Pascal Groß: A key cog in Nuri Sahin's midfield at Borussia Dortmund

Pascal Groß has quickly cemented himself as a vital part of the Borussia Dortmund team, having joined the club from Brighton & Hove Albion this past summer.

He is a seasoned midfielder with a wealth of experience and skill-sets which makes him one of the key players around whom Sahin can make Borussia Dortmund play his brand of attacking and possession-based football.

Though signing him didn't instantly lead to BVB playing the way Sahin wanted to as they are currently 7th position in the Bundesliga (after 6 matches) after their 2-1 defeat away to Union Berlin. But it can't be attributed to the way Groß plays.

Hence, here we will shed some light on how Groß is performing as a Borussia Dortmund player and how he might influence the team in the coming months. But first, a bit about his playing style.

Pascal Groß - Style of play

Pascal Groß's preferred role is in central midfield as one of two players in a double pivot or as a deep lying playmaker. From these positions, he can dictate the tempo of the game with his passing, technical ability and intelligence. This is the reason why he is also a key player for Julian Nagelsmann's Germany as he provides a presence in midfield which has been missing since Toni Kroos' retirement. His ability to build up from the back and influence the attacking phases is exceptional.

So far for Borussia Dortmund, he has been used as a deep lying playmaker, mostly by building attacks from the back and creating passing channels into the attacking third. As per Sofascore, his overall rating so far in the Bundesliga is 7.28, which showcases his consistency despite his team's recent struggles. Please note that as of now, we will be considering Bundesliga matches only to analyze data since the sample size for other competitions is too small currently.

We will use the data from fbref to analyse Groß's performance in the league so far. Please note that we will not discuss here about the goals & assists contribution since the sample size is low for that as Groß has made only one goal contribution so far (one assist vs. Frankfurt) in the league and instead will focus on other key metrics which determine a performance of a midfielder.