Player of the Season: Martin Petrov

 

Wolfsburg – At first it was still a two-way battle with goalkeeper Simon Jentzsch, but then Martin Petrov pressed the button for his turbocharger. For Vfl Wolfsburg’s fans, the Bulgarian is Player of the Season. The award was decided by online voting at vfl-wolfsburg.de, where the left-footer received 1,782 from a total of 4,914 votes. This is equivalent to a good third of all votes - 36.3 percent! In winter, Petrov was already voted Player of the Away Rounds, by a significant margin.

 

With 1,044 votes (21.2 percent), Simon Jentzsch crossed the line in second place. This was also a great achievement for the captain of the green and whites, chosen by kicker as the season’s best goalkeeper. In comparison to the last vote, where the sympathetic giant was no more than a blip on the horizon, this is a significant improvement. Last year’s runner-up Andres D’Alessandro had to be satisfied with third place this season, achieving 399 votes (8.1 percent).

 

"Marto" – The Recordbreaker

 

This has been a superlative season for Martin Petrov. With twelve goals and fourteen passes, he was involved in more than half of Wolfsburg’s 49 goals. His score is not only a personal best, but also the best in the league. Only Roy Makaay (Bayern München) and Aliaksandr Hleb (VfB Stuttgart) could match him with 14 assists each. Within the team, too, "Marto" is setting the pace: No one crossed into the penalty area more often (160 times) or more riskily; no one served more passes to shots at goal (107). With 78 shots at goal he was just behind Thomas Brdaric on 79, but when measured in terms of chances, Petrov was more effective. Both scored twelve times.

 

One of the 26-year-old’s special strengths is the free kick. He scored from a free kick three times. Only Schalke’s Brazilian Lincoln was able to top this with one goal more. In total, Petrov scored from 16 standing situations (8 free kicks, 4 corners and 4 eleven-metres), more than any other Bundesliga player. And as impressive as his performances in the home season against Stuttgart (3:0) and at the end of the away season against Bielefeld (5:0), his masterpiece was the “fourpack” against Mainz 05 at the end of October (4:3).

 

VfL has been enjoying the turbocharger's services since 2001. He has so far scored 28 goals in 116 matches in the green and white guernsey. Despite the overwhelming statistics, the self-confessed Barcelona fan still finds room for self-criticism: "I have to work on my headers and concentrate more on two-way battles. My backwards play is lacking, too." It’s a good thing that even Petrov can set himself challenges for the coming season...