| + Visit Cardiff FC for Latest News, Transfer Gossip, Fixtures and Match Results |
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%
a load of midfielders there doing very different roles. I don't think you can read anything into that lot.
there are other, better ways that people are trying to assess the impact of a player. but I'm not sure the data exists for some of those listed
I agree, but...Originally Posted by Rjk
Arter, for example, was never likely to provide an assist, though he'd put a long range shot into the stand most games. Him being at the bottom is no surprise. McPhail was similar, a playmaker who would be involved in lots of goals, but not with many assists.
Bacuna isn't used as a defensive centre midfielder. He gets about. He's regularly in and around the opposition penalty area. I think he's got a sweet shot on him, if he can get them on target. For the areas on the pitch he frequents, those stats are shit.
for most of his time with us mcphail played very deep, but his role was crucial to us in spreading the play and setting up attacks.
there are some interesting ways people have tried to address this conundrum, one of them is to look at xG of shots, then attribute that xG to everyone who had a possession in the side building upto the shot. then also subtract any xG from all the players who were involved in possessions that led to the opposition having a shot.
with time you'll build up a picture of which players are helping the side generate the most xG.
that's a fairly basic one, there are other ones like bypassed defenders etc that would give a better picture than goals and assists.
Iniesta went over a year without a goal or assist and he was pretty good at football.
Yep.
Even then, though, Bacuna's stats on this are still dreadful. After the number of games he's played and started, you'd have expected much more for someone brought in on such a long contract and for the money we paid.
By way of comparison, his percentages at his various clubs are as follows:
FC Groningen 24.6%
Reading 18.2%
Aston Villa 12.2%
Cardiff City 5.2%
I think Arter did a decent job for us in many respects, he wasn't in the side to score or provide assists for goals and he did what he was in for fairly well. You can carry an Arter in the side and do well if you have others in your midfield who can make up for the shortfall in goals and assists that his presence brings.
This gets to the heart of the problem for our current midfield I believe, we are too samey. It doesn't surprise me in the slightest to see Ralls as the highest ranked of our current midfielders in Eric's table (he'd always been my first choice when picking a central midfield duo or trio), but it does surprise me to see him so high, because I don't see him as a natural number ten type at all - he could make a passable job of it, but he'd be far more effective in another role.
Bacuna won me around to an extent post lockdown - he's the best of our midfielders when it comes to stamina I'd say and he does a lot of very good defensive covering, but, rather like with Arter, his presence means that others have to come up with the goods in other aspects of the central midfield job description.
We're full of honest grafters - I think a McPhail type would make a huge difference.
A Mcphail type wouldnt be the answer. We need some pace in there and someone who can also bring the ball forward pass and receive it quickly even when theres not much space and the ability to beat a man.
Of our past players in the recentish past a Koumas type would be nice.
Or Gary O'Neil type. Surely theres a loan signing from a PL club that can do a job for us.
Does that mean you'd say no to a Barry Bannan type?
there's more than one type of answer
Bannan can run forward with the ball and pass and receive it back quickly from what ive seen of him.
I cant help thinking we made him look far better than he is on Saturday.
You're right. McPhail didn't possess pace. He took a central position and splayed passes but was not a ball carrier or blessed with pace.
Whitts is missing from this list.
Surely hed be top.?
And Gary Medel would probably be bottom, but that just reflects the role he was being asked to do.
Ralls 19.6%
Is that including or excluding penalties?
Bacuna does have a tendency to do something stupid, but some of the more intangible stats, how quickly he gets to the opposition, how many times has his pace helped change an attackers decision etc is a lot harder to quantify.
A lot harder for us to quantify, but people do quantify those things, pressures per 90 etc just that the data isn't usually publicly available.
Bannan sometimes played a as winger when he was young as I remember, so that suggests that he could run at players, but I've not seen him doing that much lately and at 31 in December, I wouldn't expect him to. Bannan makes others play by good, accurate passing which enables them to receive the ball in space - McPhail used to do that for us. I can't say I've seen many, if any, Championship central midfielders these days who would run at opponents with the ball in the middle of the park, as opposed to the wings, and go past them in the manner of, to use Rock Flock of Five's term, a ball carrier - the game isn't like that now, central midfield players, especially in deeper areas, are told to pass the ball rather than retain it and look to go past opponents, they may have to beat a pressing opponent, but then it's move the ball on.
people with that kind of skillset in central midfield are termed as being "press resistant" these days, and their close control and ability to beat a man is used to beat the press and set up an attack against reduced numbers. moussa dembele was very good at doing that for spurs.
I think even those players, once they've beaten their man would probably be looking to pass the ball forward rather than drive it up field in the majority of cases, as you keep the team shape better.
Jordon Mutch was good at carrying the ball forward for us from cm positions
Surprised that Cowie and Bryson are so high on that list.
I thought Mutch was superb for us and we really miss Gunnarsson
Bacuna is supposed to be in the Gunnarson role - ie. breaking up opposition play, and regaining possession. Problem is that he's not that great at it, and even when he is, when it comes to his next job (passing or laying off the ball) he is even worse.
The big problem with Cardiff at the moment is the midfield. They are all nothing more than journeymen, making up the numbers. A side can carry one or even two of those sort of players, but once you get to three or four, it's not going to work.
We are missing Gunnarson badly. He wasn't the best by any stretch, but he had just enough class to lift the rest of them, and make it work. We badly need another similar player, even better if it was two.
Mutch was great for us.
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 faded out of the picture at Spurs.
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.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote