He made his Bundesliga debut at the age of 17 and 15 days, and at the age of 18 handed Bayer Leverkusen a report card of eight goals and eight assists. The following season, it grew to 10 goals and 14 assists, and the big teams all over Europe began to pay attention to the talent.
Unfortunately, a serious cruciate ligament injury kept him away from the court for almost 10 months. However, the 19-year-old once again returned to the mainstream with a Messi-style goal.
01. Once made 1 ball every 37 minutes! After recovering from his injury, he performed again
a. A young German genius: a serious injury kept him off the pitch for 11 months
Born in Germany on May 3, 2003, Wiltz started professional football training at the age of 5 and entered the youth academy of Bundesliga powerhouse Cologne at the age of 7.
He moved to Bayer Leverkusen at the age of 16 and made his Bundesliga debut soon. In the first half of last season, the 18-year-old Wiltz produced one goal per 37 minutes, and at one point became the first place in Europe's top five leagues.
At that time, in addition to Bayern and Barca, all five giants of the Premier League focused on this young man.
Where does Wiltz go? Once a hot topic, he is also considered the next leader of German football.
In March 2022, he had to bid farewell to the court for 11 months due to a serious cruciate ligament injury in his left knee, and even missed the World Cup at the end of the year.
b. 6 goals in 7 games in 1 month: Wiltz declares himself reborn
After returning at the end of January, Würtz spent four games to find his senses, and over the next 26 days, six of the seven games were directly scored (points or assists).
In the Europa League play-off match with Monaco, he scored in the second leg and became one of the best player candidates in the Europa League.
Even more memorable was his goal against Monaco in the first leg, when he used a change of direction to tease France international centre-back Disassi before completing a Messi-esque goal.
Apparently, after 11 months of recuperation, Wiltz's recovery is better than expected, and his body is still on the rise.
Thought to be worth more than 70 million euros, Bayern were a little hesitant to buy Wiltz. La Liga giants Barca have been more positive about this and have even contacted Wiltz's father.
However, according to Barça mouthpiece media, the transfer will take place in the summer of 2024, so Wiltz himself later refuted the rumor that "I haven't talked to my dad about the past Barca".
02. Serious injuries have an impact on explosiveness: the running kick can continue
a. Explosiveness is affected to some extent: the degree of recovery remains to be observed
Some time ago, Bayer Leverkusen played in the 343 formation, and Wiltz played the role of forward.
He became a source of creativity for the team through his runs, catches and tandems during the game. His style of play is somewhat similar to Griezmann's, and he has a good level of passing and great potential.
After recovering from injury, Wiltz's absolute speed did not have a great impact. He was not originally a very physical type, and considering the age of 19, his body still has more room to recover.
However, this time, he wanted to cut inside after dribbling the ball to the front, but because his explosiveness was weaker, he was cut off by the opponent.
Looking at the attack again, after Wiltz's comeback this time, he had a big problem with the efficiency of his left foot movements.
He can actually touch the ball with both feet, and his left foot assists with dribbling. But there are big problems with the power of the action, especially when reaching out with the left foot to get the ball, the error rate is really a bit high.
Looking at this attack, Wiltz and Palacios hit the wall and entered the box, but because of the left position in the box, it is necessary to do some auxiliary movements with the left foot, and the current efficiency is indeed not good.
It always takes a little time to recover after a serious injury, and whether the explosive power of the movement can be improved when Wiltznerch is a step is the key, which is also one of the sequelae of a serious cruciate ligament injury.
b. Running aggressively is fundamental: he fits well with the needs of modern football
So far this season, Wiltz has been able to provide at least two steals if the defensive stats are converted to every 90 minutes.
Such a report card is very good for an attacker. His style of play is like Griezmann, and he has a good rhythm of movement and defensive awareness.
In this wave of attack, Wiltz moved very lightly on the wing, allowing him to cut inside after dodging the defender slipping through the line. Although the dribbling is going back (still subject to explosiveness), the frequency of the last pass is still very bright.
What is even more rare is that after the teammate was cut off with the ball, Wiltz immediately stuck the line of the counterattack, forcing the opponent to make a mistake with a hasty pass.
It can be seen that Wiltz's position is very good this time, he is stuck in this position, even if the opponent does not make a mistake, it is difficult to play the speed of counterattack.
Strong running ability is a characteristic, and being able to choose a position can bring more advantages, which is the most attractive thing about Wiltz.
Looking at the offensive and defensive rounds again, when a teammate missed the ball and the opponent had a chance to counterattack, Wiltz, who was originally in front of the big penalty area line, immediately retreated.
He broke the ball at the touchline in midfield and then counterattacked on the spot. Wiltz's cross gave Hlozek a chance, but unfortunately the shot was not completed with high quality.
03. Ball quotient is an advantage, and mobile reception plus transmission efficiency are specialties
a. High potential for organizational advancement: Würtz has a basis for success
Würtz is 1.75 meters tall, his physical fitness is not outstanding, and his overall body shape is quite similar to Griezmann, but in terms of explosiveness and ball sense, he is still slightly inferior to Griezmann.
At the same time, Wiltz still has a higher error rate in some key rounds, and whether he has the ability to be in a big team, so that they are willing to hand over the overall offensive rhythm to themselves, may need to be observed for a long time.
Wiltz moves smartly, and his biggest characteristic is never that he is good (occasionally there are highlights, but more often than not, the error rate is high).
This time after passing back to his teammates, he moved forward to meet Palacios' straight plug, which was a highlight.
In this wave of Wiltz's attack, in addition to moving the catch, holding the ball twice, protecting the ball against the opponent's back, the power of this is also good.
It's a pity that the last straight shove to Higg, still gave a little shorter, was completed by the other party.
Let's look at this wave of offense, which is still an opportunity brought by Wiltz's mobile reception.
After his second reception on the wing, his bipedal touch showed his characteristics. After a mistake by his teammate in the middle, he took the ball and passed it to the back post, found Flimpen, and played a great rhythm.
b. The vision is good, and the pass still needs to be polished
After his return, Wiltz contributed two goals and six assists in 13 games. Obviously, he needs to continue to adjust because of the power problem in shooting.
In contrast, passing requires less explosiveness and is easier to regain the feeling. His spatial insight is good, but there is room for improvement in his passing accuracy.
This time, it was Wiltz who dribbled the ball into the box and was broken, and then Palacios strongly countered the tackle, launching a second attack on the spot.
After winning the ball, Wiltz used Palacios to cut in front of the space, and he keenly observed the outside space of Monaco defender Cayo Enrique's flank to send a wonderful pass to Adéli.
Wiltz has good passing footwork and gives him space, and his passes are of good quality. But on the move, his passing is mediocre.
Conclusion:
Both before and after the injury, Wiltz still lacked movement and explosiveness in key moments. After injury, he may take longer to recover and will also consume some of his original potential.
He is most suitable for contributing transmission data in a relatively open situation, and once the space is locked, there is less he can do. Whether the future can really stand on the giants, it will take time to give the answer.