Morning all.
Over on Patreon yesterday, Lewis and I did a player ratings podcast in which, quite unsurprisingly, we rated the players’ performance for last season out of 10. It’s fair to say there were a lot of high numbers in there. Even some 10s, you’d have to go listen to find out who, but I’m sure you can probably guess.
There were some who didn’t get marks quite as high though, and as the discussion went on, it was hard not to think about those players and those positions when it comes to this summer’s transfer business. Without giving too much away, you just have to look at the minutes some of these guys played to see where we can upgrade.
These are Premier League only, but let’s look at three players. First, Fabio Vieira. It has to be acknowledged that he spent a period out with injury after having knee surgery, but he was in the squad for 24 of 38 games, started only twice, and played just 291 minutes. After his return from injury, he had 54 minutes of playing time, and 45 of those were when he came on at half-time against Sheffield United with the game well and truly won at that point. He didn’t off the bench in 10 of our last 13 games.
Next, Emile Smith Rowe, a player I really like, but who has struggled to make an impact since his big injury sidelined him last season. There was, I suppose, a glimmer of hope in that when we needed a goal against Everton he was the man Mikel Arteta turned to, and but for the crossbar, he might have got it too. However, his numbers tell a story that’s hard to ignore.
He was in the squad for 31 of the 38 games, started just three times, came off the bench on 10 occasions, and the earliest he did that in any game was the 68th minute of the 2-2 draw away at Chelsea. His appearance on the final day came in the 69th minute. In total, he played 345 Premier League minutes this season.
Finally, Reiss Nelson. He was basically an ever-present in the squad from August to March, until we got some players back from…
Source link : https://arseblog.com/2024/05/sometimes-the-numbers-do-tell-the-story/
Author : arseblog
Publish date : 2024-05-29 07:32:33
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