Kpakio - some stats

[Rjk]

2 more assists for Ronan brings him upto 5 from 999 minutes played this season - that's the second highest assists per 90 in the division behind Reyes Cleary at Barnsley. With 0.45 per 90 (or just under one every 2 games)

Incredible stuff for an 18 year old fullback in his first full season.
There's only 1 other defender in the top 20 by that metric, and only one other teenager in the top 180odd.

the surprising statistics don't stop there, because third on the list of assists per 90 for the whole division is also a Cardiff player. Can you guess who it is? No, you can't, because it's David Turnbull - with 3 assists from 680 minutes played, or 0.4 per 90.

If you look at goal involvements per 90 (goals + assists), Ronan has 6 per 999 minutes, or 0.54 per 90. That puts him 26th in the entire division by that metric, and the only defender in the top 50. There is one teenager higher than him in this one - Jimmy Morgan at Peterborough who has 3 goals and one assist from 6ish games.

The highest Cardiff player for G+A per 90 was also a bit of a surprise to me, but perhaps it shouldn't be - Chris Willock - 7th in the division with 0.7 per 90 from his 8.5 games.
Next comes Salech, 20th in the division with 0.6, then Kpakio and Rubin Colwill is the only other Cardiff player in the top 50 with 0.43.

Quite a few of the players around the top are from pretty low numbers of minutes, so you'd expect a degree of volatility in this kind of stat, until they have more games under their belt - Kpakio's 11ish games is approaching a meaningful sample size though

[LA Bluebird]

Re: Kpakio - some stats

Yeah, I know Lawlor is getting a lot of hype right now and rightly so, but I tend to think Kpakio is the better prospect.

If you look at what managers at the highest level are looking for in their full backs he’s got the perfect profile. Needs to improve a lot defensively but that’s hardly unusual for his age. We are a totally different team going forward with him in the side vs when Ng plays.

[Der Kaiser]

Re: Kpakio - some stats

Yeah, I know Lawlor is getting a lot of hype right now and rightly so, but I tend to think Kpakio is the better prospect.

If you look at what managers at the highest level are looking for in their full backs he’s got the perfect profile. Needs to improve a lot defensively but that’s hardly unusual for his age. We are a totally different team going forward with him in the side vs when Ng plays.

I agree completely with this, but I did think we looked a lot better as a complete unit yesterday with both of them on the pitch.

[Loramski]

Re: Kpakio - some stats

2 more assists for Ronan brings him upto 5 from 999 minutes played this season - that's the second highest assists per 90 in the division behind Reyes Cleary at Barnsley. With 0.45 per 90 (or just under one every 2 games)

Incredible stuff for an 18 year old fullback in his first full season.
There's only 1 other defender in the top 20 by that metric, and only one other teenager in the top 180odd.

the surprising statistics don't stop there, because third on the list of assists per 90 for the whole division is also a Cardiff player. Can you guess who it is? No, you can't, because it's David Turnbull - with 3 assists from 680 minutes played, or 0.4 per 90.

If you look at goal involvements per 90 (goals + assists), Ronan has 6 per 999 minutes, or 0.54 per 90. That puts him 26th in the entire division by that metric, and the only defender in the top 50. There is one teenager higher than him in this one - Jimmy Morgan at Peterborough who has 3 goals and one assist from 6ish games.

The highest Cardiff player for G+A per 90 was also a bit of a surprise to me, but perhaps it shouldn't be - Chris Willock - 7th in the division with 0.7 per 90 from his 8.5 games.
Next comes Salech, 20th in the division with 0.6, then Kpakio and Rubin Colwill is the only other Cardiff player in the top 50 with 0.43.

Quite a few of the players around the top are from pretty low numbers of minutes, so you'd expect a degree of volatility in this kind of stat, until they have more games under their belt - Kpakio's 11ish games is approaching a meaningful sample size though

.

Good stuff. He gives me the heebie jeebies defensively at times but he's an interesting player to watch. Seems to have a random approach to going forward which must make him hard to defend against.

It rarely feels reckless though. He reads the game situation well, takes up good positions and takes the right options when he gets there. Having a good instinct for those things is very useful, and rare. His team mates seem to be on his wavelength, BBM seems happy to let him do his thing. It's a good combination for him.

[Taunton Blue Genie]

Re: Kpakio - some stats

Besides his useful forays forward I think Kpakio loses possession too much.

[Wash DC Blue]

Re: Kpakio - some stats

Stats kill the soul of the game.
It should be more than moneyball and playing to systems.

[the other bob wilson]

Re: Kpakio - some stats

Northampton targeted him on Saturda, particularly in the air,, and they had a really effective forward playing in the inside left channel. Kpakio wasn't perfect defensively when put iunder pressure, but his recovery speed helps him greatly and, like the team, I think he came through what was a testing afternoon with credit. The only match where I think he's really struggled this season was his international debut against Canada, but, since then he has made two substitute's appearances for Wales in compleletely different circumstances and done okay.

Kpakio still has some growing to do I would have thought, so, hopefully, he won't have the opposition target man pulling over to his side to jump for high balls against him because he enjoys a six inch height advantage over him and he could do with a bit more upper body strength, but he is in the first team on merit I'd say at eighteen and I rteckon he's already good enough to play Championship footbsall on a regular basis - his versatility is a bonus as well.

[Coyote]

Re: Kpakio - some stats

Whereas Lawlor plays with a wisdom beyond his years, I think Kpakio is raw potential. A little unrefined at times, but more than makes up for it with heart and creativity.

[Kitman]

Re: Kpakio - some stats

He may well end up as a right mid as he’d be pretty effective there

[J R Hartley]

Re: Kpakio - some stats

Stats kill the soul of the game.
It should be more than moneyball and playing to systems.

Especially when they start totting up the minutes then dividing by 90 😂

Games are closer to 100 these days.

Assists are one of the biggest load of bollocks stats in the sport too. You could create the exact same chance for various different team mates and the outcome would be different. Often the pass before the “last” pass is the one that’s opened up the game and crated the goal.

[NinianKnight]

Re: Kpakio - some stats

He may well end up as a right mid as he’d be pretty effective there

I also feel that is where he will eventually end up. Bit of a stretch but Gareth Bale was similar player at his age and played at full back all be it on the left rather than right.

I am not predicting Kpakio will one day be sold for £85m to Real Madrid but I do believe he will be a star as a right winger

[NinianKnight]

Re: Kpakio - some stats

Especially when they start totting up the minutes then dividing by 90 ��

Games are closer to 100 these days.

Assists are one of the biggest load of bollocks stats in the sport too. You could create the exact same chance for various different team mates and the outcome would be different. Often the pass before the “last” pass is the one that’s opened up the game and crated the goal.

May be we need another stat the assist for the assist? It could be called the Hartley stat in honour of the person who identified it? :-)

[Rjk]

Re: Kpakio - some stats

I also feel that is where he will eventually end up. Bit of a stretch but Gareth Bale was similar player at his age and played at full back all be it on the left rather than right.

I am not predicting Kpakio will one day be sold for £85m to Real Madrid but I do believe he will be a star as a right winger

Perhaps he will move into midfield, but for now he's doing very well at fullback, and has grown a lot defensively over the course of the season. I wouldn't be rushing to move him further forward.

He enjoys having space to run into in attack to use his pace, which he probably would have less of if he was further forward.

As an attacking fullback he's the standout player of that type in the division - I don't think the same would be said if he was playing as a winger. He'd probably still be decent, but one of many in this division.

[PhyllisStant]

Re: Kpakio - some stats

.

Good stuff. He gives me the heebie jeebies defensively at times but he's an interesting player to watch. Seems to have a random approach to going forward which must make him hard to defend against.

It rarely feels reckless though. He reads the game situation well, takes up good positions and takes the right options when he gets there. Having a good instinct for those things is very useful, and rare. His team mates seem to be on his wavelength, BBM seems happy to let him do his thing. It's a good combination for him.

Yeh he looks a bit iffy defensively sometimes but it's often the case that players who start at a young age at full back often end up playing in a different position (Bale, Saka, Gareth Barry, Kimmich) there are loads of examples. I wonder if he'll end up moving further up the pitch as he grows.

[Rjk]

Re: Kpakio - some stats

Especially when they start totting up the minutes then dividing by 90 ��

Games are closer to 100 these days.

Assists are one of the biggest load of bollocks stats in the sport too. You could create the exact same chance for various different team mates and the outcome would be different. Often the pass before the “last” pass is the one that’s opened up the game and crated the goal.

Yeah assists are a pretty crude metric. - with a big enough sample size it probably tells you something, but when the numbers get smaller there's just a lot of noise associated with it - for example Ryan Wintle got an assist for passing it innocuously to Dylan Lawlor who ran half the pitch and scored. on its own it means nothing. if a player ends the season with 20 assists then it's pretty likely they're doing something good.

that level of inaccuracy limits it's usefulness , which is why the stats people working at football clubs probably aren't paying it any attention, they use other metrics like OBV (on ball value) or similar - however that data isn't freely available to the general public, but assists are.