When Newcastle United played Leeds United earlier this month, they were overpowered in the first 20 minutes. Leeds opened the scoring having missed two presentable chances and should have added to that lead. Marcelo Bielsa’s side took seven shots before Newcastle had even had one.
But slowly, the pattern of the game shifted. Or, to be more exact, Allan Saint-Maximin started to get on the ball. He scored the equaliser and had four of Newcastle’s seven shots on target. Newcastle were not quite a one-man team – that description is almost always hyperbolic in the context of a team sport – but he was certainly their dominant attacking force.
There is a statistic that calculates “progressive carries”, the number of times a player carries the ball at least five yards towards goal when in the attacking 60 per cent of the pitch. That night, Saint-Maximin registered 14. No other Newcastle player managed more than three.
This has become a theme of the early Premier League season. Saint-Maximin is not alone as a dominant ball carrier. The top seven most regular dribblers in the Premier League (he joins Adama Traore, Dwight McNeil, Trincao, Raphinha, Wilfried Zaha and Ismaila Sarr) all have something in common: they play for a club currently in the bottom half.
Watching these wingers becomes a game within the game. There is something emphatically comical about seeing Traore bustle and burst past flailing arms of central midfielders and full-backs who have long given up on the ball and are happy simply to concede a tactical foul. Or how Saint-Maximin will choose two blind alleys before inevitably finding a gap like an experienced pub goer winding his way back from a busy bar carrying four pints as his mates wince before rising to applaud.
In part this trend reflects the financial sway of the Premier League. A decade ago, a middling Premier League club with a high-class individual might expect to lose them within a year of their potential being realised. Zaha has expressed a desire to leave Crystal Palace more than once over the last three years, but Palace’s asking price is understandably sky high because they have no desire to lose him and can afford to reject approaches below that price. Traore was expected to leave Wolves this summer, but stayed. Sarr stayed at Watford during their Championship season and remains at Vicarage Road. Their clubs can afford to pay them handsomely.
In other cases, that financial strength permitted their purchase in the first place. Raphinha and Saint-Maximin were two of the most exciting attackers in Ligue Un and joined a promoted club and a side who had just finished 13th and changed managers respectively. Their transfer fees – £17m each – were out of reach of equivalent clubs in other European leagues looking to take a calculated punt. The Premier League – its average wage and global audience – is an attractive proposition.
But the dominance of those players perhaps also reflects a shift in how bottom-half clubs are operating to respond to the threat of clubs higher up the league. Over the last five years, the Premier League has witnessed an increase in goals scored on the counter attack (almost doubling over that period). This might be a reaction to Leicester City’s title win in 2015-16 – including great success against bigger teams – through quick counters, or, more recently, a response to possession and pressing that can create opportunities for quick counters if transitions are completed successfully. That presents individuality as an antidote to system-based attacks.
It’s important to note that these clubs are in the bottom half for a reason; this isn’t a foolproof strategy. There is a risk that teammates and managers can grow a little complacent: “Give it to Player X” syndrome. Overreliance can lead to predictability that provokes opposition coaches to simply double up on the obvious dangermen. Although those players are the most regular dribblers, that does not necessarily correlate with them being the most successful.
There’s also an issue of availability here. Relying upon one or two individuals can quickly become a problem when those players are absent. The Newcastle example is relevant again here: they have won two of their last 19 league matches without Saint-Maximin starting. Burnley have been without McNeil for 31 games in all competitions since the start of 2018-19; they have beaten one current Premier League team over that period. That said, Sheffield United’s rapid decline proves that a deliberately system-based approach can quickly be exposed too.
But it makes the bottom half of the Premier League, and the battle to survive relegation, fascinating. Ordinarily, Newcastle and Wolves facing each other would not be appointment viewing. But on Saturday afternoon, two of the most exceptional footballers in the country will meet at Molineux. Between them, they have attempted more dribbles than half of the Premier League’s 20 clubs have managed as a collective. The match may ultimately be decided by which of the two has more joy in breaking from deep and creating chances.
That duel may well be extrapolated across the rest of the season. Premier League relegation is often settled by which team is more efficient in finishing their chances, defending set-pieces or keeping clean sheets. This season, it may depend on which of the dribblers can stay fit and in form long enough to drag their club away from trouble. One thing is certainly true: it will be worth watching.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3zSGUAQ
Post a Comment