing-backs and he regularly drops deep to help Hütter’s side build attacks centrally. He also has the pace required to play on the shoulder of the last centre-back.
Perhaps the most impressive part of Silva’s game is the knack he has for finding space in the penalty area. His team-mates deserve a lot of credit, too, given they’re the ones getting the ball to him, but the No.33 has this unmatched ability to pop up in the right place at the right time.
His goal against Schalke is the perfect example of this. Erik Durm lined up a shot just inside the penalty area. It isn’t well struck and it is likely going wide. However, Silva manages to readjust his body to chest the ball down before resisting the temptation to lash at the shot during the first bounce. He sets himself before firing a shot into the bottom corner. The Portugal international being on the end of ricochets is a common occurrence. It’s why so many of his goals are from central areas of the penalty box.
All eyes will be on Jović, but that might benefit Silva. Together, they could score the goals to get Hutter’s side into the top four.
All the graphics and visualisations in this article use Wyscout data and were produced in the Twenty3 Toolbox.
If you’d like to learn more about our products or services, and how they might be able to help you, don’t hesitate to get in touch.