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As in currently in the Premier League, this season?
I'll have a look. Obviously, teams that have less of the ball need to win it back more, but it doesn't mean a Gana-type isn't useful...
1. Idrissa Gueye Everton - 61
2. Wilfred Ndidi Leicester City - 56
3. Mohamed Diamé Newcastle United - 52
4.João Moutinho Wolverhampton Wanderers - 51
5.Philip Billing Huddersfield Town - 50
6. Luka Milivojevic Crystal Palace - 45
@Zatara
The highest 'top six' player is Fernandinho, ranked 13th with 36 tackles.
2. Wilfred Ndidi Leicester City - 56
3. Mohamed Diamé Newcastle United - 52
4.João Moutinho Wolverhampton Wanderers - 51
5.Philip Billing Huddersfield Town - 50
6. Luka Milivojevic Crystal Palace - 45
@Zatara
The highest 'top six' player is Fernandinho, ranked 13th with 36 tackles.
ijjysmith
Calm
Interesting selection. You could argue though someone like Fernandinho doesn't have to make as many tackles because his team has the ball for 75% plus of most of his matches.
Pretty flawed stat really. You can see it's generally the poorer teams players there.
bluestevon
Player Valuation: £80m
My main issue with Gueye, isn't that he doesn't create anything or is not incisive with his passing, it's that he is purely in the team for his defensive ability, as such in that role he's a brilliant defensive harrier, yet on a regular basis he creates a massive defensive problem when giving away possession, thus undermining what he's actually in the team for - to make us defensively more solid.
It's the passes just behind or straight to the man rather than in front of them as well, also his control and getting the ball out of his feet isn't as sharp as it could be for a CM
bluestevon
Player Valuation: £80m
Main job of s defensive midfielder for me outside of the obvious, is when they get the ball get it quickly to someone better on it without making life more difficult for that player or the side doing so. As you pointed out and I did, in a few ways he doesn't do that at all.
As you say Toff, the better a team the less likely one of their players will feature high up the tackling chart.
Yep, but doesn't mean that Gana is a poor player because he makes those tackles.
I don't think we're a poor team, for example. Gana has his use in our system because he is the one tasked with winning the ball back. If he's left to do that job, he's very very capable.
That doesn't excuse his passing. My point was his passing isn't as bad as some make out!
It's not just the passes he misses, it's the lack of vision. Digne spends his time usually in tonnes of space. A good CM can either hit the long diagonal or thread him in behind. Gueye is completely incapable.
Gareth Barry was ten times the player.
Gareth Barry was ten times the player.
I must say it usually pretty average to me
Hmm, I'm not sure, Khal.
We're a work in progress, but I'd say we've got a good team on our day. We're a few players away from being able to say it's our day most of the times we step on the field.
The average age of the side that started against City was 24. We've got a long way to go but we're on the right track.
We created a good chance in the first half v Watford by Gueye spreading a 30-yard first-time diagonal out to Walcott, Tim.
He's not incapable. Don't be so blinded and make sweeping statements.
Also, Barry and Gueye are completely incomparable in styles of play. The fact they play central is about as far as it goes. Probably why they both played well when next to each other...
Zatara
Player Valuation: £90m
Thanks for that Toff.
I take the point that the top sides tackling stats for their DM may be lower due to them having more possession.
However, as you highlighted, the highest number of tackles in a top 6 team by their DM would be ranked 13th on the list.
Ergo from 13-20 of 8 teams DMs the top 6 occupy 6 of those 8 positions.
What that 'should' point to from an analytical perspective is that as a team we should seek to be in that similar statistical grouping in order to be 'following the pattern analysis' presented to us.
For whatever conclusions this may bring...
If we delved deeper then it may be that our central midfield (and team as a whole) need to work on possession more for a similar statistic.
I wonder if a deep lying playmaker would push us towards this trend or two box to box centre midfielders...
Besides this recent rut we're in he's been one of the best players on the pitch for most of our games, and he's done a job on the ball as well as off of it, he's looked a little jaded in the last few games and hasn't looked as good a ballwinner never mind with the ball at his feet. At full fitness he walks into the side and he's absolutely massive for us in terms of matching the big sides.
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