Charlie Adam’s debut season in England’s top-flight was one to remember. With 12 goals and 8 assists for Blackpool, the playmaker found himself short listed for the PFA Player of the Year with a series of stand-out performances for Ian Holloway’s side, as their attacking approach provided plenty of goals at either end of the pitch.
January saw Adam at the centre of a transfer tug-of-war, with both Liverpool and Spurs vying for his signature, and although Blackpool decided to keep their skipper, the club’s subsequent relegation has seen Kenny Dalglish return with a £7m bid that was just too good to turn down.
Ian Holloway’s 4-3-3 formation was built to get the best out of Adam as a creator, with his range of passing a particular highlight as Blackpool grabbed 55 goals in a valiant attempt to fend off the drop to the Championship. Their tactics ensured Adam saw as much of the ball as possible and this is illustrated by the fact that, of all Premier League midfielders last season, Adam had the fourth most Touches of the ball per game.
The focus of our article is on those top five player for Touches per game, highlighting the differences in each players respective role and showing just what sort of game Adam brought to the Bloomfield Road side:
In Possession
What’s immediately obvious is how integral Steven Gerrard was to Liverpool. Top in the Premier League for Touches per game (93.71) he was the focus of the team’s play, though much of these stats come during Roy Hodgson’s tenure; a groin injury meant the skipper only featured in five of the eighteen games the club have played upon Kenny Dalglish’s return and the arrival of Adam suggests a shift in focus, perhaps placing less onus on their injury-plagued captain.
Adam’s Touches per game (88.24) are incredible for a player in the second-bottom team. While the likes of Song (88.14) is undoubtedly helped by Arsenal’s average of 60% possession per match and Essien’s 92.03 Touches by Chelsea’s 58% average possession, Blackpool managed just 49% per game, an indication of how much time Adam spent on the ball.
With 53.8 Passes per game, Adam is the lowest of the five but this is explained by the deep-lying role that afforded him time and space in possession to pick out a forward pass. His stats here are most similar to Gerrard, another demonstration as to why the pair would perhaps struggle to strike a balance as a midfield pairing; with both more comfortable dictating their team’s play, Dalglish‘s plans for how Liverpool will shape up next season will be intriguing to discover.
Adam has the lowest Passing Accuracy (72%) here and there’s no surprise he has the most Long Balls (7.5) per game; his distribution -while more often than not spectacular- can tend to go astray when trying 40 yard passes time after time. He and Gerrard (80%) are the lowest here, with set-piece duties also playing a part, with free-kick and corners being cleared by the opposition affecting their figures.
Essien and Song, with 87% and 86% Pass Accuracy, normally play easy, risk-free balls, a fact illustrated by the pair managing just 1 Key Pass per game each. Modric’s stats show just why he’s so sought-after right now, the only one of our top five to excel in both Pass Accuracy (87%) and Key Passes per game, with 2.1 equalling Adam.
In spite of Modric’s exceptional stats, however, he picked up a mere 2 assists, an indication of the poor finishing on offer at White Hart Lane last season. Both Song and Essien, more defensive minded, also picked up 2 assists, while Gerrard’s 5 came from just 21 games. Adam grabbed 8 assist, the best of the bunch yet again, with 4 coming from corners or free-kicks.
Going Forward
Adam is second for Successful Dribbles here; with space ahead of him to move into before picking a pass, he managed 1.7 per game and showed a willingness to take on the opposition that was, on average, double that of Gerrard (0.8) every match. Modric again displayed his ability to beat a man and keep possession as he moved into dangerous area in the opposition, with 2.2 Successful Dribbles per game.
Adam’s free-kick duties helped him on his way to 2.3 Shots per game, easily the highest tally of the five. His 12 goals were also the best tally, though only 2 of these came from open play. Song grabbed 4 goals from just 15 shots, the best ratio of shots to goals of the five. Essien’s poor shooting was shown by a return of just 3 goals from 56 shots.
Modric, once again, showed that while his involvement in the build-up of Spurs attacks is vital, he plays little part in the end product- a mere 1.2 Shots per game means he managed 38 shots all season, scoring just 2 times. Gerrard scored twice as many goals despite playing 11 matches less than the Croatian.
Defensively
Song leads the way of our five defensively, with his defensive midfield role alongside Jack Wilshere in the Gunners 4-2-3-1 responsible for 3.3 Tackles and 3.2 Interceptions. Modric’s stats, when compared to Essien, are perhaps surprising- while the Chelsea man is more renowned for his all-action performances, Modric shows that, despite his slight build, he’s clearly comfortable playing central in the physical Premier League- his 1.9 Tackles and 2.5 Clearances eclipse Essien’s 1.5 Tackles and 1.6 Interceptions. This perhaps backs up suggestions that Essien has lost some of his bite in midfield, with the Ghanaian’s displays less powerful and commanding than normal last season.
The defensive output of Gerrard suggests Adam would require a higher work-rate if Liverpool went with the standard 4-4-2; Gerrard’s 2.8 Tackles and 1.8 Interceptions, compared to Adam’s 2.1 Tackles and 1.9 Interceptions, indicates a more energetic midfield performance overall.
What’s interesting here is how much Adam’s role at Blackpool called for defensive cover from his midfield team mates; David Vaughan supplied the graft, making 4 Tackles per game, and at Liverpool, Lucas’ industry saw the Brazilian make a superb 5.2 Tackles per game, suggesting Adam has the perfect foil if Dalglish chooses to employ him in a deep-lying role with Lucas alongside the new boy.
