Subway Socceroo Jackson Irvine has made the transition into Germany’s top flight look easy so far, excelling in his debut Bundesliga season for St Pauli.
After securing promotion last year from Bundesliga 2, the club captain has set the standard for his side in Germany’s top division, while continuing as a mainstay for his beloved Australian national team.
After an outstanding start to life in the Bundesliga, we take a look at Irvine’s performances for St Pauli from a statistical point of view in the 2024/25 season so far.
Recent performances
In Irvine’s most recent match, he played a crucial role in a 3-1 win over Holstein Kiel, which took St Pauli out of the relegation zone in their third win of the Bundesliga season.
Irvine made two tackles, three clearances and four recoveries while beginning the move for his side’s second goal after winning the ball in midfield.
But arguably Irvine’s best performance of the season came a month ago, where he assisted both of St Pauli’s goals in their 2-0 win over Hoffenheim.
Irvine’s defensive numbers were again strong, making six recoveries, three clearances and two interceptions, but it was with the ball where he had the biggest impact on the match.
In the 20th minute, Irvine received a pass into feet on the right flank, and took a purposeful touch around his marker before moving forward.
He then cut the ball back to teammate Oladapo Afolayan, who opened the scoring from twelve yards out.
Then, in the third minute of additional time, Irvine sprinted forward on a counter-attack, before playing Andreas Albers in behind, who finished to secure victory for St Pauli.
Attacking play
These strong performances have resulted in some impressive attacking numbers for Irvine, who is averaging an assist every four games so far in the Bundesliga.
His three assists this campaign are more than several Bundesliga stars including Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich), and Irvine finds himself level with Julian Brandt (Borussia Dortmund) and Michael Olise (Bayern Munich) as the Australian continues to take on some of the best players in the world in Germany.
Irvine has also created 16 chances for St Pauli, putting him in the top 10% of all central midfielders, with his intelligent attacking movement impressing in St Pauli’s side.
For context, Irvine has created more chances than the likes of Bayern's Serge Gnabry, RB Leipzig's Kevin Kampl and Freiburg's Ritsu Doan from midfield.
His consistent movement has also seen Irvine have 26 touches in the opposition box, with only 6% of Bundesliga central midfielders managing more.
Irvine's box-to-box style is clear when you're analysing the game with your eyes, but the physical data also paints the picture of a man with a serious engine.
In fact, across the entire Bundesliga, Bayern's Joshua Kimmich is the only player to have covered more distance (146.5km) than the Socceroo (146) at the time of writing. A very impressive statistic in any circumstance, even more so when you're a new player in one of Europe's most physically demanding leagues.
Defensive prowess
But beyond Irvine’s attacking strength, the key to his success so far in his first Bundesliga has been his consistency without the ball, which has seen him rank impressively across a range of defensive stats.
When ranked against all players in the Bundesliga, Irvine has made the 12th most tackles (26) and 7th most interceptions (20), while also winning the 5th most aerial duels in the league - more than established stars such as Dayot Upamecano (Bayern), Kim Min-jae (Bayern), Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen) and Nico Schlotterbeck (Borussia Dortmund).
Furthermore, no Bundesliga central midfielder has won more duels (77) or aerial duels (37) than Irvine, with duels being defined as “50-50 contest between two players of opposing sides in the match”, according to Opta.
It goes without saying that winning duels is key in any league, but particularly as a lower-ranked side in Germany, where the more counter-attacking style of football means that any 50-50 won could result in an immediate chance in St Pauli’s attacking third.
Meanwhile, when compared to other midfielders, Irvine ranks in the top 10% for interceptions, recoveries (58) and possession won in the final 3rd (6), impressing with both his ability to use his athleticism to pressure opponents and his intelligence to read and break down attacks.
This has also been a key feature of Irvine’s game for Australia, where - when compared with all Socceroos in the last two years of FIFA World Cup Qualifying - he ranks joint-highest for interceptions per 90 (1.8), fourth for successful tackles per game (1.4) and first for possession won in the final 3rd per 90 (1.1).
Irvine’s tenacity, quality and intelligence - both in and out of possession - combined with his clever attacking movement and his relentless engine has made him a crucial player for St Pauli in his first season in the Bundesliga, as well as for the Socceroos, as the 31-year-old continues to develop as a leader for club and country.