FanPost

Chelsea players Statistical Analysis - part 1


With the season now over and the transfer merry-go-round seemingly already in full swing, I thought it would be a good idea to go back and look at the statistics for the last season in the Premier League.

I have used the excellent who scored.com player statistics for the Premier League for the purposes of my analysis.

This is a great site as it gives us a lot more data than just the usual top goal scorers,assists,MOM etc.

I figured this would be a good place to start to look at the performances of our players over the course of the season and to consider if based on the statistics there is a better option currently plying their trade in the Premier League.

The first position I have reviewed is Full Back

My opinion is that our full backs need to be good at tackling (reflecting their defensive prowess); interceptions (reflecting their anticipation/positioning) and preferably not allowing offensive players to run past them (reflecting a combination of their balance/pace and anticipation again) all while not giving away too many fouls.

In an offensive capacity I feel they need to be able to deliver crosses accurately and ideally complete key passes/assists.

In this past Premier League season 5 players notched up Full Back appearances for Chelsea

Ashley Cole 31 (1)

Branislav 'The Bear' Ivanovic 26 (3)

Jose Bosingwa 24 (3)

Ryan Bertrand 6 (1)

Paulo Ferreira 3 (3)

The who scored.com statistics I am going to use for Full Back based on my own opinion of the important factors is :

Tackles Per Game, Interceptions Per Game, Fouls Per Game, Dribbled by other team players Per Game for Defence

Assists, Key Passes Per Game, Accurate Crosses Per Game for Offense

Player--------------TPG-------IPG-------FPG------DPG----- A----KPG----- ACPG

Cole------------------2.5--------1.6-------1---------- 0.9------- 6---- 0.8------- 0.5

Ivanovic -------------2----------2----------0.8------- 0.2--------1----0.6--------0.4

Bosingwa-----------2.3--------2.4--------1.2-------0.5--------2----0.8--------0.8

Bertrand -------------2----------1.9--------1--------- 0.3--------0----0.7--------0.9

Ferreira -------------1.5--------1.2--------0.5-------1----------0----0.3--------0.2

So now we have the data - what sort of comparisons can we begin to make?

Firstly it would appear that Ivanovic is something of a defensive beast compared to his team mates. This seems to make sense as I think we would all attest to his defensive prowess. However his figures may be skewed by games he played in the centre which aren't excluded in the above table. The stats also confirm his comparative poor showing going forward.

I think the next interesting comparison is that Bossy actually appears to be a better defender than Cole. He had a far greater percentage of interceptions than Cole, his tackles were comparable and he was dribbled much less. I accept his foul count was slightly higher but overall I think the stats show his defensive performance to be better than many people have given him credit for. Offensively his stats were also better than Cole (excluding assists)

Bertrand and Ferreira's data may be a little misleading due to the small sample size but we can still see some interesting patterns. Bertrand's defensive performance is actually fairly akin to that of the Bear and offensively his stats are better than Cole (excluding assists). This data alone should hopefully see Bertrand make considerably more appearances next year and its great to see the academy finally producing some end talent like this.

Ferreira's figures are pretty dire across the board and probably goes some way to explaining his limited appearance count. Calling time on his Chelsea career may well be appropriate at this juncture.

So based on these stats it doesn't seem unreasonable to accept than Bossy was perhaps, overall, our best full back this season. Nevertheless he is on to pastures new and we need to seek out a replacement. So who might we bring in who had better stats than Bossy last year in the Premier League?

The following Right Backs had a better TPG ratio last season:

Pablo Zabaleta, Kyle Naughton, Kyle Walker, Phil Bardsley, Angel Rangel, Andy Wilkinson

Of these only Angel Rangel had a better IPG ratio and only Phil Bardsley a lower DPG.

So which Right Backs had a better ACPG ratio last season:

Bacary Sagna

Ok - not many - so who had a better KPG ratio:

Glen Johnson, Pablo Zabaleta, Bacary Sagna & Phil Bardsley

In my opinion Zabaleta and Johnson are both beyond the clubs reach.

I am going to review the stats for a couple of these players to see who the best option would be

Player--------------TPG-------IPG-----FPG--------DPG----- A----KPG----- ACPG

Bosingwa----------2.3---------2.4------1.2----------0.5------ 2---- 0.8--------0.8

Bardsley------------2.5---------1.8------ 0.6---------0.4-------0----0.8--------0.5

Naughton---------- 3------------1.8------0.6---------0.8-------1----0.6--------0.4

Rangel--------------2.5----------2.8------0.8--------0.9--------2----0.7--------0.4

Sagna---------------2------------1.7------0.6---------0.6--------2----0.9-------1

Walker---------------2.6---------1.8------0.9---------0.6--------1----0.9--------0.5

So where does this leave us? Well probably wondering why we have let Bossy go to be honest. None of these players seem to represent a substantial upgrade considering the fact they will cost money.

Sagna was the only right back in the entire Premier League to have a better crossing average than Bossy last season. Rangel might represent a small defensive upgrade based on these figures and a similar attacking threat - his dribble per game ratio concerns me though.

Both Sagna and Rangel are 29 so does that fit with our transfer policy? Probably not. Bardsley, Walker and Naughton are all younger and may well improve - though none of their stats makes me fall of my chair to be honest.

If we had to make a decision it would probably be between Walker and Naughton. Naughton would probably be cheaper - so I am going to plump for him here.

So in conclusion - we should have kept Bossy and if we have to buy an existing PL right back then Naughton gets my vote at the moment. But what do you think?? Would you like to see stats for other Right Backs?

This FanPost was contributed by a member of the community and was not subject to any sort of approval process. It does not necessarily reflect the opinions held by the editors of this site.