Time to return to Germany now as I analyse another raft of Bundesliga data, firstly apologies for not working through Week 13 as time got the better of me. I think to manage expectations the French, Italian and German articles may be slightly less frequent as I try and mix up the content. Fear not though you will still get a regular does of Dortmund, PSG and Napoli content but at the same time if I miss a week then you’ll know why.

Right now that we’ve got the caveats out of the way, lets get down to business and that being shot efficiency in the Bundesliga. When we left off last time it was Hertha Berlin who were making a mockery of any logic due to the fact that they had the least shots all season but were the most efficient team in the division.

These findings added credence to the statement that it’s not how much of the ball you have but what you end up doing with it, but are the still top of the shop when it comes to all things German shot efficiency?

Lets now look at what has happened in the Bundesliga after 14 weeks of the season

Once again thanks to whoscored.com for all the necessary data.

Here is the Bundesliga league table after 15 weeks while also working out the amount of total shots taken

Now let’s re-purpose that information and order it in terms of shot efficiency (smallest to largest)

But it always looks better in graph form

And there is a new team at the top of the charts, Hertha Berlin have been disposed by Borussia Dortmund, with Paul Bosz side requiring 6.5 shots per goal in the Bundesliga this season, they just edge ahead of Hertha Berlin by 0.2 of a shot.

I mentioned earlier that Hertha Berlin seem to defy any logic due to the fact that they are second most efficient team in the Bundesliga but they have created the fewest chances, well there is also a similar quirk with Borussia Dortmnd this season

If we look at the Bundesliga table in order of shots this season

You can see that the two teams that have created the most chances in the Bundesliga Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are also the top goalscorers, joint top in fact. But while the former once again look set for another season of domestic dominance the Signal Iduna-Park outfit are struggling for form this season.

They currently find themselves sixth in the table, so for all their attacking endeavour they are having issues at the back, not only that but this will go on to create a very wide variance between the two metrics of league placing and shot efficiency and we look at that shortly.

But Bayern Munich are once again punished by the fact that they are creating so much in comparison to the other teams in the Bundesliga. If they created 60 chances less then they would match Dortmund in terms of goals and shots but would still have their ranking at the top of the Bundesliga.

In theory that is because with less shots you then have to wonder if it would have an effect on the amounts of points they would win, does laying siege on the opposition give you an automatic advantage. If certainly helps but it is by no means a guarantee.

If you compare Bayern Munich to Real Madrid then you only have to look at the fact that they have created roughly the same amount of chances but while Jupp Huynckes has steadied the ship in Bavaria, the European champions are struggling to mount to anything near a title challenge this season.

If we look at the other end of the scale then it is at least better ready for Cologne in the past fortnight, they have got their shot ranking down from 39.9 to 30.3. It is still lacking in efficiency but at least they have managed to shave over nine shots of their shots to goals ratio.

Let’s now take a look at how the Bundesliga standings vary to that of shot efficiency

As you can see Hertha Berlin are by the far the team with the biggest disparity between the two measures, it is not as big as it was two weeks ago but they are placed 12th in the table and 2nd in terms of shot efficiency, so although they do not create that much they certainly don’t waste it either.

Wolfsburg are also a team with a wide disparity between what they do with the ball and how much they see of it – an interesting thing to also plug in here would be possession stats as then we could analyse whether teams are efficient or not via counter attacking means or not. Again another thing to add to the list.

While as mention Dortmund are showing a positive variance due to their defensive woes, top of the charts in terms of efficiency but it is already looking like a season to forget as they have to make do with the Europa League after the new year.

Bayern Munich are only the 7th most efficient team in the Bundesliga, highlighting the opposite variance to that of Dortmund but they are not the team that suffers the most. That mantle goes to RB Leipzig who are second in the Bundesliga but 10th in terms of efficiency at present.

While it comes as no real surprise that Cologne sit rank bottom of both charts, if we look at how the three parameters are split this time around

7 Positive
3 Neutral
8 Negative

So not quite down the middle but still a relatively even split. Unfortunately I cannot provide the week on week variance in terms of efficiency as Week 13 has passed me by that info will be sure to return next time around. That in turn concludes this article and I will be finishing up my European Roundup over the course of the weekend.

I hope this was of interest to you and if you would like to discuss any potential work ideas with me then please feel free to email me at realfootballmanwordpress@gmail.com as I am always looking to undertake additional projects to the ones I already have. Thanks, Dan.