Michu: Has he changed his game from last season? A statistical comparison

Do the stats back up what we've been witnessing?

Last season, I felt that at times with the inclusion of our floppy-haired flamenco-loving virtuoso at the head of a midfield three we actually lost something in terms of playing "The Swansea Way". I felt his ability to link play was somewhat limited, and although his goals obviously led us to a League Cup win as well as another improved league finish, there was sometimes a bit of a disjointed feel to our attack as Michu, Pablo, Dyer & Routledge all tried to adjust to each other's games. 

This year, we've been witnessing a much improved, more team focused Michu, and I've been wondering if the stats back up what I've been thinking in that he's become a much more effective link between midfield and attack. Luckily, I compiled a load of statistical data from last season so I can put together a fairly accurate comparison - although obviously it's early days yet in terms of how his "average per game" statistics pan out this season.

In the entirety of last season, Michu managed two assists in the league (and 18 goals, in case you'd forgotten). So far this season, whoscored.com are crediting him with one in the league, and when you consider he managed three further assists in the Europa League to date it seems he's definitely looking to play his team-mates in more often. Whether that's indicative of him receiving more support in the final third is up for debate, but to me it looks like he's been taking some advice from Laudrup, who made a career of unpicking defences with cute and/or outrageous passes. Evidence of this can be found in the match against Crystal Palace, where an exquisite turn was proceeded by a lovely through ball for Alvaro Vazquez, before he squared for Dyer to slot home.

He's playing the same amount of passes per game (32), while his pass completion is also slightly up on last season (79.7% - exactly 1% better than last year), and his shots per game has also remained at around the same level (3.0 as opposed to 3.1 last year). He is making less headers, though, winning two aerial duels per game as opposed to 3.3 per game last year. Defensively, they've got him listed as having made 1.2 tackles per game (1.3 last year) and 0.5 interceptions (0.9) this year, but it's not quite that clear cut as he's made 2.3 clearances a game so far this campaign, compared with only 1.1 last year. Those contrasting statistics tally nicely with how I see Michu's defensive game - a bit erratic, full of effort, but not always successful. 

His ball retention has also seen an improvement. Last year he gave the ball away on average 1.1 times per game, and that's marginally down to a nice round 1.0 now, but he's only been dispossessed 0.3 times per game this season as opposed to 0.9 times per game last season - considering we've played United, Liverpool & Arsenal at home, as well as Spurs away, that's not a bad average! He's also having a cheeky dribble more, averaging one per game as opposed to his meagre 0.2 per game average last season. 

I started putting this blog together confident that the stats would back up what I've been seeing with my own eyes, but I had started to become dubious it would indeed turn out like that. That is, until I found the "key passes" statistic. Last year he averaged one per game, but so far this season he's managed a whopping 2.5 - quite a marked improvement and seeing as last year's stat is an average based on a season's data, it's fair to take that as an indication of a change in how he's operating. Often, team's over-zealous marking of Michu allows others to find space, and it seems he's becoming increasingly aware of this and using it to Swansea's advantage. The slightly weird "through ball" statistic is up on last year too, with 0.5 per game showing a rise from 0.1 last year. That can't be right...

It seems that after a slightly shaky start the stats do indeed seem to indicate that Michu is operating in a much more creative manner, and that his fulfilment of the link-man role is vastly improved on last season. Long may it continue, as with a hectic schedule over the next few months we'll need the goals to be coming from other areas of the team, not just from the wizardly left-food of Miguel Michu. 

Neil Taylor vs Ben Davies - a statistical comparison

Return of ex-Wrexham defender Taylor gives Laudrup food for thought for next season

When Taylor was struck down with that horrific ankle injury against Sunderland early in the season, most Swansea fans will no doubt have been wondering who would fill the void left by the marauding full-back. Few, if any Jacks will be able to say they backed Ben Davies, as green around the gills as you can get, to have such a positive impact on the side after staking his claim early on.

Still only 19 (he's 20 a week yesterday), Davies has gone on to make 37 appearances so far this season, and he's adapted to life in the Premier League with aplomb. With the impending return of Taylor, should Davies keep his place? Granted, next season will require a lot more squad rotation (assuming we qualify for the group stages of the Europa League), so it's likely both will play a lot of games, however you always feel there will a "preferred choice" so with that in mind I thought I'd have a look at some stats...because, you know...stats prove everything...right?

Ben Davies

Davies celebrates his first Swansea goal.

So far this season he's started 28 league games (with three more appearances as sub) and for a long time he was on top of the Premier League "tackle completion" table, coming out on top in more than 70% of his challenges. His pass completion is slightly below the team average at 83% (1096/1317), and he averages 42.5 passes a game, but with youth on his side I'd say this is still highly impressive.

Only one goal isn't surprising given he only attempts a shot once every three games, and one accurate cross every other game (leading to two assists) indicates he could still improve going forward, but there's every reason to believe that will happen given time. He does, however, manage two successful long balls per game (an indication of how our playing style has changed with Michu in the team) and a "key pass" every other game, so the stats back up what I'd have said in the past about Davies, in that he's always looking forward, however the final ball isn't always quite there yet.

In defence his stats are more impressive. He averages two and a half successful tackles, five successful clearances, and 1.7 interceptions per game - it's nice to see a player who clearly likes defending, and the fact he's only dribbled past on average once a game shows he sticks with his man. One area that some fans feel he needs to improve quickly is his aerial game. He only averages one 1.5 successful "aerial duels" per game, and teams have been looking to target Davies in this respect as a way of getting in behind the Swans. While some teams have seemed to benefit from this, you feel that again, given time this aspect of his game will improve.

Neil Taylor

Neil Taylor - clearly concentrating.

Neil Taylor secured his position as first choice left-back for the Swans after a rise which, while it wasn't as meteoric as Davies', was impressive nonetheless. In the interest of a fair(ish) comparison, we'll only look at his stats from last season (so that all the stats are based on Premier League appearances), and interestingly, the first comparison we can make is in terms of attacking threat. As opposed to Davies goal and two assists, Taylor managed only one assist all season last year (and no goals), which would indicate that Davies is actually more effective in getting forward to support the attack.

Taylor made 36 appearances in the league last year, and completed on average 40.5 passes per game, so again only a slight difference there (and it's possible any differences could be down to a change in playing style under Laudrup), but interestingly from the stats I've found online it appears he only completed 81% of his passes (1461/1785); if correct Davies is actually better at retaining possession it seems, which may surprise some fans. Aerially Davies seems to come out on top too - throughout last year Taylor averaged one successful aerial duel every two games (three times less often than his younger counterpart) which, again, was very surprising to me.

Defensively he managed one successful interception, and two completed tackles per game (73.6% tackle completion), and while his tackle completion was excellent this does seem to further reinforce that Davies is more solid in defence. As stated, Davies clearly loves defending - a very rare trait in a modern footballer - and I'm really looking forward to seeing both of them in action next season.

There should be more than enough games to go around next season, so it's unlikely Taylor or Davies will have to go any length of time without starting a game, but it'll be interesting to see who starts the first game next year. Taylor has declared himself fully fit as this season draws to a close, and he'll undoubtedly get a great reception from fans when he makes his long-awaited return from injury.

Personally, I really like Ben Davies. I think with youth on his side he just edges it for me - he's adapted to life in the PL so well that I can only see him going on to bigger and better things, and while Neil Taylor is a fine player, it would be very harsh to relegate Davies to "second fiddle" after such an impressive debut season. Either way, having two outstanding young Welsh left-backs is in no way a bad thing, especially given that Taylor has played at right-back in the past, and with both full-backs fit it also raises the possibility of a Welsh lineup with three of the four defenders playing their club football at Swansea City. Good for club and country, that is.

If only we had such impressive competition for places in every position...