Player Focus: Valencia's Centre-Backs Providing Foundations for Future Success
Valencia were extremely unfortunate not to get at least a point against Barcelona on Sunday night, but the performance nonetheless again highlighted the excellence of Los Che’s new centre-back pairing Nicolás Otamendi and Shkodran Mustafi.
As usual Barça had lots of the ball [67.2%], but their big name front three of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez were kept scoreless, even if the home side ended the night with nothing to show from their impressive resistance after Sergio Busquets was the unlikely scorer of a 93rd minute winning goal.
That extra late blow should not detract from what was an excellent team display from Nuno’s side, with their standing out. Otamendi was his team’s best performer on the night – rceiving a WhoScored.com 7.94 rating for his part in shackling Barça’s attackers. This involved 8 interceptions, 3 tackles, 5 clearances and 2 blocked shots, without giving away even 1 foul.
The low-point of Otamendi’s evening was his over-reaction to a faintest of nods from Neymar, with the Argentine dropping to the floor claiming he had been head-butted, but that moment aside he had a good night. More typical was the last-gasp block against blaugrana superstar Messi late on, something which was particularly impressive when it later emerged that he had played the final stages of the game with an ankle sprain which will now rule him out of Tuesday’s Copa del Rey game with Rayo Vallecano.
Such ‘warrior’ spirit has meant the former Porto player has quickly won the admiration of the Mestalla crowd, even if he did first have to spend six months at Brazilian club Atletico Mineiro due to complications when the 12 million euro deal was initially put forward in January.
Since finally arriving during the summer, Otamendi has been making up for lost time. He is the only Valencia squad member to have played every single minute, and also has the highest overall rating of the team’s regulars [7.48]. It also seems that the bigger the game, the better he plays. His rating against Barcelona was his highest of the campaign so far, while he was man of the match and scored his only goal so far when champions Atlético Madrid were beaten 3-1 at Mestalla in September [7.88 rating].
A closer look at the 26-year-old’s stats shows he has been probably the best all-round centre-back in Spain so far this term. He averages 6.6 clearances [the best of all players in La Liga], 0.9 blocks [6th in the division], 3.4 interceptions [14th], 3.2 aerial duels won [19th] and 2.8 tackles per game. His on-the ball figures are not quite so impressive, meaning Real Madrid’s more technically able Sergio Ramos of Real Madrid has a higher overall rating, but for the purists Otamendi is the better defender.
Meanwhile Mustafi is a lower-profile character - not as likely to draw attention to himself on the pitch, but an excellent foil for his partner. The former Everton youth player’s €7million arrival from Sampdoria came in under the radar last summer. It should not have really done so, given he had picked up a World Cup winners medal as a squad player with Germany last summer, and was also the best-rated centre-back aged 21 or under in Europe's top five leagues when he spoke with WhoScored.com last April.
The now 22-year-old missed the start of the season through injury, with Rubén Vezo starting the first four games in La Liga. On his recovery, Mustafi went striaght into the team, and has been ever-present ever since. His display against Barcelona was again less TV replay-friendly, with 0 tackles and just 1 interception, but his game-leading 7 clearances was in keeping with his role - as the last man sweeping behind when Otamendi charges out to win the ball.
Overall this season Mustafi puts in 1.7 tackles per game, wins 2.1 aerial duels and makes 2.7 interceptions. His covering duties are again shown by an excellent average of 4.9 clearances per game, while he’s dribbled past just 0.2 times on average over 90 minutes - one of the highest ratings in this metric for any defender in La Liga, and something which is particularly important as he’s often Valencia’s last man. For comparison on this statistic, at Real Madrid, the combative Pepe is beaten 1.1 times per game for Madrid, while the more patient Raphael Varane is dribbled just 0.3 times.
The success of Valencia's new centre-back pairing has not gone unnoticed elsewhere. Even before Sunday's game Catalan paper Mundo Deportivo had put both Otamendi and Mustafi on its potential list of transfer targets should Barça be allowed to sign a replacement for crocked defender Thomas Vermaelen in January. Sunday night’s displays will only have added to their reputation among the Camp Nou transfer decision-makers.
Valencia, under new Singaporean billionaire owner Peter Lim, are unlikely to be looking to sell. Lim, and associate Jorge Mendes, are putting together a formidable team at Mestalla – and Mendes was key to getting both Otamendi and Mustafi to Mestalla. They both now look like key pillars in a new-look Los Che side which could – and should – soon be challenging for honours.
What do you make of Valencia’s new centre-back pairing? Let us know in the comments below
