FINDING A REPLACEMENT FOR SERGIO RAMOS: DATA ANALYSIS

[A THREAD]

After arriving in the Spanish capital in 2005, Sergio Ramos has had an iconic career for the Los Blancos. While his aggressive approach in terms of defending continues to divide opinions, the 34-year-old has also made an impact by scoring vital goals for his club and country.

With age catching up, there are doubts on whether the long serving captain should get another contract extension or not at the end of every season. It feels like the appropriate time to look for a replacement who can fill the void created by Ramos’ potential absence.

First, let's take a look at Ramos' Statistical Profile.

Ramos' aggressiveness is shown by high numbers in fouls committed and the volume of defensive duels.

Ramos is not particularly brilliant when it comes to aerial duels. Most of the time, he ends up fouling his opponent.

He also performs exceedingly well in terms of passes into the final third, long balls and switches of play. Real Madrid use switch of play as an important part of their attacking threat as it gives them direct approach and opens up more spaces to be exploited on the underload.

𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚

We will be looking at the defenders who are 25 years old or younger, playing in top 5 European Leagues.

Only the players who have played more than 900 minutes will be eligible to qualify. This number is kept low to account for the early suspension of Ligue 1.

𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐀𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲

This is the most important part of finding a player who can fill Ramos’ shoes. We’d want an aggressive defender who performs relatively high number of defensive actions. For this, first we will take a look at Possession adjusted defensive duels.

Here, Ramos sits comfortably at an above average position. Some of the central defenders who shine here are Presnel Kimpembe, Clement Lenglet, Kamara, Upamecano and Conti.

Now, we will take a look at how these players deal with 1v1 situations when facing dribblers.

Ramos stands at below average in both these categories as fullbacks dominate here. Ideally, you’d want to be in the bottom right coordinate. Kimpembe, Upamecano and Tapsoba show up well

Finally, we will try to take an account of how often these defenders are penalized due to their aggressive nature. For this, we plot a Errors vs fouls committed.

Being a proactive defender, you’d expect some fouls every now and then.

This is a difficult balance to find but Mancini, Milenkovic and Conti commit low number of errors while showing aggressive intent by fouling opponents.

𝐀𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐬𝐬

As discussed before, Ramos has not been a particularly brilliant defender when it comes to aerial duels. But since this is an important aspect for a central defender, a potential improvement in this regard would be appreciated.

Ramos lies just around the average mark where coordinates meet (not visible due to cluster of players). Eder Militao, Jode Gimenez, Milenkovic and William Saliba shine in aerial duels.

𝐁𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲

To evaluate a defender’s proficiency in ball security, we plot miscontrols and dispossessions against net possessions per 90.

Net possession indicates ball wins – ball losses. Ideally, we would want a player who contributes positively to this metric.

𝐁𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧

Ball Progression is one of the strongest suites of Sergio Ramos. As it can be seen from the graph below, Ramos clearly prefers to progress the ball by passing than carries.

The likes of Laporte, Upamecano and John Stones show up well here.

Ramos is consistent in his approach to play passes into the final third of the pitch. (Progressive passes are dominated by fullbacks here)

The likes of Laporte, Upamecano and John Stones shine in these metrics.

As Real Madrid use the trio of Toni Kroos, Casemiro and Ramos to switch the play as a vital part of their game plan, this will be an important aspect in finding a Ramos replacement.

Pau Torres, Kurt Zouma and John Stones perform well here.

Now, we have a shortlist of five players who can potentially replace the Los Blancos captain.

𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐥 𝐊𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞

Presnel Kimpembe is the first name that comes out, mainly because of his defensive profile. The Frenchman ranks above 95th percentile in possession adjusted tackles, interceptions and dribblers tackled per 90 with impressive numbers in possession

𝐂𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐒𝐨𝐲𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐮

The Turkish centre-back has a lot in common with the Los Blancos captain. He shows up well in terms of volume of duels, shows aggression, and provides a decent output in attack. His ball-playing numbers are also encouraging.

𝐃𝐚𝐲𝐨𝐭 𝐔𝐩𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨

Dayot Upamecano is a do-it-all. He is exceptional with the ball at his feet and shows the same proactive approach that you need in a defender to replace Ramos. However, his decision making is not at an elite level but it will improve with time.

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐣𝐬 𝐃𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐭

Alright, I cheated here. The Dutch defender had a tough time in Turin as he had to adapt his game a lot. His inclusion here is solely based on his previous performances. His ability combined with his mentality could make a perfect Ramos replacement

𝐉𝐨𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐳

Playing alongside the best defender in the world comes at a disadvantage: You may not get the credit that you deserve. Straight off the eye, Gomez’s brilliant ability on the ball shines through.

His versatility to play multiple positions is an added bonus.

𝐃𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐝 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐮𝐲 𝐚 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫

Real Madrid bought a certain Eder Militao for 50 Million and although he has not enjoyed a lot of gametime, The Brazilian has a similar mould to that of Ramos. With an improvement in his ball-playing ability,

He could prove to be a very capable Ramos successor for Madrid, without having to knock at the transfer market (again). He should be given more minutes this season so that his growth and potential can be judged more appropriately.

Also, as always the data is per 90 and taken from @fbref

Feedback and RTs are appreciated.