Leandro Bacuna + selected midfield stats

[blue lewj]

Mutch is the last one I can remember who was able to do it - I always thought Dembele was an excellent player, not sure why he kind of fading out of the picture at Spurs.

Dembele probably the best player I've seen live in relation to keeping the ball.

It was for Belgium against Wales and it was as close to a father holding off his infant child you will get. He could have stood on it and let the game wind down and we wouldn't have got it off him. Never gave the ball away or came close to it once either. Great player.

[Eric the Half a Bee]

And Gary Medel would probably be bottom, but that just reflects the role he was being asked to do.

Medel managed 1 assist in 35 appearances. I couldn't include Whittingham's statistics as he played on the left and right of midfield, had a free role, defensive role etc. Most of his goals and assists came when he was used as an attacking midfielder.

[life on mars]

Medel managed 1 assist in 35 appearances. I couldn't include Whittingham's statistics as he played on the left and right of midfield, had a free role, defensive role etc. Most of his goals and assists came when he was used as an attacking midfielder.

How do these stats sit with other central midfielders in the Championship

[life on mars]

58 appearances for us. 1 goal and 2 assists. I think he's probably supplied more assists for our opponents than he has for us. For a centre midfielder, I think those stats are absolutely shocking.

By way of comparison, this table shows the percentage of games many of our recent central midfielders where they scored or provided an assist.

Camarasa 25.7%
Mutch 25.0%
Ledley 19.8%
Ralls 19.6%
Cowie 19.2%
Bryson 18.2%
Vaulks 17.1%
Gunnarsson 16.8%
Daehli 15.4%
Pack 14.0%
Rae 11.8%
McPhail 9.6%
Kim 9.4%
Damour 7.7%
Bacuna 5.2%
Arter 4.0%

Are we assuming Gavin Rae delivered a better contribution than Bacuna Arter ,McPhail, Kim ?

[Eric the Half a Bee]

Does anybody have any stats for the number of crosses we put into the box per game?

You'd think a team with two out and out traditional wingers it would be high but I fear the opposite.

You'd be right with your fears. Last season we put in 821 crosses according to whoscored.com. Only Huddersfield, Reading, QPR and Derby managed less. Swansea also put over 821 crosses, Brentford 822. Leeds managed the most, with 1163, over 100 more than Millwall in second place in the list.

Despite the low number of crosses, 23.8% of crosses were classed as accurate, the 7th highest in the division. Swansea, despite the same number of crosses, had the 3rd worst accuracy rate. Leeds had the 4th worst accuracy rate despite putting over the greatest number of crosses.

Our corner success rate ranked 12th last season, with 41.7% being accurate. We had the worst accuracy rate for free kicks by some distance, with 48.6% being accurate. Middlesbrough were next with 58.6%! Much of this is down to our reluctance to take short free kicks. Leeds and Swansea had the highest accuracy rates from free kicks with around 85% each but I bet they weren't aiming them for the opposition penalty area most of the time!

[Eric the Half a Bee]

How do these stats sit with other central midfielders in the Championship

If we're referring to Bacuna, perhaps we need to define what Bacuna actually does and compare him like for like. My feeling on Bacuna is that he's got a good energy, isn't too bad a passer but likes getting forward and is often in and around the opposition's penalty area. A Medel or Arter he is not, which is why I find his goal and assist stats very poor. If he hardly got forward at all and was a holding midfielder, then issue over.

[Eric the Half a Bee]

Are we assuming Gavin Rae delivered a better contribution than Bacuna Arter ,McPhail, Kim ?

If we're talking over all, then no, but those stats aren't looking at an over all picture.

[Tuerto]

It all depends on the roll he's been asked to play. I'm not a massive fan of statistics, i'd rather look with my eyes and get a feel for a player, what they do, their character, how they react etc.

[Hilts]

Are we assuming Gavin Rae delivered a better contribution than Bacuna Arter ,McPhail, Kim ?

Gavin Rae scored as many goals for us as all those 4 combined.

Thats why hes above them.

[life on mars]

It all depends on the roll he's been asked to play. I'm not a massive fan of statistics, i'd rather look with my eyes and get a feel for a player, what they do, their character, how they react etc.

He has played in many roles ,seen him play both bad and good in full back and midfield roles , it was a poor pass on Saturday , however he wasn't alone ,many were under performing .

During the run to the play offs some if his performances were very good , he looks a well balanced player when he moves and passes and doesn't look uncomfortable when moving forward .

[life on mars]

Gavin Rae scored as many goals for us as all those 4 combined.

Thats why hes above them.

Argh .

[Tuerto]

He has played in many roles ,seen him play both bad and good in full back and midfield roles , it was a poor pass on Saturday , however he wasn't alone ,many were under performing .

During the run to the play offs some if his performances were very good , he looks a well balanced player when he moves and passes and doesn't look uncomfortable when moving forward .

He's decent enough when he doesn't have time to think, that could be said about a few of our players.

[Tuerto]

If we're referring to Bacuna, perhaps we need to define what Bacuna actually does and compare him like for like. My feeling on Bacuna is that he's got a good energy, isn't too bad a passer but likes getting forward and is often in and around the opposition's penalty area. A Medel or Arter he is not, which is why I find his goal and assist stats very poor. If he hardly got forward at all and was a holding midfielder, then issue over.

He doesn't have a huge amount of composure and is quite rigid at times, he's one of those players who doesn't grow into a game, we've got plenty like that. If they start poorly, it gets worse. I think that's about having the intelligence to reset yourself as a player and concentrate on the simple things. Nearly all of our players have a serious **** up in them.

[Eric the Half a Bee]

During the run to the play offs some if his performances were very good , he looks a well balanced player when he moves and passes and doesn't look uncomfortable when moving forward .

I agree. I also note your point about him moving forward, which is why I don't get how he has been so ineffective in an attacking sense, seeing as he does like to get forward. He's shown elsewhere he is capable of scoring and providing assists, so we know it's in his locker.

[Tuerto]

I agree. I also note your point about him moving forward, which is why I don't get how he has been so ineffective in an attacking sense, seeing as he does like to get forward. He's shown elsewhere he is capable of scoring and providing assists, so we know it's in his locker.

But does he get beyond the striker, does he continue his run? I don't think that he does, he carries the ball and invariably gives the ball to a wide man, then stops. If he's going to get goals then it's a simple case of continuing to run after making the pass. I don't think that we play like that.

[life on mars]

But does he get beyond the striker, does he continue his run? I don't think that he does, he carries the ball and invariably gives the ball to a wide man, then stops. If he's going to get goals then it's a simple case of continuing to run after making the pass. I don't think that we play like that.

Perhaps that's the issue he plays one way , we play another is he given licence to do that or is he following a tactical instruction and others are not in the right channels or positions , its not easy to establish, In my humble view he's better than the statistic we have debating

[Tuerto]

Perhaps that's the issue he plays one way , we play another is he given licence to do that or is he following a tactical instruction and others are not in the right channels or positions , its not easy to establish, In my humble view he's better than the statistic we have debating

It's how we play if Tomlin isn't in the side.

[Garth Blue]

I think it is becoming quite clear that opposing teams believe that with a ccoordinated press they can win the ball off us. the reason, in my view, is that our passing is still not fast or precise enough. If you put pressure on our defensive midfielders they will make errors.

[Tuerto]

I think it is becoming quite clear that opposing teams believe that with a ccoordinated press they can win the ball off us. the reason, in my view, is that our passing is still not fast or precise enough. If you put pressure on our defensive midfielders they will make errors.

Spot on mate.

[Garth Blue]

I think it is becoming quite clear that opposing teams believe that with a ccoordinated press they can win the ball off us. the reason, in my view, is that our passing is still not fast or precise enough. If you put pressure on our defensive midfielders they will make errors.

[Tuerto]

I think it is becoming quite clear that opposing teams believe that with a ccoordinated press they can win the ball off us. the reason, in my view, is that our passing is still not fast or precise enough. If you put pressure on our defensive midfielders they will make errors.

Spot on again

[LeningradCowboy]

If we're referring to Bacuna, perhaps we need to define what Bacuna actually does and compare him like for like. My feeling on Bacuna is that he's got a good energy, isn't too bad a passer but likes getting forward and is often in and around the opposition's penalty area. A Medel or Arter he is not, which is why I find his goal and assist stats very poor. If he hardly got forward at all and was a holding midfielder, then issue over.

I'm not sure about this. Bacuna has been the holding midfielder when he's played with Ralls and Vaulks.

[Eric the Half a Bee]

I'm not sure about this. Bacuna has been the holding midfielder when he's played with Ralls and Vaulks.

I've just been looking at heat maps and chalkboards on whoscored (exciting life lol) of our fixtures since the return after lockdown. There's not a great deal of difference between Bacuna, Ralls and Vaulks when it comes to being around the edge of the box. Bacuna has less touches of the ball in advanced positions, where Vaulks generally has lots, even out on both wings.

I don't see anything to suggest Bacuna is the one who is always the holding midfielder - they all do their share of defensive work. It appears that even Marlon Pack is marginally more adventurous in the final third than Bacuna. Bacuna does have the 3rd most number of shots from outside the box per game rate of everyone last season, but precious little inside the box.

One thing that Bacuna is not, and that's a Gary Medel or Harry Arter type player. All of these are just observations, I'm not suggesting Bacuna is rubbish as he certainly is not.

[life on mars]

So what is the answer to the midfield pick based on what we have

[Llandaff Blue]

So what is the answer to the midfield pick based on what we have

Any midfield two with Tomlin ahead of them. A midfield three won't work with the players we have