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THREADJack Grealish - In Possession
Continuing where he left off last season, Grealish has been in outstanding form in the early part of the 2020/21 Premier League season. His fantastic form has earned him another call up to the England camp, & deservedly so.
Below I have looked into some of Grealish´s underlying numbers as a tool to analyse his style of play while in possession. In addition to the data, I have selected different examples from matches, which can be used as a reference for confirming what the data is telling us.
Since Aston Villa achieved promotion following the 18/19 season,Grealish has transitioned from a more central midfield role to further up the pitch, often deployed on the left wing. This allows him more freedom in his movements & to take up more dangerous positions close to goal.
Assists- 5 (2nd PL)
xA- 2.63 (2nd PL)
To start the season, Grealish ranks 2nd for both assists and xA in the PL. His involvements in possession are absolutely critical to the success of Aston Villa, as much of their possession goes through him.
xA- 2.63 (2nd PL)
To start the season, Grealish ranks 2nd for both assists and xA in the PL. His involvements in possession are absolutely critical to the success of Aston Villa, as much of their possession goes through him.
Though Grealish is not blessed with particularly elite speed, he has extremely good balance & agility which allows him to quickly change direction. This is key to his 1v1 ability with the ball, where he is one of the best in the PL. So far this season Grealish has attempted the
most 1v1 dribbles in all of Europe´s top 5 leagues with 79. However it is not only quantity of dribbles which sets him apart, but quality too. He also ranks 2nd for successful dribbles with an outstanding 72.15% success rate. Here is a good example demonstrating his balance as
well as spatial awareness. Receiving the ball with pressure applied from behind, he is able to first control possession while being engaged. He then proceeds to maintain his balance while also recognising the open space over his shoulder & successfully attacks the space.
In the following instance he receives facing goal in the left half-space. It appears as if TAA has control of the situation, both showing him to the outside & having support on the inside. However, great close control & a good change of pace allows him to cut inside & score.
While sometimes his movement off the ball could be better, Grealish has a very innate ability to receive the ball in dangerous spaces & keep the defense on the back foot. Looking at Europe´s top 5 leagues again, he has completed the most touches in the penalty area, with 66.
Often when he has a touch in the box, he creates dangerous situations for his side. Drawing multiple defenders towards him, & creating new spaces for his teammates to occupy. His composure makes it appear as if he has more time & space then he does have in reality.
Another statistic in which Grealish leads the Premier League is Progressive Runs, with a total of 40. While he is dangerous in tight situations, he also has the ability to pick up the ball in deep areas & attack the spaces between opposition defenses in front of him.
His progressiveness is also exhibited when looking at the League leaders in Progressive Carries Distance, where he once again leads the league with a total of 1,968 yards so far this season. This is an average of 281.1 yards per 90.
In addition to his 1v1 ability & picking up the ball in dangerous positions, he has also drawn the 2nd most fouls in Europe´s top 5 leagues this season. Defenders simply can not consistently deal with his persistent attacking & driving forward with the ball.
Grealish is not just a good dribbler, he also has great vision & the ability to pick a pass. With 11 Key Passes so far this season, he ranks 2nd in the Premier League. These are passes which immediately creates a clear goal scoring opportunity for a teammate.
Another metric which shows us that Grealish is adept at creating danger, is that of Deep Completions. Here, he has the most Deep Completions per 90 in the Premier League, averaging an impressive 4.37 per match. These are passes targeted within 20m of the opposition goal. @Wyscout
With a total of 9 Goal-Creating Actions, 2nd in the Premier League, we can see that he is very active in the final third. What is perhaps most impressive about this statistic, is that his individual GCA is actually higher than 3 clubs total GCA in the Premier League.
While there is no question Grealish has passed the eye test this season as well as measuring highly in quantifiable statistical categories, he also rates extremely well in various rankings which are based on detailed algorithms. Looking at the @Wyscout index, he is rated as
the 4th best lateral forward this season. He also currently holds a place in the @WhoScored seasonal Premier League Best XI with an average rating of 8.2 per match. Checking in on @smarterscout metrics he also is favourably rated. Similarly to what we have seen above, his
Attacking Output, Ball Retention, Receiving in Box & Ground Duels in Possession are all at the top end of the Premier League with extremely good Model & Style Rating scores based on @smarterscout´s models.
So far throughout Grealish´s career he has met most challenges he has been faced with & done well to overcome them. I find him to be an extremely exciting player to watch with a great individual presence in matches. He is perhaps a bit of a maverick in English terms, but that is
only a positive adjective in my mind. We have made it this far in the thread & it hasn´t even been mentioned yet that he also has scored 4 goals this season. Giving him a total of 9 G+A on the season, which is joint 2nd highest in the league in that category.
Grealish is a extremely exciting attacking player, which hopefully has been illustrated above. As always, all shares and feedback are greatly appreciated.
Data from: @Wyscout @fbref @WhoScored @smarterscout
Data from: @Wyscout @fbref @WhoScored @smarterscout
