The 4 Spanish Wizards

Much has been said about the four Spanish wizards and debate has gone round and one regarding which of these four is the best. All are regarded among the world’s most dangerous and potent attacking midfielder. Each player was heavily involved in their clubs last season with each player playing 32+ league games, with none starting less than 29. . Although their styles of play vary slightly they are all capable of bringing goals, assists and footballing intelligence to whichever team they’re playing for.

Goals and Shot Conversion

Player Name	Goals Scored	Shot to Goal Conversion Rate
Santi Cazorla	12	16%
Cesc Fabregas	11	28.2%
Juan Mata	12	26.1%
David Silva	4	11.1%

Cazorla and Mata were the most prolific in front of goal with 12 each while Fabregas was the most clinical. Silva was poor in comparison to the other three, scoring only 4 at a conversion rate of 11.1%

Assists and Key Passes (The final pass leading to the recipient of the ball having an attempt at goal without scoring)

Player Name	Assists	Key Passes
Santi Cazorla	11	84
Cesc Fabregas	11	39
Juan Mata	12	83
David Silva	8	95

David Silva made the highest number of key passes but had the lowest number of assists out of those in question. Mata led the way with 12 assists with Cazorla and Fabregas close behind on 11 apiece. As the Silva and Fabregas stats show the quality of teammates/finishers can distort assist numbers.

Pass Length, Accuracy and Direction

Player Name	Pass Length	Pass Accuracy	Pass Direction (Forward)
Santi Cazorla	17m	87%	65%
Cesc Fabregas	15m	89%	57.4%
Juan Mata	17m	85%	59%
David Silva	15m	85%	60.5%

Fabregas was the best passer of the ball, completing 89% of his pass, although at the shortest average length.  Mata and Cazorla had the longest average length with the latter also being the most direct with 65% of his passes going forward.

Duels

Player Name	Take Ons	Success rate
Santi Cazorla	86(/131)	66%
Cesc Fabregas	23(/50)	46%
Juan Mata	21(/52)	40%
David Silva	31(/51)	62%

Cazorla is by far the most talented with the ball at feet completing more take ons than the rest combined at a success rate of 66%. Silva was 2^nd best but still completed around 1 take on a game. Fabregas and Mata are similar I this sense but Mata came off slightly worse with 2 less take ons and at a lower success rate.

Player Name	No. of Greens	No. of Yellows	No. of Reds	Points Accumulated
Santi Cazorla	5	4	0	19
Juan Mata	3	4	2	12
Cesc Fabregas	2	5	2	11
David Silva	1	5	3	6

Refer to the bottom of This Post for clarity on the system used.

As the league table shows, on the basis of league performances last year Cazorla is the best of the four followed by Mata, Fabregas and then Silva. Cazorla consistent in all areas and is never the worst performer. He is the most well rounded and complete player. This may be expected as he is the oldest and most experienced. Mata was the 2^nd best on display and we wold expect him to improve and surpass Cazorla as he is younger. The aspect of his game that was weakest is his dribbling, although he may be able to become a great player without it. His productivity supports this theory. Fabregas had a low number of key passes and forward passes. This seems to be as a result of the Barcelona philosophy of the nearest player, retaining possession etc. Silva, by his own high standards, had a poor season last time out and will need to reproduce his 2011/12 season form if Man City are to win the league.

England's World Cup Strikers

2 of the main forward options, Sturridge and Rooney, look to kick off for England

In the season before the World cup everyone will be looking at England’s chances of bringing the trophy home for the 1^st time since ’66. These chances will rest heavily on someone stepping into the number 9 shirt and scoring consistently for the 3 lions. I will be attempting to identify this man, and other options available to Roy Hodgson.

Wayne Rooney

When mentioning currently great English strikers Wayne Rooney is the man top of that list. He is widely considered England’s only world class player. By his own high standards his last season was mediocre in front of goal, netting 12 times in 27 appearances.  This can be attributed to due to the fact he didn’t receive as much game time as the main striker at United, RVP. Rooney was subbed off in 1/3 of his appearance and made a further 5 off the bench. His chance conversion of 18.2% wasn’t amazing but his chance creation should be noted. Rooney was 1 of 4 me to score ad assist 10 plus goals (Cazorla, Mata and Walcott the 3 others).  This coupled with his high passing accuracy could see hi drop into the number 10 role behind the main striker.

Rickie Lambert

Not the most flashy or attractive name but he did finish as the top English scorer in his debut premier league season. He will be hoping to replicate his performances last season and force his way into the England side. 4 of his 15 goals came from his head and his aerial prowess would be of use to England if Hodgson decides he wants the team to play that way. His chance conversion of 19% is slightly better than Rooney’s. His lack of top level experience will count against him.

Adam le Fondre

Le Fondre is the stereotypical ‘fox in the box’, with all of his 12 goals coming from within the 18 yard box.  He made most off his Reading appearances off the bench and could do the same in an England shirt. His conversion rate of 24.5 is very high, he’s also 50% from inside the 6 yard box from 14 chances. He’s not a bad passer of the ball either, maintaining an accuracy of 72%. Again his lack of experience against the highest standard of opposition will count against him,

Daniel Sturridge

Sturridge scored a total of 11 premier league goals last year. 10 of these came in his 14 appearances after his move to Liverpool. If his continues this form into next season it will be hard for Hodgson to not start him. His pace would be useful against high lines that will be undoubtedly be deployed in the world cup. This coupled with his chance conversion of 18.9% means he has to be at the forefront of Hodgson’s thoughts. His pass accuracy of 85% will also be a positive factor.

Jermain Defoe

Jermain Defoe has been a regular in Roy Hodgson’s England, making appearances in 8 out of the 17 games since Hodgson has been manager. He scored 11 premier league goals last season at a low conversion rate of 13.9%. He is renowned for his desire to shoot from anywhere and not contributing to all round play. This style of forward play isn’t what England want or need during the world cup, against teams that will monopolise possession.

Andy Carroll

Although his style of play isn’t to everyone’s liking he has a role and executes it well. He is a throwback to the more physical eras of the game and uses every inch of his 6 ft 3 inch frame efficiently. His dominance in the air was evident last season, winning almost 10 headers per game at a success rate of 65%. He missed a sizeable chunk of last season through injury and will need to prove his fitness to be part of the England squad. He will also need to reproduce the goal scoring form he showed during the 2010-11 season to cement his position, scoring 13 premier league goals.

Conclusion

Including those mentioned above there are several other options that Hodgson has available to him. Danny Welbeck has scored 1 every 3 games for his country but had an awful season in front of goal last season for United, scoring once in 27 appearances. Some would argue that Welbeck has only scored 1 goal of importance for England, scoring 2 in friendlies and 2 against San Marino. Other names Hodgson should be monitoring are those of Gary Hooper and Charlie Austin. Hooper has now arrived in the premier league and will partner Van Wolfswinkel upfront for Norwich. Austin was on his way to the prem until he failed a medical at Hull and has now moved on to QPR. Both have an eye for goal; Hooper scoring 19 and Austin, 25 in their respective leagues last season.

England could go into the world cup as a genuine threat if 2 or 3 of those mentioned above perform to their capabilities in the league ad reproduce it on the world stage in the summer months.

Feedback Needed

The next article, 'England's World Cup Strikers', will be up at 7pm GMT today. I hope you will all be reading that, but I want you guys to have a say on the article that will be released following this one, there are two options for you to choose between. The 1st is a comparison between the '4 Spanish Wizards' Fabregas, Mata, Cazorla and Silva. The other will be looking at whether Arsenal should change formation to solidify the defence. Please comment down below telling me which article you would like to have first.

Can Negredo and Jovetic Propel City to Greatness?

Due to the sales of Balotelli to AC Milan in January and Tevez to Juventus, Man City have decided to reinforce their striking options with the purchases of Negredo from Sevilla and Jovetic from Fiorentina. Negredo was the 4^th highest scorer in La Liga scoring 25 goals in 36 appearances while Jovetic finished joint 9^th in the Serie A with 13 in 31 appearances.

Negredo vs Balotelli

Negredo is the archetypical ‘fox in the box’ with all 25 of his goals last season coming from under 18 yards out.  He also has the ability to score with his weaker right foot and is a genuine threat with both body parts contributing 5 goals each. He is a goalscorer and his chance conversion rate of almost 20% supports this statement. His 1 assist and passing accuracy of 64% tells us that he won’t be creating chances for his teammates; his role is to finish those fashioned for him.

Negredo will be looking to replace Balotelli and with his from in the blue of City this shouldn’t be hard to do. Balotelli scored on 1 occasion in his 14 appearances, which was pretty poor even if half of his appearances were off the bench. His from increased dramatically after his sale to AC Milan, with him scoring 12 goals in his 13 appearances for the Serie A giants. Was his poor form in Manchester due to the poor man management by Roberto Mancini? At one point he was the only manager that could get the best out of a player that Mourinho had branded “unmanageable”.

Can Negredo Replace Balotelli?

Can Negredo replace the Balotelli of the 12-13 season? Without a doubt, this Balotelli was a shadow of the player of the season before. 1 in 14 is inexcusable for a striker of his quality, and Mancini was right to cash in during the January transfer window. The real question is if he can replace the Balotelli of the 11-12 season. The Balotelli that scored a goal every 102 mins. The Balotelli that scored 13 times despite being 3^rd in the pecking order behind Aguero and Dzeko. I believe that Negredo is capable of doing so, he has a keener eye for goal, is more experienced and is definitely a less volatile character than his predecessor.

Jovetic vs Tevez

Jovetic is left with the task emulating the workhorse known as Carlos Tevez. Jovetic is less of an out and out goalscorer than Negredo but like Tevez will contribute more to open play. His 13 Serie A goals and his 14.9% conversion rate is testament to the act he knows where the goal is but that isn’t the sole focus of his game.  Jovetic maintained a pass accuracy of 78% while providing his teammates with 5 assists and 50 chances. His role would be to lighten the load of David Silva while finding the back of the net himself.

Tevez signed for Juventus for a fee of £10m (rising to £12m subject to performance related add ons), on a 3 year contract. This spelled the end of 4 years at the Etihad for Tevez who maintained a strike of better than a goal every other game. He scored 11 goals at a conversion rate of 14.7% in his last season at the club. While it wasn’t his most prolific season for Man City in front of goal he provided his teammates with 8 assists. It also should be noted he created the 2^nd largest amount of chances for the club, behind the Spanish wizard Silva.  His pass accuracy was quite high for a striker at 84% with 52.75 going forward, again high for striker. The main criticism aimed at him was that he dropped too deep as he was the first choice striker for the club.

Can Jovetic replace Tevez?

I believe that Jovetic will not be able to replace Tevez, at least not in his 1^st season. Tevez brought too much to the table for Man City for Jovetic to be able to replace instantly. He is still only 22 so has plenty of time to mature, develop and truly find his niche, while becoming a high quality player. The question is will he receive enough match time to aid his development, with Aguero, Dzeko and Negredo seemingly ahead of him in the order.

Conclusion

Can Negredo and Jovetic propel City to greatness? If Negredo can reproduce his performances of last season in the sky blue of City than they will be back in the hunt for the Premier League title. A striker scoring you 25 goals can be the difference between 3 points and 1 as Van Persie proved for Manchester United last time out. If Jovetic can settle into the club as well then he could bring some productivity to the club. His goals and assists will prove valuable on a wet cold night in Stoke. The pair will be eased into the Premier League against relatively weak opponents in the forms of Newcastle, Cardiff, Hull and Stoke before they welcome city and title rivals Manchester United to the Etihad. The whole league will be watching this game closely as an early indicator to identify the team that will be on the top of the pile with the team to beat in my eyes, Chelsea come the end of the season.

Gareth Bale – Is He All That?

Gareth Bale scored 21 premier league goals last season. His performance left pundits and journalists raving about him, with comparisons of him to the very best in the world being made. Being an Arsenal fan I was never going to be quite as big of a fan of him as others are. I will now attempt to remove my Arsenal tinted glasses and compare him to the best wingers and attacking midfielders in the premier league and see how his performances truly compare. In this article I will be comparing him to Theo Walcott, Juan Mata and Santi Cazorla. In terms of productivity or DGI (Direct goal Involvement) these players were ranked 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 6^th, the top 2 being strikers, namely Van Persie and Suarez.

Goals and Shot Conversion

Player Name	Goals Scored	Shot to Goal Conversion Rate
Gareth Bale	21	15.8%
Theo Walcott	14	22.6%
Juan Mata	12	26.1%
Santi Cazorla	12	16%

As the stats show Bale was streets ahead goal wise and finished as the 3^rd highest scorer in the premier league but had the worst chance conversion out of all those being compared in this article. Mata had the best conversion percentage but scored the least amount of goals along with Cazorla.

Assists and Key Passes (The final pass leading to the recipient of the ball having an attempt at goal without scoring)

Player Name	Assists	Key Passes
Gareth Bale	4	71
Theo Walcott	10	28
Juan Mata	12	83
Santi Cazorla	11	84

Bale had the smallest number of assists but had a high number of key passes; this may be attributed to him not having great goal scorers around him at Spurs. Mata and Cazorla’s stats in this area are basically inseparable, leaving Walcott with the worst of the bunch.

Pass Length, Accuracy and Direction

Player Name	Pass Length	Pass Accuracy	Pass Direction (Forward)
Gareth Bale	18m	78%	55.3%
Theo Walcott	17m	83%	51.2%
Juan Mata	17m	85%	59%
Santi Cazorla	17m	87%	65%

Bale had the longest average pass length but had the worst passing accuracy; his forward passing percentage was also low, in comparison. Walcott, Mata and Cazorla all had a pass length of 17m with them having accuracies of 83%, 85% and 87% respectively. Cazorla was relatively direct with 65% of his passes going forward.

Duels (Take Ons and Headers, Percentages refer to Success Rates)

Player Name	Take Ons	Success rate	Headers	Success Rate
Gareth Bale	59(/138)	43%	57(/139)	41%
Theo Walcott	47(/107)	44%	7(/24)	29%
Juan Mata	21(/108)	40%	2(/5)	40%
Santi Cazorla	86(/131)	66%	6(/17)	35%

Gareth Bale completed the 2^nd most take ons out of those included and won the most headers at the highest percentage. In fact Bale won more headers than the rest involved combined. His number of successful take ons and its percentage pale in comparison to Cazorla’s though.

Player Name	No. of Greens	No. of Yellows	No. of Reds	Points Accumulated
Gareth Bale	4	4	3	16
Theo Walcott	0	8	3	8
Juan Mata	2	6	3	12
Santi Cazorla	5	6	0	21

Allow me to give clarity to the system I used to distribute and give value to the points. As you would have noticed, in each section analysed each players stats were ranked; 1 green, 2 yellows and 1 red. I will be using this system in future comparisons do it would if I you made notes for future reference. Like the system used widely in football, a green or a win is worth 3 points, a yellow for a draw worth 1 point and a red or loss equates to 0 points.

Along with the facts stated above it should be noted that Bale received 6 yellow cards last season, a number for simulation. 9 of his 21 league goals came from outside of the penalty area and he scored 4 with his weak (right foot) and also scored a header. He is a genuine threat on goal for these reasons despite his low chance conversion rate. That factor combined with his ability in the air, low assist number and low pass accuracy suggests that he would be better deployed in another position. In the current system that Andre Villas-Boas is using I believe he would perform better as the central striker or as the man playing behind him. AVB used I him in this position towards the end of last season to great success. AVB also claimed that Bale was “most effective” as a striker. I expect to see him playing more centrally at Spurs next season, assuming he stays at the club.

Now we arrive at the crux of the matter, is Gareth Bale one of the top 5 players in the league. He is definitely one of the top 5 attacking players in the league; he would be in that top 5 with Van Persie, Suarez, Cazorla and Mata. This is a comparison for another day but I guess he would be ranked 3^rd or 4^th in that chart. When it comes to the top 5 players in the league overall, he would struggle to make the cut, Arteta, Gerrard, Baines, Carrick and Yaya Toure would all be brought into contention.

Although Bale is not yet one of the best 5 players in the Premier League if he continues his ascension footballing greatness he will doubtlessly be up there with the very best of them next season.