Why Jerome Boateng Is the Unsung Hero for Bayern Munich so Far in 2014/15 Season

Bayern Munich have been rather exceptional this season. They currently sit top of the Bundesliga with a comfortable 11-point gap between themselves and Wolfsburg in second place, while another impressive Champions League group stage saw them finish seven points clear of Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola would be forgiven for taking a second to step back and enjoy what he has accomplished. 

Yet, among the free-scoring Arjen Robbens and frightfully entertaining Manuel Neuers, there is one player who rarely gets the credit he's due.

A player who could go down as something of an unsung hero in Bavaria this season. 

We are of course talking about Jerome Boateng, the Bayern central defender and undoubtedly one of the most important players at the club this season. 

The importance of an aerially dominant defender may seem like a rather moot point when we consider Guardiola teams of the past, but with all the focus on attack for much of the game, the entire system does at times depend on some good old-fashioned defending from the back line. 

This is where Boateng has truly thrived under his new manager.

Bayern's defence has completely changed over the course of the past 18 months, and with it the average height of the club's defenders. Where Dante and Holger Badstuber once bossed Boateng at the back and physically in the air, the German international is now usually partnered with the more agile Mehdi Benatia or indeed a full-back in David Alaba or Rafinha. 

This in turn demands more responsibility from Boateng as the chief header of the ball—a task that he has quite happily taken to this season. 

According to Squawka, Boateng has a heading win ratio of 65 percent. That puts him above all other defenders at the club aside from Dante, who rests on 67 percent. However, it's a fair distance above his new defensive partners, Alaba and Rafinha, who sit on 32 and 48 percent respectively. 

Matthias Schrader/Associated Press

Even Benatia, the only other regular central defender in Guardiola's team, sits on 60 percent.

Other defenders in the side, such as Juan Bernat and Philipp Lahm, fall well behind with 49 and 35 percent respectively. Whichever way you look at it, Boateng has been Bayern's most important defender in the air this season. 

There's much more to this defender than simply lumping the ball up the park via his head, though.

What Guardiola enjoys so much from Boateng's game is his sheer athleticism and ability to get across the park. Partner that with his technical ability, and you have a ball-playing central defender who can quickly turn defence into attack with a simple pass.

Like Benatia and Javi Martinez before he picked up his long-term injury, Boateng has been trained to attack the ball in the centre of the park and to manage possession as well as any central midfielder.

This is where he thrives for Bayern and is why he's so essential to their cause. 

The Bavarian club set up each week, regardless of opponent, to hassle the opposing side from the first moment and to ensure they offer as little space as possible. This means a high line and central defenders who are always on the toes of opposing strikers.

Boateng excels at this by pressing the ball incredibly high up the park—not too disimilar to Mats Hummels in his prime at Borussia Dortmund—and he intercepts an incredible amount of counter-attacks in the Bundesliga and Champions League from one week to the next as a result.

According to WhoScored.com, Boateng has made on average two interceptions a game in the Bundesliga so far this season, putting him above anyone else in the squad.

Benatia and Xabi Alonso pip him in the Champions League stats, but such a record for the player show just where his talents lie. 

In Guardiola's mind, the best kind of defensive system is a preemptive strike on the opposing attack. In Boateng, he has the perfect defender to go meet that attacking line on the half-way line.