Martinez continues to dream of the Champions League

Everton’s 3-0 win away at Newcastle on Tuesday moved them on to 57 points, 6 clear of 7^th placed Manchester United with a game in hand, meaning Roberto Martinez looks to have succeeded in attaining European football at the first time of asking. However, Martinez and Everton could be forgiven for looking ahead and dreaming of the Champions League.

Arsenal, currently occupy the 4^th Champions League position and although they were until recently considered title contenders they look to have lost the early season momentum which saw them tipped by a few as dark horses for the league.  Despite that, Everton are just 6 points behind with a game in hand, win that and the gap is just three. Add to that the fact that Arsenal have to travel to Goodison Park next Sunday and suddenly it isn’t so unreasonable for Everton to dream of playing in Europe’s premier competition.

 Everton have been a fresh of air under Martinez, with an average of 56% possession and 83% passing accuracy. A transition that many expected given Martinez’s style of play at Wigan, but one that few would have expected could have gone so well.

Everton have won their last 4 games in the Premier League, in the last two the contribution of Ross Barkley has been vital to their success. Scoring in both of the games, a close range header which turned out to be the winner against Swansea and a wonderful solo effort against Newcastle, Barkley has brought his total for the season to 6.

His goal against Swansea demonstrated positional maturity which will only develop in the coming years if he continues to be given chances, whilst the one against Newcastle highlighted his confidence and ability on the ball. Barkley makes an average of 2.3 dribbles per game and his skill on the ball, not only that but teams aren’t sure how to stop him once he gets going shown by the fact that he is fouled on average 2.2 times each game. His performances this season have been enough to suggest that Barkley will be in Roy Hodgson’s world cup squad, something Martinez certainly believes.

Barkely’s performances will in doubt have been helped by having the experience of Gareth Barry behind him. Shown by the fact that Barkley makes just 1.1 tackles per game, Barry sitting allows Barkley to express himself more and not be burdened by defensive responsibility. Regardless of where Everton finish at the end of the season they must surely look to make that deal a permanent one.  Barry has 3 goals and 4 assists so far this season and he too has been playing well enough to get into the world cup squad, although that is unlikely to happen. He looks to have reinvigorated his career and regular match time has seen him recapture the form of his early career.

Another of Everton’s loan players, Romelu Lukaku has been their top scorer so far this season. With 12 goals and 6 assists in 21 games so far this season, perhaps Chelsea are regretting letting the Belgian go again. Lukaku has strength, pace  and power, coupled with good feet and technical ability, to call him the heir to Drogba’s throne isn’t unreasonable. The problem for Everton next season will surely be replacing those goals, when you look at how West Brom have struggled for goals this season you can see how they’ve failed to fill the void, and they aren’t competing in Europe as Everton surely will be next season. To replace Lukaku will not be easy and certainly won’t be cheap, although the attraction of European football would be a bonus.

Whether it’s Europa League or Champions League Everton will be flying the flag for England in Europe next season and will be hooping they can have as much success there as they have in the Premier League. Although, perhaps they should look at the plight of Swansea this season and proceed with an element of trepidation. 

 Statistics courtesy of whoscored.com

Flannagan prospers as Liverpool push for the title

Much has been made of Liverpool’s recent form and their push for the title, whilst plaudits have regularly been rained on Suarez, Sturridge and Sterling, it is another young player who deserves more credit than he is getting.

Jon Flannagan has made 14 appearances for Liverpool so far this season, an increasing number of which have been in recent weeks. He has played 7 times at left back and 7 times at right back, highlighting his versatility. More recently he’s been employed at left back, with Glen Johnson playing in his preferred right back position. Whilst Flannagan’s chances were initially born out of necessity, with injuries to Johnson, Enrique and Sakho providing the chance, he has seized the opportunity with both hands and does not look out of his depth at the highest level. Flannagan is giving Rogers a selection nightmare when Enrique does return from injury, on current form it’ll be hard to leave the youngster out.

The 21 year old is making 3.6 tackles per game and an average of 1.6 interceptions whenever he plays. An area on which he could look to build on is his discipline, conceding an average of 1.4 fouls per game, isn’t the worst but it could certainly be improved. With a higher number of tackles, you’d expect a greater number of fouls as a general rule.

Flannagan is dribbled past on average 1.8 times per game, that’s pretty good for a full back. For comparison Southampton’s Luke Shaw is dribbled past just 0.6 times per game, but also makes fewer tackles (1.9) so maybe Flannagan dives in too often, making him easier to get past. Also it’s likely that teams will target what they see as a weak spot, but against Manchester United neither Mata nor Januzaj could get anything out of the left back.

Another reason for Shaw’s superior statistics is likely to be his strength, making him harder to get past, Flannagan at times looks a bit weak, which is perhaps shown by the fact he has won just 1.2 aerial duels per game (compared to Shaw’s 1.9). Full backs generally win less headers since fewer long balls are played out wide.

                                                                                                                                                                    In Premier League games in which Flannagan has played Liverpool have lost just two (Arsenal and Hull), compared to three when he hasn’t been in the team. Whilst it’s fair to say that that record isn’t entirely down to Flannagan, and depends on the teams Liverpool have been playing, as well as other absentees and a handful of other factors, it’s interesting to note and not completely worth ignoring. The reason for the form is more likely to be that Flannagan’s inclusion has coincided with a settled back four and the defensive stability that adds is so crucial (and often overlooked).

Going forward Flannagan adds another dimension to the Liverpool attack, whilst he isn’t as adventurous as Glen Johnson, full backs pushing on has been a consistent feature of Liverpool’s style of play under Rogers. Flannagan has one goal to his name so far this season, which is in fact more than Glen Johnson, but has an average of just 0.4 shots per game and 0.1 crosses per game. Given that Liverpool aren’t the tallest team going forward, perhaps the small number of crosses shouldn’t surprise us, similarly there are many more accomplished finishers in the team so Flannagan can hardly be blamed for passing to others to let them have a shot.

Unsurprisingly for a player in a Brendan Rogers team, Flannagan has high pass accuracy (81.4%) and makes on average 37.6 passes per game. Rogers’ philosophy is based on building possession from the back and dominating games and these figures fit in well with that style of play. As does the fact that he only plays 1.7 long balls on average per game.

The fact that Liverpool have chosen not to make the loan move of Aly Cissokho permanent speaks volumes of Rogers' faith in Flannagan. Jon Flannagan is certainly a bright young prospect and Liverpool will be hoping he continues to develop at this current rate, if he does the Merseysider will be a favourite of the Kop for years to come. 

Statistics courtesey of whoscored.com

AVB to ZSP: the size of the job facing Villas-Boas at Zenit

Former Porto, Chelsea and Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas has been announced as the manager of Russian club Zenit St Petersburg on a two year contract. AVB, who has been out of work since his sacking from Spurs in late 2013, will take charge of the Russian club on 20^th March, following their Champions League tie away at Dortmund.

Since the return from the lengthy winter break in Russia, Zenit are without a win. A draw at home to relegation threatened Tom Tomsk and 1-0 defeat at the hands of 5^th place CSKA Moscow has seen Zenit relinquish first place to Lokomotiv. Lokomotiv are now 3 points clear of Zenit with the other 3 Moscow clubs right behind them, Spartak are on 40 points just 1 behind Zenit and Dinamo Moscow have 39 points. Zenit cannot afford anymore slip ups if they wish to be playing Champions League football next season, with only the top two clubs qualifying in the Russian Premier League.

With a 4-2 deficit to overturn it is likely that Villas-Boas will not have to worry about fixture congestion as a result of European competition, but given the lengthy winter break fixture congestion will be inevitable in the coming months. 

Given the importance of qualifying for the Champions League and winning the Premier League it is perhaps not surprising that Zenit chose to part company with former manager Spalleti, who had been in charge since 2009. It does seem like a snap decision given the relatively strong position Zenit are in and given that a period of adjustment would be expected following AVB’s arrival.

Zenit’s squad boasts the attacking talents of Hulk, who Villas-Boas worked with at Porto, Danny and Kerzhakov. As well as former Arsenal player Arshavin, highly rated Belgian Axel Witsel, and a handful of Russian internationals.

Hulk is without a doubt Zenit’s biggest star and it could be said there is a sense of pandering to him in appointing a coach he worked so well under at Porto. If Zenit don’t qualify for the Champions League, then there’ll be no shortage of suitors for the Brazilian, particularly if he has a good World Cup.

Hulk has 9 goals in 15 games, a total only surpassed by Portugese international Danny who has managed 10 in one game more. Danny also has more assists (7) than Hulk, he has the highest in the squad and second highest in the league. As Hulk is generally the focal point of the attack that could explain why he has less assists. Hulk has the most shots per game, with 4.2, not only in the Zenit team but in the league as well. That illustrates the point, Hulk can at some times be selfish, but his technical ability does merit it.

Their problem this season has not been offensively, scoring 40 goals in 21 games, the highest in the league by 1 goal, but defensively. Zenit have conceded 21 goals, an average of one per game, league leaders Lokomotiv have conceded 4 less. Zenit concede 13 shots per game, so it’s hardly surprising that they are conceding quite a lot of goals. This brings more clarity to the decision to point Villas-Boas, given his reputation for making his teams defensively solid and relying on moments of brilliance to win games.

However, defensively there is a lack of strength of depth in the Zenit squad. Only the experienced Belgian Nicolas Lombaerts has played more than 15 games (18) and no defender has been ever present so far. A consistent back four would be a considerable advantage in adding some much needed solidity and would go a long way to stopping some of Zenit’s frailties.

Andre Villas-Boas has a chance to rebuild his reputation in Russia away from the prying eyes of Europe’s elite. If he can stop the poor form that Zenit are currently experiencing and get them back to winning ways, a title could well follow. If not and the poor form continues AVB will be hard pressed to find such a good job again, hopefully though he can turn things around.

Statistics courtesy of whoscored.com

  

Ings and Vokes firing Burnley towards the Premier League

The step up from the Championship to the Premier League is one that more than a few players have struggled with, the transition is particularly tough on strikers, and the quality of Premier League defences is a level above those in England’s second tier.

With Burnley sitting in second in the Championship, 10 points clear of second place Derby, they could be forgiven for starting to think about automatic promotion and adapting to Premier League life once more.

Central to that promotion charge have been the goals of Danny Ings, the 21 year old English striker. He is currently the second highest scorer in the division, with 20 goals, 2 more than strike partner Sam Vokes. The league’s deadliest strike force has 38 goals in 36 games between them.

Ings is also edging it in terms of assists too, with 5 to Vokes’ 4, despite his marginally superior statistics Ings has played two game less than Vokes who has featured in all of Burnley’s 36 league games so far this season. The fact that the two have played so much this season says a lot about their form but also Burnley’s reliance on them and with the news that Ings has picked up an injury against Birmingham on Tuesday, the goal scoring burden will now fall on Vokes.

Vokes, who’s aerial strength is something that teams have struggled to contain, winning an average of 7.2 headers per game. His strength in the air is part of the reason why his passing accuracy is so low (54.1%), as a general rule headers are harder to accurately place than passes. 

Vokes has experience in the Premier League with Wolves, however in those 3 seasons he made no starts and just 11 substitute appearances. Given that he played so infrequently it’s hardly surprising Vokes failed to score a Premier League goal. That said, the experience of being at a Premier League club, even if he isn’t playing is something that should stand him in good stead. That experience may be limited but it is more than Ings has.

Vokes averages 2.7 shots per game, less than Ings (3.3) that could be used to suggest that Vokes is more clinical than his strike partner, however, there’s very little in their statistics.

As an individual Ings is probably the better of the two players. He has scored more goals and more assists, but the true strength of their strike partnership is just that. Together they are better than either of them are individually, Vokes’ aerial and general strength are well complemented by Ings’ creativity. 

Ings is perhaps more flexible, he has also been employed as an attacking midfielder, in behind Vokes. In this situation Vokes is able to occupy the defenders creating space which INgs can occupy with devastating effect.

If Burnley are promoted Ings and Vokes will  be central to their success and vital if they are to survive, although they will certainly need to strength and some experience may well be required. If Burnley do not get promotion there’ll be no end of potential suitors for Ings and Vokes too. Either way, expect Danny Ings to be plying his trade in the Premier League next season. 

Statistics courtesy of whoscored.com

QPR place faith in Morrison

QPR posted losses of £65 m since June 2013, it’s hardly surprising given the club’s relegation from the Premier League and the frankly shambolic transfer policy of spending big on distinctly average, or past their best players. That coupled with shaky form making an immediate return to England’s top tier all the less likely have led to some questioning whether or not Harry Redknapp will be at the helm next season.

Redknapp showed a brilliantly shrew move in the loan signing of Ravel Morrison from West Ham. Morrison, who was subject of a bid from Fulham, given several good performances when chances to start presented themselves due to injuries and suspensions at West Ham, is one of the brightest young talents in English football. That’s not the best part of the signing though, given that emergency loan signings only last for 93 days, Redknapp delayed Morrison’s signing, ensuring that the player would be available for the play-off final, should QPR reach it.

That says a lot about the faith that Redknapp has in Morrison, that he thinks he is good enough to play in such an important match, should it be required. But perhaps it says more about where QPR are at the moment.

Given their strength in depth QPR were hotly tipped to bounce back to the Premier League, however, since the turn of the year they’ve seen the hopes of automatic promotion fade quickly, in part due to an excellent run from Leicester, but not entirely without faults of their own.

Morrison has now made 4 appearances for the R’s and scored 2 goals, both of which came in Saturday’s win over Birmingham. His goals included a well-placed free kick from the edge of the area and a cool finish from just inside the area placed into the bottom corner, in his relatively short career Morrison has shown he has the ability to be a top class finisher, his goals against Spurs and in training for England showed just how good he is.

It’s hardly surprising that with 3.3 shots per game so far for QPR that Morrison has been in and around the goals, fans will be hoping he can convert a few more chances in the race for promotion.

He has an impressive pass accuracy of 91.5%, the highest in the squad, and has average 44 passes per game in his stint at QPR. Of those, 1.8 per game have been passes which have created chances. That’s an area where he needs to improve and at times be less selfish, which is further demonstrated by his lack of assists for his new club. 

Since he joined Morrison has played almost every minute for QPR, demonstrating just how vital Redknapp thinks he is to the team.

Morrison’s defensive contribution is particularly weak, with no interceptions, less than one (0.5) tackles per game and 1.3 fouls committed per game. More and more is becoming expected of forward thinking players defensively, so if Morrison wants to make it at the highest level it’s something he’ll have to look to add to his game. This is why he can’t be played in a deeper role, which will hamper his chances once he returns to West Ham, given that club captain Kevin Nolan occupies the role behind Andy Carroll, and their partnership is one that Allardyce will not want to disrupt.

There’s no doubt that Morrison has an immense amount of talent, but if he is to become one of the best in the world he needs to add a few things to his game (namely more defensive contribution), which may require an adjustment of his attitude. Hopefully, the extra responsibility and reliance Harry Redknapp and QPR are placing in the youngster will go some way to correcting this. This could well be the experience that determines the trajectory of Ravel Morrison’s career.

Statistics courtesy of whoscored.com  

De Bruyne out to prove Mourinho wrong

Chelsea’s sale of Belgian attacking midfielder Kevin DeBruyne seemed to be in part to recoup some of the £21m spent on Nemanja Matic, seven times the price the London club had sold him to Benfica for several years earlier. De Bruyne will be hoping to make Chelsea and particularly Mourinho, who questioned the midfielder’s attitude, realise they have made a similar mistake by selling him.

The signing of Matic has proved to be successful, the Serbian looks as if he’s never left Stamford Bridge and has added some much needed steel and reliability to the centre of the pitch. However, the sale of De Bruyne is slightly perplexing, given the bright future he appeared to have ahead of him and even more so when accompanied with the sale of Juan Mata.

Understandably, there were no shortage of suitors for De Bruyne given how well he performed on previous loan spells in Germany, and it was to Germany he returned, this time to Wolfsburg. Wolfsburg currently occupy a Europa League spot, which they will be hoping to hold on to until the end of the season.

De Bruyne’s task has been to replace Diego, the Brazilian returning to Atletico Madrid, where he had considerably more success than in Germany. In 15 games Diego managed just 3 goals and 2 assists, in less than half than that De Bruyne has provided 3 assists, although he is yet to register a goal for his new club.

Since arriving in Germany De Bruyne has played almost every minute for Wolfsburg, highlighting his importance to the team. A stark cry from the situation at Chelsea where more often than not he featured as a substitute, if at all.  In his time as a first team player at Chelsea, De Bruyne had just two league starts and made one substitute appearance, although he did manage to supply an assist in the process.

Now at Wolfsburg, with a considerably less talented squad than at Chelsea De Bruyne is beginning to show what his former club missed out on. His three assists have all come in his last 4 games and one of them was against Bayern, showing that the player clearly has talent. That does suggest there is some consistency lacking from his game; that is partly due to adjusting to a new team, surroundings and regaining match fitness. De Bruyne is showing that he is defensively capable too, with 1.6 tackles and 0.6 interceptions per game, hardly the best figures but not bad for an attack minded player.

However, it’s going forward where the Belgian is beginning to distinguish himself once more. On average De Bruyne has 2.1 shots per game, if he continues at that sort of rate he’s bound to score a goal or two sooner rather than later. He is also creating 2.1 chances for his teammates, the highest in the current Wolfsburg squad, although the departing Diego had an average of 2.2.

Another asset of De Bruyne, which Chelsea fans didn’t really get to see, is his dribbling ability. With an average of 4.6 completed dribbles per game a total again only surpassed by Diego (5). Whilst at times it can be frustrating for a player to constantly dribble and not pass to teammates, especially if they’re giving the ball away, but when a player has the ability to do so successfully it’s one of the best things in the game.

De Bruyne’s statistics are more akin to his previous spell in Germany with Werder Bremen, where, in 33 games, he managed 9 assists and 10 goals. Whilst the goals are missing, the number of assists per game is higher, that in part is due to the small number of games he has played for Wolfsburg. The number of chances created per game is lower (2.1 compared to 2.6 in his time at Werder Bremen) the fact that the number of assists is higher suggest De Bruyne is playing with better, more clinical players now.

 De Bruyne’s move was motivated on the player’s part by wanting first team football, especially in a World Cup year and with the fierce competition in the Belgium squad. De Bruyne has been a regular in that squad during qualifying and was the top scorer in a team that boasts the considerable attacking threats of Hazard, Lukaku and Benteke, to name but a few.

Withstanding an injury or sudden loss of form, (and even in the latter case) it’s unlikely De Bruyne will miss out on the World Cup, such was his importance to Belgium in qualifying, and it’ll give him a chance to prove Mourinho and all his other doubters wrong, on the biggest stage of all.

Statistics courtesy of whoscored.com