We live in an era where stats provide the foundation of our footballing opinions. It seems to get all the more scientific, and as a result confusing, as the years tick by.
It’s showing no sign of stopping, either. Have a look at this graph shared by Ashwin Raman on Chelsea players’ efficiency while in possession of the ball.
Do take this with a pinch of salt as it's both a small sample and it's the %s taken of totals (not normalized for mins played), but it's interesting to see how influential Tammy and Mount are for Chelsea, with the former also being very efficient, rarely losing the ball. pic.twitter.com/HUF1NNGme0
— Ashwin Raman (@AshwinRaman_) September 6, 2019
We’re going to talk you through it because it took a while for us to understand, too.
Essentially, we’re talking about the number of Chelsea possessions which have been ended by any particular player. But what does it tell us?
Well, not only does Tammy Abraham have four goals in his last two Chelsea appearances, but he also very rarely gives the ball away, which is testament to his hold-up play.
Abraham has been marketed as an out-and-out goal scorer, which is true, to an extent, but let’s give him due credit for his other contributions with the ball at his feet.
Both Diego Costa and Alvaro Morata, while they scored goals, spurned possession all the too many times. We will not have the same frustration with our Tammy.
