Rangers transfer linked Martin Fraisl scouted: Why Schalke sweeper-keeper no better than Jon McLaughlin

Upon his return to Ibrox, the expectations placed upon Allan McGregor by the general fanbase were mixed. His advancing years did him no favours, especially in a position where those fighting father time often abruptly regress beyond recognition.

Despite this, McGregor made it well into his late 30s looking like he was arguably improving with age. He even lifted one of the player of the season trophies last term, this being a completely fair representation of his second stint up until that point.

Few expected him to hold down the position for the time he did, in turn doing the recruitment team a favour and allowing them to deal with more pressing gaps as he continued on between the sticks. But his time has come. It's becomingly increasingly evident that this campaign, one in which his form can be described most generously as indifferent, is his last.

A series of notable errors in high-jeopardy situations has turned what was expected to be an ecstatic finale into something reminiscent of a sad whimper. But, as is the norm in football, complacency is the mortal enemy of success.

As such, goalkeeper recruitment is paramount as standing still post-McGregor is ill-advised. While Jon McLaughlin may offer a cogent argument to be number one, only time will tell. Schalke's Martin Fraisl has been linked numerably in the past few months, with the Austrian available on a pre-contract. Nonetheless, the name rings few bells as he remains unknown to most of the Rangers fanbase.

With that considered, let's look at the Austrian's prospects and postulate his chances in succeeding in the undoubtedly arduous task of assuming the No.1 shirt in a post-McGregor landscape.

Profile

Fraisl has traversed much of Europe through his footballing pursuits, playing as east as Romania and as west as the Netherlands, though most of his career has been in Austria and Germany.

He stands at 188cm, which is by no means short, if anything, average, maintaining a similar physical build to Allan McGregor, at least to the eye. At the time of writing, Fraisl is about two months off his 29th birthday, which is generally a concerning age for most footballers, as regression usually accompanies.

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For a goalkeeper, however, some may argue that it is a pre-prime juncture. Fraisl is not a seasoned campaigner at his age and has relatively few minutes in his legs. This is not to say he is a rookie or anything close to that.

Beyond his personal history, Fraisl profiles as an active, modern goalkeeper who maintains a well-rounded skill-set but crucially lacks a trump card, which is undoubtedly a key rationale for why his current career highlights are rather uninspiring.

Above, we can see Fraisl’s basic data profile, which is for the most part encouraging, though you must factor in Schalke’s quality relative to the 2. Bundesliga and the strength of the defence he plays in front of. Regardless, if you isolate his output, he is a net-positive in goals, preventing 0.02 goals p90.

His other shot-stopping metrics are above average, whilst his concession stats are league-high, though much of that is due to the Schalke side as a whole. His distribution stats are average, nothing more. He appears to be a more accomplished long passer of the ball, playing an above-average number of long and progressive passes p90. What can be said at this point is that should he come to Rangers and replicate these numbers, no one would complain, that is for sure.

Shot-Stopping

Despite many being rightfully critical of his recent form, one thing that Allan McGregor guarantees is consistency at stopping shots and the odd wonder-save. In this regard, you’re fighting a losing battle if you expect his replacement to match him in this regard unless Rangers are prepared to spend a considerable amount of cash.

Saying Fraisl can’t match McGregor when it comes to shot-stopping is no real slight on his ability, though the Austrian is nothing more than an average shot-stopper.

Below we can see all of the shots on target Fraisl has dealt with, plotted and stratified by the situation. His goals conceded match the xG conceded, suggesting that he performs to expectation in a large sample. He slightly underperforms when dealing with shots from outside the penalty area and attempts from crosses, but his slight overperformance in all other situations counter-balances. Anecdotally and corroborated by the graphic below, Fraisl seems more comfortable diving to his left, the shooter’s right, as he appears to generate better jumping force.

In 1v1 situations, Fraisl often hesitates to pressure the shooter until the last moment, preferring a more reactionary approach. There isn't inherently that much wrong with that, though the optics are poor when a player is given time to dispatch a ball into the back of the net whilst under minimal goalkeeper induced duress.

You can rationalise his decision based on his reflexes, which are impressive and do allow him to be a step behind and react instead of being proactive. His wrists are strong, which allows him to parry shots far and away from goal, which is his preferred approach. This can be frustrating when it appears that catching the ball was a feasible option. His raw shot-stopping ability is not a negative, if anything, a mellow positive, though it cannot be the central ability of his game should he want to succeed at Ibrox.

Sweeping and Coming Off His Line

After being starved of an aggressive sweeper for so long, the Rangers support more than most, are craving someone with absolute authority and aggression when the ball is in the air and ground. Lots have rightfully been made about the series of calamitous goals conceded out of the lack of aerial influence from Rangers' No.1.

In a statistical sense, Fraisl outputs an above-average number of defensive actions, interceptions and exits p90, with many of those actions seen in the graphic below. This is a good indication of an active goalkeeper. Corroborated by the available footage, Fraisl is an aggressive sweeper coming off his line to pick off stray passes, allowing his defensive line to play high and with the confidence that accompanies assuredness.

Saying this, he is slightly less aggressive in higher jeopardy situations, the most common being crosses and corners. He is far more proactive than McGregor, however. 

Below we can see Fraisl’s action in set-piece situations. If the ball is in and around the six-yard-box, he comes out and for the most part successfully gathers the ball. Further out he is less active. This makes sense and in all honesty, McGregor’s lack of influence close to the goal is most frustrating.

If we pivot to open play crosses, the story is much the same, though, as expected, he is slightly less inclined to come out and collect the ball. This is a given as open-play is far less predictable as a potential cross can quickly transition into a dribble or shot, the same cannot happen from crosses or wide-set pieces.

To conclude this section, Fraisl’s sweeping proclivities would be warmly welcomed at Ibrox by the fans and players alike, though that isn't to say he is an overly-active master sweeper like Allison or Manuel Neuer.

Distribution

Evaluating a goalkeeper's distribution is tricky, as their role or ability to show their skillset is often dictated by system and tactic. Considering this, Schalke are a dominant possession side, though even considering this, Fraisl plays a below league-average number of passes p90.

A lot of his work in possession is playing rudimentary balls to his back four. As mentioned earlier, he is an adept long distributor, which could come in handy when playing in Europe. For the most part, however, as evidenced in the past few years, the primary function of distribution is to play it short and build up deep.

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Regardless he would offer a more secure and confident version even in these short and primary build-up phases. Fraisl is an aggressive and accurate distributor with his hands, often providing impetus and the requisite speed of distribution to counter-attack, which would come in handy in any number of situations but would naturally be limited due to the possession dominance Rangers enjoy.

Fraisl is a ball-playing goalkeeper, though a more appropriate label would be a goalkeeper who is decently comfortable in possession. However, don't expect him to transform into the 11th option in possession and form an impromptu back-four when building from the back.

Fit and Feasibility

The links to Fraisl are encouraging, though not in the way many might intercept on a surface level. His expiring contract and the targeting of a Bosman are good to see, as there is likely no better value than within this part of the market.

The other aspect that makes this encouraging is not that Fraisl himself has been linked but rather a goalkeeper from outside the Scottish market who has a markedly different skillset and game to what we have been accustomed to under McGregor and Wes Foderingham, previously.

Should the Fraisl rumours gain more steam and legitimacy, I would not be disappointed. That said, he isn't clearly better than McLaughlin, and as such, Rangers should look elsewhere, though the profile and ingenuity should be replicated in any other transfer activity.