With the capture of David Vaughan on a free transfer from Blackpool, Steve Bruce has now picked up three midfielders from last season’s relegated sides for Sunderland. Following the deals that brought Seb Larsson and Craig Gardner to the Stadium of Light earlier this month, the Black Cats boss is looking to add more steel to a side that fell off the pace in the latter part of last season, with an alarming run of eight defeats and one draw in nine matches between February and April highlighting Sunderland’s vulnerable side.
While the arrival of John O’Shea and Wes Brown from Manchester United will add more experience at the back, Bruce will be hoping that Vaughan, Larsson and Gardner will add more bite in the centre of the park as Sunderland look to build on last season’s tenth place finish. A look at the stats certainly suggest that, with the three new boys on board, Sunderland’s midfield may well be better prepared for the battle next season.
David Vaughan
With 4 Tackles per game, Vaughan was easily the most combative Blackpool player Partly down to his role of midfield “protector” to Charlie Adam as Ian Holloway looked to build his side around the Scotsman, Vaughan excelled in his first Premier League season, with Alex Baptiste next best on 2.4, an indication of the gulf between Vaughan and the rest.
For Sunderland, Lee Cattermole, on 3.9 Tackles per match, is virtually identical to Vaughan but what’s significantly different here is the Foul count- Cattermole averaged 1.9 Fouls per game, almost double Vaughan’s average of 1. Due to a back injury, Cattermole played in just 23 games last season and made a total of 44 Fouls, compared to Vaughan’s 35 Fouls over 35 games.
Cattermole, renowned for his somewhat rash challenges, picked up 8 yellow cards and 2 reds from a total of 90 tackles during the season, while Vaughan’s timing in the challenge saw him make 140 tackles and pick up just 6 yellow cards in comparison. Clearly, Vaughan will offer Sunderland just as much battle in midfield as Cattermole, but will bring more discipline to the role, with less chance of picking up cautions or leaving his team reduced to 10 men as a result of a reckless challenge.
Vaughan not only has the highest tackles per game, he fares the best for Pass Accuracy, too; with 87%, the next best Sunderland player is Steed Malbranque, back on 81%. Vaughan’s 2 goals and 2 assists shows he offers more going forward than Cattermole, too, with the latter failing to score or assist all season.
Craig Gardner
Gardner’s first full season in a Birmingham shirt saw him make 3.1 Tackles per game, the best of their first team players, with Scott Dann next on 2.7. A fair indication of Gardner’s graft in midfield is highlighted by comparing him with other Premier League stars- Alex Song and Cheik Tiote made 3.3 for Arsenal and Newcastle respectively and Nigel de Jong made 3 for Man City.
Gardner’s foul count is of a similar ratio to Cattermole, however, with 1.8 Fouls per game. He made a total of 90 last season, picking up 6 yellow cards and 2 reds over 29 appearances and his Interceptions (1.5) per game are only bettered here by Cattermole (3) and Vaughan (2).
He won’t just offer graft in the midfield, however, with plenty goal threat a key component of his game. The Sunderland midfield were particularly goal shy last season, with our featured five finding the net just 7 times between them in a combined 134 appearances. In comparison, Gardner scored 8 goals in 29 games.
Gardner’s 1.8 Shots per game was the same as Florent Malouda, better than Steven Gerrard (1.6) and just behind Cesc Fabregas (2), an indication of what he’ll bring to the club.
Seb Larsson
The Swede was third best when it came to Tackles for Birmingham, with 1.9 per game. What’s impressive is this ratio came from his role wide right and, aside from Scott Dann, was superior to every Blues defender. Larsson’s stats here are similar to other Premier League players such as John Obi Mikel (1.9) and Jack Wilshere (1.7), and more in line with most central midfielders rather than wingers.
Compared to Sunderland’s wide players, his defensive work is solid. Only Malbranque’s stats are better (2.2 Tackles and 1.5 Interceptions) though a third of his appearances came through the middle. Richardson’s defensive output was of a similar vein to Larsson (1.9 Tackles, 0.9 Interceptions) but his rashness in the tackle is shown by an average of 1.6 Fouls to Larsson’s 1.
In addition to his work rate, Larsson will bring creativity. His 1.8 Key Passes per game, helped by his set-piece delivery and crossing out wide, is head and shoulders above any of the midfielders here, with Elmohamady and Sessegnon best for the Black Cats on 1.2. Larsson’s eye for a killer ball is highlighted by his 6 Assists in 35 games for Birmingham, compared to the other seven’s (Vaughan and Gardner included) combined tally of 13 Assists in 198 appearances between them for Sunderland, Blackpool and Birmingham respectively.
