Player Scouting Thread ⚽️🧵
🔴 Manchester United Left Centre Back
It's safe to say Lisandro Martinez is United's 1st choice LCB. However, he has only made 7 starts in the Premier League this season due to injury.
This season United's XG is 0.58 higher when Martinez is on the pitch compared to off it (via @fbref)
Furthermore, we can see compared to his replacements, he makes more blocks and tackles as well as being safer in possession with vastly greater pass completion %.
When Martinez recently came back into the team, build-up play was greatly improved, as detailed here by @dharnishiqbal x.com/dharnishiqbal/status/1753519523892707604?s=20
As Martinez is left footed he has a greater ability to play out from the back on that side due to improved passing angles, as per @Worville's brilliant article theathletic.com/2049395/2020/09/08/explained-left-foot-centre-back-ake-laporte/?access_token=3640650
So, is there anyone Manchester United can bring in as an understudy to Martinez?
I have completed a brief analysis on left footed centre backs in Europe's top 5 leagues to see if there are any standout performers this season.
By studying Blocks per90 and Tkl+Int per90 we can see: Buongiorno, Wober, Chabot, Alvarez, Friedl, Maglica, Toure, Vasquez & Pirola all perform well in this metric. However, they all play for bottom half teams, are they just standing out because their team is busy?
By observing PrgP and Cmp Short Passes % it is clear Medina at Lens and Piero Hincapie at Leverkusen stand out. Bastoni, Wober and Lucumi also perform well.
Using these metrics is there someone who performs well in all 4 and would be happy to be 2nd choice LCB?
I would have taken a closer look at Medina, Wober & Carboni but Lens, Gladbach and Monza consistently play in back 3 as oppose to Utd's 4231.
Riccardo Calafiori - Bologna
21yrs old, 6ft
Bologna have had a great season so far under Motta and currently sit in the European spots. Calafiori as shown in the spider graph has a very similar profile to Martinez.
Tim Siersleben - FC Heidenheim
23yrs old, 6ft1
Heidenheim are 9th in the Bundesliga, 5 pts off a UECL spot. Siersleben has more defensive actions per90 compared to Martinez and more PrgP, passes cmp is low although this is skewed by 60% on long passes.
Jorge Cuenca - Villarreal
24yrs old, 6ft1
Villarreal aren't having the best season in the league but are through in the UEL.
Cuenca scores high in clearances and aerials won and is a very tidy passer with a 96% short pass completion rate.
Calafiori would be the preferred option, he has played 76.4% of Bologna mins.
He is in the top 96% for interceptions, 81% for PrgC and has a short & medium pass cmp % of 93%.
@Transfermarkt value Calafiori @ €13m which would be a great deal under current the PL FFP rules.