SPURS ASSETS- DEF

SERGE AURIER 5.5

I'll preface this thread by saying I don't recommend any other defensive assets.
The CBs were rotated too much to know who's nailed yet, and Ben Davies attacking stats were poor too. So I wouldn't bother, which leads us to Serge.

Now before I delve into Serge's stats, please note that at the time of writing he is linked with a move away. Milan have been tauted among other clubs. Though we have no replacement RB so I think the rumours could just be hot air.
Now that's out of the way let's jump in.

At 5.0 last season, Serge did catch the eye. Some saw good returns from the ivorian with his marauding runs and the fact that Mourinho seemed to want to deploy him as an auxiliary RW rather than a RB. Others however (me) were burnt by his penchant for a reckless challenge.

So, is he a good option coming into the new season? Well, maybe.

In this first section I'm going to look at points per game (PPG), expected points (Xpoints) and Bonus per game (BPG) when compared with another 5.5 defender (Stevens SHU) and a more budget friendly 4.5 option (Taylor BUR).

PPG

Aurier 3.94 Stevens 3.74 Taylor 3.73

XPOINTS

Aurier 4.5 Stevens 4.6 Taylor 3.88

BPG

Aurier 0.48 Stevens 0.21 Taylor 0.23

So what do we learn from these numbers?

Well note the PPG, they're all roughly in the same ball park, but with Xpoints it tells another story:

Aurier outperformed
Stevens underperformed
Taylor about right

So was Aurier lucky? Well when we look at the BPG the plot thickens.

Aurier earnt more than double the bonus points of the other two and anyone who kept an eye on bonus last season would know that Serge was indeed a BPS magnet.

But what does this mean?!

It's all about consistency.

Stevens' and Taylor's point scoring on the whole was far more consistent than Aurier's. But when Serge did score well he often scored a lot of bonus too.

When we lock down on Aurier and Stevens attacking stats it makes the picture even clearer.

Crosses

Aurier 4.29 Stevens 3.24

Final Third Passes

Aurier 11.97 Stevens 15.89

Assists

Aurier 0.23 Stevens 0.11

XAssists

Aurier 0.10 Stevens 0.14

These stats suggest that Aurier put in more crosses than Stevens, but that according to XAssists Stevens should have assisted more with said crosses than Serge.

Serge is erratic. His numbers are and so are his on pitch performances. And Spurs defending if we're being honest is the same too!
Stevens is more consistent, as is the Sheffield United defence.

So it comes down to this, what kind of manager are you?
If you are more conservative, sure pick Stevens and let the 5pters roll in.
If you're a little wild though, pick Serge and you'll be getting red cards one week and 12pters another week!

PS *Just a note to say, the passing of Serge's brother towards the end of the season must have been horrific. Words can't describe the pain he must've felt. So brave to keep playing, and I salute his courage. #coys*

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