Analysis With Tolu

What is going on at Barcelona? It’s been a disastrous few weeks for Cules. A domestic season where a La Liga title was destined to be theirs until their total capitulation towards the end of the season was then followed by their biggest UCL knockout stage defeat in over 100 years. Coupled with the fact that majority of there is filled with players on very high wages that aren’t performing, all seems dark at the Catalan club but there is hope for a revival. In this article we look at what can be done to save the club from its imminent doom.

IMPEACH JOSEP BARTOMEU!!!

This is arguably the most important that needs to happen. The removal of Josep Bartomeu from presidency has to be a priority at Barcelona. It’s not an overstatement to say he has ruined this club. To name a few of his terrible decisions, endorsing huge deals for Coutinho and Griezmann, the abandonment of La Masia, the dismantlement of the club’s scouting system and switching to completely agent driven deals. The situation is made worse by the sale of one of their best youth prospects, Arthur in a swap deal for Pjanic. I can’t tell you how dumb that is. He seems not to look towards the future and wants immediate results, which isn’t sustainable. The only solution to this problem is by removing the source. This will have to be taken with patience by Barcelona fans as the elections don’t take place until March, 2021.

SELL DEADWEIGHT

This is possibly the hardest but most necessary of all possible solutions. No club in their right senses will accept Barcelona’s over aged and overpaid players. Unless their willing to leave or retire, like Gerard Pique, I see no way they’ll leave. In fact, they don’t have to, they can sit it out and suck all the money from Barcelona for the remainder of their contracts. It’s such a terrible situation to be in and once again Barcelona fans will have to be patient with this one.

LET GO OF MESSI

Messi isn’t dead weight, but he needs to be moved on. All good things must come to an end, Messi staying isn’t doing Barcelona any favors, especially with the rebuild I’d assume their planning. Apart from his astronomical 1 million Euros per week wage, there’s an over reliance on the player’s services. Barcelona have to prepare for an inevitable future without him but the sooner, the better. It’s hard to see any other club paying him 1 million Euros per year, especially in the current financial climate but it is definitely necessary for Barcelona to restructure their payroll. From a footballing aspect, selling Messi looks like a questionable decision, seeing as he is their best player. In situations like this, one has to weigh up the positives and negatives and in this peculiar conundrum, the positives greatly outweigh the negatives. Letting go of Messi leaves space for La Masia graduates and Ousmane Dembele, which will yield results in the long run.

BRING BACK LA MASIA

Only stupid clubs don’t appreciate their academies. Barcelona was once a club praised worldwide for the brilliance of La Masia, it’s a completely different story now. I watched a review of La Masia by TifoFootball on YouTube (I recommend all Cules watch that video). To summarize the problems with La Masia’s demise are;

- Transition from performance based to result based

- Loss of crucial staff members

- Focus on immediate success over the future

- Agents demanding ridiculous fees in player negotiations

- Constant change of managers. All these can be easily corrected, in fact, bringing back La Masia is the most immediate solution with young players like Alena (who I rate very highly), Carles Perez, Moussa Wauge and Ansu Fati coming through. What is important though is how the highly productive academy is run. The club’s youth scouting system has to be reinstated, there’s no player in world football that wouldn’t like to join FC Barcelona, they have to use this massive pull to their advantage especially with youth players.

Look, Barcelona is a huge club with a rich history and are not totally capitulated. The recent hiring of Ronald Koeman looks like a positive step, as he is a former player and knows the club inside out. What is important is that Barcelona fans remain patient with the club and give the players and staff the encouragement and backing they need.

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17/08/2020

What Kai Havertz brings to Chelsea

Chelsea have had a brilliant summer transfer window so far, bringing in highly effective Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech to bolster a relatively weak attack. They are seeking more additions and one name that is heavily linked is Bayer Leverkusen’s Kai Havertz. In this article we take an in depth look at what exactly the highly rated 22-year-old brings to Chelsea.

WHO IS KAI HAVERTZ

Kai Havertz is an attacking midfielder who plays for German team, Bayer Leverkusen. He recently won their player of the year award after a brilliant season where he scored 19 goals and provided 8 assists. He plays as a number 10/8 in a 4-2-3-1 at Bayer Leverkusen, commonly roaming around the pitch and cutting inside from the right wing to his favorite left foot. For a player with a very tall frame, he’s very skillful and clocks up 1.9 dribbles completed per 90. He uses this tall frame to his advantage with his very good heading ability and ability to hold on to the ball.

HOW DOES HE IMPROVE CHELSEA’S TEAM

For one thing, he brings immediate improvement in the creative department. His 27G/A contribution and his team contribution stats are greatly superior to current Chelsea players.

In the graph below, we see his xG and xA stats compared to Chelsea’s best creator in the 19/20 season, Willian.

From this we see his Expected Goals per 90 and Goals per 90 show immediate improvement from Willian. Also observe that Willian has a slightly greater Shots per 90, but the amount of chances converted to goals reflects in a higher Expected goals for Havertz. This limits the amount of wastefulness Chelsea has in front of goal which has shown in the very small difference between Chelsea’s goals conceded and goals scored this season. Willian and Havertz have very similar stats, showing how vital Willian was to Chelsea in the just concluded 19/20 season.

Now let's compare him to Chelsea's second best creator in the recently concluded 19/20 season, Mason Mount

From this graph, we see that Kai Havertz is a substantial improvement in the attacking midfield position. He has higher Expected Goals per 90, Expected Assists per 90, Assists per 90 and Key Passes per 90. Also notice that Mason Mount has higher Shots per 90 but much less Expected Goals per 90, this effectively means Kai Havertz is a more efficient player in front of goal and will reduce the wastefulness Chelsea have.

Lastly, let’s compare Kai Havertz to Christian Pulisic

From this we see the way Pulisic and Havertz will complement each other in Chelsea’s squad. Havertz having a higher Expected Assists and Key Passes per 90 complements the Expected Goals and Shots per 90 of Pulisic. It’ll be interesting to see how Frank lines up with Werner, Ziyech, Pulisic and Havertz in the same team.

(These are all stats within their respective leagues and do not contain other domestic and European competitions)

Apart from these, it is important to note the amount of aerial battles he’s won per 90, which amounts to 1.5 per 90. This is incredibly high for an attacking midfielder which makes him a target for set pieces.

WHERE DOES HE FIT IN THE CHELSEA TEAM?

With all of Chelsea’s marquee signings, Frank will definitely have a problem on his hands but a good one. How are they all going to fit in?????? Well, we might have an answer for that.

The most likely formation Frank will go for is a 4-2-3-1.

This formation will allow Havertz free movement and will capitalize on Havertz’s strengths.

Another formation that can be used is a 4-3-3

This formation will utilize Havertz as a number 8, this greatly increases the defensive cover that can be obtained with a free roaming number 8 Havertz.

Lastly, a 3-4-3

In conclusion, Kai Havertz is a phenomenal player and will greatly increase Chelsea’s team and chances of pushing for a top 4 position or a potential title challenge. That being said, it is important to note that they have glaring defensive issues that must be addressed this summer as they conceded the most goals in a top 10 that consisted of underwhelming Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.

written by: Joseph Toluwanimi

references: understat.com and whoscored.com