Number cruncher sent by the footballing gods, Adam Rae Voge (@AdamVoge), has dropped in with ANOTHER brilliant piece. Today, he’s focused on the potential signing of James Maddison.
For all the talk of potential midfield, centre-back, and right-back additions at Arsenal this summer, there really hasn’t been talk about the incoming attacking midfielder. Why? It’s always been Martin Odegaard.
Until now.
With Odegaard being pretty consistently linked with a return to Spain, Arsenal fans got their first glimpse of a new creator this week, as reports linked the club to Leicester City creator extraordinaire James Maddison.
Opinions about the potential 70-million-Euro man abound, but just how good is he? Would he be an upgrade over Odegaard? I turned to the data to compare Maddison to some of the world’s greatest creators. Here’s what I found.
Editorial note: I know several of these names are not true Number 10s. But all percentile ranks are compared to all attacking midfielders, not just those playing centrally. I’m trying to compare all creators here, so I’ve included some of the best 8s, as well as some notable attacking midfielders who play both centrally and on the wing.
Ball pressure
One thing I always heard about Martin Odegaard was how good he was at marshaling the Arsenal press. That’s something a good attacking midfielder should do, so I compared some of the biggest names in terms of pressures in the attacking third, successful pressures and ball recoveries. Surprisingly, Odegaard ranked last among the options detailed here.
Dani Olmo, Roberto Firmino, Kevin De Bruyne and Thomas Muller were among the best at pressuring and recovering the ball. Maddison? He was closer to the back of the pack than the front this past season, with largely average percentile ranks in each statistic. He did prove to be an above-average attacker at recovering the ball, ranking in the 66th percentile. Odegaard, for the record, ranked in the 32nd percentile in that category last year.
Maddison’s average rank in those 4 ball pressure statistics was 55th, putting him in the middle of all attacking midfielders. For reference, De Bruyne averaged a rank in the 84th percentile. Mason Mount was in the 80th.
Possession
Another quality of a top creator is the ability to carry the ball forward into the attack without turning it over. This is where someone like Leo Messi excels – last season he was literally in the 99th percentile in carries, progressive carries and carries into the final third, while ranking in the 95th percentile in miscontrols. That’s what an elite carrier and ball controller looks like.
So what of Maddison? As with his ball pressure, he struggled in this area. Last season, Maddison ranked in the 81st percentile among attackers in carries, but was otherwise average or worse in five other ball security statistics. One particular area of weakness: he carried the ball into the penalty area only rarely, ranking in the 31st percentile.
Maddison’s ranks in these seven statistics averaged out to the 51st percentile, again putting him in dead-average territory as a ball carrier. For reference, Bukayo Saka would have been in the 54th percentile, Emile Smith Rowe the 45th percentile, and Martin Odegaard was in the 61st. Phil Foden ranked in the 76th percentile, with Jack Grealish in the 74th.
That’s less than inspiring for an attack that struggles at time to get up the pitch.
Passing and creation
And of course, the skill that matters most – passing and chance creation. This is thankfully one area where Maddison continued to flash his skill in 2020-2021, ranking in the 95th percentile in both progressive passing and shot-creating actions. Maddison’s stats as a passer placed him in the 81st percentile across nine passing and creation statistics this past season, just below Bruno Fernandes and Mason Mount, who were both in the 83rd percentile, and a little further behind Jack Grealish, in the 85th. Passing and creation are a particular strength of Odegaard’s, and this past year he placed in the 80th percentile, ahead of names like Phil Foden and Thomas Muller.
The big picture
So what does this all say about James Maddison? I’ll say this: According to the data, Maddison was above average among attacking midfielders this past season. When you combine all the statistics mentioned here, Maddison’s average rank was in the 63rd percentile. That’s nowhere near Leo Messi, (81st percentile), of course, but it would be an improvement over Odegaard, right?
Well, no. Martin Odegaard was just ahead of Maddison this past season, in the 64th percentile. But that doesn’t fit the narrative of a 70-million-Euro midfielder, does it? Something just doesn’t feel right here.
The twist
I won’t blame you if you don’t know the ins and outs of Leicester City’s injury history. I certainly don’t. But toward the end of this past season, Maddison the better part of a month with a hip injury. Leicester won three in that stretch without Maddison, lost two (including to Arsenal), and drew against Burnley. The creator returned as a substitute in an April 3 loss to Man City, didn’t see the pitch in a loss to West Ham, and finally made his return to the lineup in an April 22 thrashing of West Brom. Maddison played well against West Brom, but struggled for the rest of the season, frequently getting subbed off, and finishing only the April 30 match with Southampton, a 1-1 draw. Leicester finished the season winning only five of ten with Maddison playing, with four losses.
Is it possible that hip injury impaired Maddison’s form? He had scored in the February 21 win over Aston Villa, the same game in which he was injured. Prior to that, he had a goal and three assists in five games, and just before that scored six goals during a torrid eight-game run in December and January.
Just to be safe, I decided to see where the James Maddison of 2019-2020 would rank in these categories. Here’s what I found:
Ball Pressure
Maddison was quite a lot better at pressuring the ball in 19-20. His successful pressures would have put him in the 79th percentile this year, and recoveries would have been in the 74th. His aggregate rank was 11 spots better, in the 66th percentile.
Possession
Another area where Maddison really fell off this season. Maddison’s carries from the 2019-20 season would have put him in the 92nd percentile this year. His control over the ball was much better, too: He would have ranked in the 75th percentile in miscontrols and 65th in dispossessions, instead of 51st and 53rd, respectively. His aggregate rank would have bumped up into the 66th percentile, just ahead of Martin Odegaard.
Maddison was outstanding as a creator and passer in both 2019-20 and 2020-21, and that’s one are where he actually improved a bit year-over-year.
The big picture, take two
Taking the entire picture into consideration, the James Maddison of 2019-2020 is on a similar level to Bruno Fernandes or Bernardo Silva. That’s certainly less underwhelming, and maybe even reason to get excited about a potential transfer.
So why did Maddison’s numbers dip this season, and which version of the player will show up this year? Mikel Arteta and Edu seem ready to put their money where on the elite version of the Leicester playmaker – I hope they’re right.
Give @AdamVoge a follow and tell him you loved his piece.
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AFC
Not at all I just prefer if people are going to have a pop at me they at least get it right.
Denzel Dumfries might sound like.a Scottish Rap artist but he’s a bloody good player. Wijnaldum is so smooth and really cool operator in midfield.
AFC
He sounds like a Scottish character off Only Fools!
Marc, I’m sure Arteta feels the same.
Marc
Arteta is also thin-skinned, he can’t tolerate players who speak up like Saliba
He’s still holding a grudge because the press were all over Arsenal for the way they handled Saliba last season.
Deschamps recalled Rabiot and Benzema despite all the harsh things said in the media.
Arteta’s ego and the clubs lax-oversight will never allow these types of recalls to happen at Arsenal.
AFC
Tell me what I’ve got wrong on Arteta?
Marc, I’ll give you that my all time favourite program. That one in the cage where Trigger is talking about his award from the council for his broom. Gets me every time.
*cafe
Mike is a defensive coach. its clear with this fucking BS Ben White chase. Stupido
Dissenter, it’s almost like you were a witness to conversations between Arteta and Saliba. Not sure how you get such close access to the intimate goings on at London Colney to allow to you to be so informed.
Bob N16
How are you doing?
What conversations are you referring to?
Left to you, There was nothing wrong with us eefing up and letting a 29 million acquisition slum it out with the U-23s
Lets just sing Kumba ya and be “positive”.
Tr7 bud you can’t count Leicester signings until they sign them you are just speculating that they get daka and sounare
Calling for Saliba to go on loan again is just a bit cowardlyI only blame the Kroenkes at this point for being so distant from the club, they are easily the worst owners in world football.
Diss ffs really ??? The worst owners in football that’s a bit much lol
Are you a drama queen at home as well ?
There’s less games this season Is it better Saliba stagnates on our bench for a season, playing the odd cup game? Or is it better we send him somewhere to play consistently and develop? Either pumping his value, or we bring back a more mature player, who’s ready to compete next season, when there’s hopefully more games to go around? Look at what’s happened to Nelson in the last 2 seasons, he’s gone from one of the most exciting young talents in the country, to stagnating in the under 23s He’s wasted 2 years of his development, because we didn’t… Read more »
BobN16
“Arsenal Reject Shkodran Mustafi Is Voted Loser Of The Season By Fellow Bundesliga Players”
That’s the player that was registered ahead of Saliba by Arteta
Paid off to terminate his Arsenal contract in January and physically pursued away by Shalke fans by May.
All publicly available information, by the way. Don’t need to be a fly on any wall to know these things.
Rich the Metro article said we were going to sell him… which is what started this whole discussion
Nothing to do with loans. .
Saliba should go on loan on the prem for a season to iron out all the links then play him next season
If it’s good enough for mount, maddison etc it’s good enough for him
Midwest the metro is a free paper with no proper journos and they are one of the biggest clickbait websites in the UK
Dissenter, I was referring to your ‘Arteta is thin skinned, he can’t tolerate players who speak up like Saliba.’ I like most Arsenal supporters were annoyed by the mishandling of Saliba in the first half of the season. I am very keen for Saliba to be past of our squad this season. I’m sorry if I’m being unreasonable when I rise to categoric comments like yours that imply an insight that seems implausible. I’m no apologist for Arteta, I wanted him gone, but the list of character failings that comes up on Legrove is extraordinary; thin-skinned, egotist, control freak, small-… Read more »
I know Serge.. I said it was speculative but also I would not be surprised if we did sell Saliba, would you? Given our interest in other CB’s and needing to raise money. Also Is Saliba in Arteta’s plans? I would lean towards no. Hence why I said .. handwriting on the wall. Pedro took offense to that though.. so.. don’t care enough about Saliba to argue about it. really .. wish we could get some transfer business done so we wouldn’t need to talk about it.
Rich, exactly, a Newcastle loan would probably be pretty awesome for him.
Dissenter 20.50 not sure how this post relates to Saliba’s mishandling. You can accuse Arteta of misjudgement but not of being intolerant.
Damn the Dutch are fun to watch in attack… and then conversely .. they are open at the back.. so makes the matches competitive.. open and fun not knowing the outcome as they just don’t pack it in and defend a lead.
If someone tried to send me to Newcastle I’d be mightly pissed off – it’s a nasty shithole.
Pedro
The worst outcome for Saliba and Arsenal, is a season where he picks up a few cup games, and stagnates on the bench stalling his overall development, and sending his value plummeting
Either play him and develop him ourselves, or send him out to develop further elsewhere
Pedro
“Rich, exactly, a Newcastle loan would probably be pretty awesome for him”
It would be in Saliba’s best interest to get a Halifax loan.
Jesus there are some on here who’d have Saliba out on loan when he’s got a zimmer frame.
Mr Serge
Any owner that sets up a major club with the following;
-Manager in his first ever job
-Director of football within a year of his first job in European football
-CEO that’s still crawling
…. definitely qualifies to be called “worst owner in world football”
Unlike you, I don’t do that ‘Kroenkes aint that bad” crap any more. They are very very bad.
The buck stops on the table of the Kroenkes.
Midwest, I think you can describe this Dutch team as ‘open”.
I know I mention it a few times but I love watching Wijnaldum play, so composed & positive.
Diss the kronkes are not the best no I would say they are even poor but there are owners in the prem far worse than them that have screwed their clubs up
Like west ham
Newcastle
Man u
To name a few
Dissenter : Glazers are worse
Will be interesting to see how Wijnaldum blends in with Neymar and Mbappe.
For our overseas friends who don’t understand or who aren’t aware of why Newcastle is a shit hole. Please find as follows.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-J9ZpQYW8s
Wow… that was nice. unselfish.
How could the goalie have seen the offside line since it was closer to the half way line?
The problem i see with Ben White coming and Saliba being in the team at the same time is this;
Arteta will NOT under any circumstances play 2 same footed defenders.
Both are very young. So, either we are signing a 50m player to be an understudy to a 20yo which is highly unlikely, or we plan to keep Saliba on the bench as a 27m high ceiling right footed back up which is highly unlikely.
The most likely scenario is that we will sell Saliba and be forced to watch him grow into a defensive monster.
Mid, I think it wil be manor from heaven having him behind them.
I thinks Saliba is gone. Too much drama around this kid already. Sad, its not his fault for the majority of shit that comes his way. I lay that at Mike A.
None of us will ever know how we would have panned out. At this point Mike is just fucking up a young players career.
For this , I say sell the kid. Dont play games Mike.
Danny
Gabriel is only 23 and Mari is 27 – which is hardly over the hill for a player who isn’t dependent on pace.
This is what is worrying people – Arteta will push Saliba out and we will be watching him lift trophy after trophy in future years.
SF
“At this point Mike is just fucking up a young players career.”
Almost.
“At this point Mike is just fucking up young players careers.”
There you go.
something personal with Saliba and Mike A.
It has to be, why on earth would be not take him back… at least have him compete for a place in the team!
But no…. we spunk up 50M for a Ben White….
Typical. The disaster show continues with Arteta
That money could go to BISSOUMA or AARONS
Marc, that video was interesting especially the first part! Mind you, Stoke is a much bigger shit hole. An absolute dump, I never thought anything would ever beat Oldham but Stoke does.
Marc
Holding and Mari will be 2nd choice pairing. Neither are 2 young high ceilinged players and they will be happy to fight it out.
When gab is injured, mari steps in. When white is injured holding will step in.
I imagine if both right footed CB are injured then elneny will go CB such is tets’ adversity to playing 2 defender with the same foot. Especially left.
AFC
The first part makes you want to be 20 years younger and book a flight! The second part makes you want to lock the car doors if you ever have to travel oop north.
Marc, Jackanory, Jackanory…playing to your gallery as per.
Danny
But that’s the point Arteta is looking to out Saliba.
It’s clear as day to anyone not in the cult.
Bob
Tell me where I’m wrong?
Wait.. Marc has a gallery? I need to come round more, I had no idea.
Guns That money could probably nearly buy Bissouma and Aaron’s. I can’t see that white improves us 50m worth. A better RB that can both defend and form a good partnership with our RW would be more beneficial. Chambers lacks pace and Bellerin holds up play and can’t pass. A better CM who doesn’t pass back on the defence and put them under undue pressure and can play a bit bit further up the field will also instantly improve our defenders. Our defence wouldn’t have looked so shaky if it wasn’t for the weaknesses of thise 2 positions. Buying a… Read more »
Marc
Stop your northern discrimination
That video reflects scenes from any pub closing time anywhere in England
Anti-Stoke city defamation league
Bob
“But to know how Arteta responded to his frustrations is not known – to suggest otherwise is just narrative creation.”
Absolutely. Some of the fabricated stuff on here makes Finding Nemo look like a BBC Blue Planet Documentary..
Marc
Yes that’s what I said in my post. I’m not sure what your post after that meant?
Or are you just in full obstinance mode and you are now arguing the same point with people. 😉
Dissenter
That’s definitely Newcastle. Southern birds are a little more dark oak and not so mahogany.
Marc, Not saying your wrong, just repetitive. Now I’m being repetitive, criticising your daily Arteta is sh*t campaign…oh dear.
Dissenter
How many nights have you spent in any pubs / clubs in England?
Bob
It just gets me down – we’re in a bad place because of COVID – no blame to anyone it’s just shit but we’re going to give a guy determined to keep digging a JCB.
It scares the life out of me where Arsenal are going to be in a couple of years if we don’t out Arteta ASAP.
I’ve been in England, Wales, Scotland and the RoI on many a Friday night. Never been to Northern Ireland, have to admit.
Those booze fueled pandemonium are all to similar for me.
You saying drunk young lassies don’t make nasty scenes in North London?
Nothing good seems to come out of Austria.
Dissenter
No I’m more worried our border control is so lax as to let you in!
It’s similar to colleges towns in the US after major football/basket ball games.
To much drink and some people act like jackasses.
*Too much drink
Dreadful team Austria really. Be interesting to see the Dutch against a stronger team
Ok then looks like .. the Dutch are to knockouts round.
England v Scotland tomorrow.. aka the Braveheart Derby…… Y’all excited?
Diss
“Too much drink and some people act like jackasses.”
Are you an alcoholic then?
Dissenter
You walked into that one!
Midwest, the Scots hate the English with a passion so the game is always intense. Should be a good game but I hope Southgate releases the handbrake. I’d like to go for them
Marc
No way I could resist!!!!!!
Yes.. AFC.. should be good atmosphere.. Would like to see England play more expansive.. but not sure it will happen.
AFC
It’s all good fun so long as you have a strong jaw for it.
AFC
I’d laugh my arse off if England spanked the Scot’s tomorrow. Sturgeon would demand a 2nd indie vote just based on that.
Hope he doesn’t play Saka tomorrow
It will be a bruising game,
I wont be suprsied if 1-2 Scotsmen get red cards
Yes Mid, Southgate is quite conservative though. I would throw Grealish in and take the game to them. If we score & the game gets stretched we’ll get a few.
Dissenter
They reckon Tierney will be back – I’d much prefer him to miss out.
Well Spanish referee for England match.. not sure how that factors in but Ill be tuning in hopefully .. lot going on tomorrow,.
Mid
Is he from Catalonia?
I know someone who worked with Sturgeon. She described her as ‘nasty’, apparently she bullied everyone. Amazing how many people don’t know what a democracy is.
Marc-
Think he is from Valencia. wikipedia says he is known for his chatty and “quirky” style of refereeing….
hahahaa Whatever that means.
Alright Brazil plays late here in the Copa might catch some of that.
Belgium, Italy, France, look like the teams to beat. England, Spain & Netherlands I’m on the fence with.
Any other takes so far?
“Alright Brazil plays late here in the Copa might catch some of that.”
Wish we could watch it here.
Saliba has better stats than Gabriel, but yet some are arguing that Gabriel was ready, but Saliba is not. When Real Madrid bought Varane, they did not send him on loan and stated that he was not ready. German clubs such as Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Frankfurt buy U19 French CB and plays them, some even in champion’s league games. Meanwhile here we have people trying to justify Arteta personal vendetta against Saliba using more and more ridiculous argument. Frankly no smart club would spend £30 millions on a 5 years contract for an U19 player and then send him 3… Read more »
Marc
I know its taken you ages but I do think you’ve potentially finally found your voice on here.
More content in that vein please. (Swedish night club….).
Salut the effort.
If a week before the Euro began there was the news that we had bought the captain of PSV Dumfries, that’s the type of transfer Edu and Arteta get paid for. Before the Euro. Now it’s probably out of sight.
sal
Just for you I’ll put in several hundred hours worth of research on those very pretty Swedish girls – purely for the sake of science of course and get back to you.
Marc
I’ve got a swollen knee so thanks to repeated plays of the first half of the video I have found a successful way of keeping the bedsheets off my leg. However, if you could find a longer video with the English bit at the end, I might be okay for the night. Thanks
*without the English bit at the end,
@AFC forever.” Stoke a shithole”.No surprise there.After all ,it’s the land of the Orcs.
WE need a Mexicano in the team again
https://thetopflight.com/2021/06/17/transfer-news-tecatito-corona-good-arsenal/
Its the cult of Arteta…. amazing how it slowly encompasses folks
Can I ask a genuine honest not having a pop at Pedro, Arteta or whatever other fuck wits might throw their hats in the ring and try to produce some faux outrage? https://thetopflight.com/2021/06/17/transfer-news-tecatito-corona-good-arsenal/ With us being linked to so many players and bearing in mind that obviously not all of them would happen but how the fuck is the manager supposed to get so many new players into the team ready to perform from day one when between the Euro’s , American thingy and COVID etc it’s going to be really difficult to get deals done, get players through isolation… Read more »
The instant Ancelotti was announced as Real’s manager the pursuit Odegaard should have been dropped and a massive effort to find a playmaker should have been made to top and urgent task. But, what do you expect otherwise, so come August we will see if the TW was successful or another amateur job. You just have to admire Leicester, buying players for small change and selling them with +100% profit, just look at McGuire and lets see if Arsenal do the same for Maddison. Pathetic.
Marc all these articles are there to help Eduteta
People feel for them, pity them… so its free advice..
Would love to see Tecatito on the team…
cheap too
got tha fighting spirit and look at the footwork
SF
Are you telling me that the outcome of the summer for the Cult is going to be either:
A) They tried
B) It’s the Kroenke’s fault for not giving them enough money
C. None of the above- the team chose the wrong targets and had no money to spend
Marc All these media articles about transfers are conjecture or wishful thinking. We don’t have an unlimited budget and as you rightly point out it is counterproductive to make wholesale changes to our starting X1/squad. Speaking yesterday to a sports journalist he believes that the White transfer is probably true and the most likely to come to fruition. His assessment is that we will land up paying around £45 million for player and one of the consequences will be the departure of Saliba. He suggested that Saliba was not well handled by Arsenal for a variety of reasons and that… Read more »
Pointed comment by Amy Lawrence regarding transfers: “There should be an alarm bell ringing somewhere at the very top of the hierarchy if, every year, the summer window feels particularly vital. Sooner or later, it would be helpful if Arsenal could be stable enough to go into the market with fine-tuning to do rather than half a rebuild. But standards have slipped and they are still in a position where past errors need correcting in addition to obvious holes in the squad that need to be filled cleverly. Are Arsenal able to sell well in addition to buying well? There… Read more »
I’ve been to stoke once and it was awful The only redeeming thing is at the chip shop next to the train station, cod and chips can be had for about £2. When I was told the price I said ‘sorry, no I said I’ll have fish and chips’ and she was like yeah as I said, £2. I almost burst out laughing. Close to triple that price in Bristol in some places. Re arteta, yeah if an offer of 18m is received for saliba or martinelli Mikel would bite their hand off lol. He pretends to be interested in… Read more »
MD-Gunner
I agree with that sentiment.
We should not be recruiting more than two or three players in a summer transfer window.
However, Arsenal are not at that stage at the moment.
Our priorities this summer will probably be:
1] A Centre Back [1st string] to replace Luiz
2] A Right Back [1st string] to replace Bellerin
3] A Defensive Midfield [1st string] to replace Xhaka
4] An Attacking Midfield [1st string] to replace Odegaard
5] A Goalkeeper [2nd string] to replace Ryan if he does not return.
Serious question why do we need to replace Luiz..as our highest priority? Also, .Would we not be replacing … Holding? Also, if you look it up we had a better chance of winning when Luiz wasn’t starting.
Without Luiz… winning percentage. 48.8% Won 20 drew 8.. lost 13 over 41 games
With Luiz… winning rate 46.4.% won 32, Drew 21, lost 16.
. That’s over his whole career here.
If we spend 50m on white he better be the next Virben Van Dias. Otherwise it makes no sense but hey this is the arsenal we rarely do things that make sense.