Andre Gomes and Barcelona
Replacing a player like Andreas Iniesta is never an easy task. However, his successor Andre Gomes was destined to fail from the very beginning of his spell in Catalonia.
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Data shows that Gomes does not have sufficient creativity or distribution skills. Achieving similar results as Iniesta is almost impossible for him. What statistics should Barcelona look at?
Comparison of Iniesta and Gomes |
xA | Dribbling | Through-balls | PiB / DzE | Passes / % | |
Iniesta | 0,07 | 4,3 / 73% | 2,05 | 7,6 / 4,45 | 66 / 88% |
Gomez | 0,02 | 2,4 / 51% | 0,15 | 1,7 / 1,59 | 42 / 91% |
Gomes does not match Iniesta in any of these statistics. Barcelona scouted the wrong player, but with the help of the data, they could easily see that the transfer won't work.
The player who cost €37 million was granted less and less game time. He played a total of 3837 minutes, scored 3 goals and made 4 assist. In the summer, he was loaned to Everton and will almost certainly lose his value. With data analytics, this transfer could be stopped at the very beginning.
Who should Barcelona sign?
Iniesta's statistics clearly show what Barcelona needs. And that is a technical player with a high number of through-balls.
Possible transfer: Marco Verratti
xA | Dribbling | Through-balls | PiB / DzE | Passes / % | |
Iniesta | 0,07 | 4,3 / 73% | 2,05 | 7,6 / 4,45 | 66 / 88% |
Verratti | 0,12 | 2,96 / 70% | 1,66 | 5,57 / 2,66 | 93 / 92% |
Verratti replicates Iniesta's skills and given Barcelona's dominant style, his numbers could grow there considerably. Also, he earns twice as many balls as the Spanish player.
Possible transfer: Coutinho
xA | Dribbling | Through-balls | PiB / DzE | Passes / % | |
Iniesta | 0,07 | 4,3 / 73% | 2,05 | 7,6 / 4,45 | 66 / 88% |
Coutinho | 0,16 | 4, 03/ 56% | 1,84 | 10,54 / 3,53 | 47,81 / 81% |
Barcelona learned from their mistake, and eventually signed Coutinho, who is a much better choice. He is showing similar numbers as Iniesta. Moreover, the Brazilian player is more dangerous because of his outstanding shot abilities. Coutinho has 0.33 xG, which is six times more than Iniesta.