With the arrival of Moritz Jenz, the future of Stephen Welsh may have seemed a little uncertain. Rumours of reasonable money bids from European sides also added to the uncertainty.
An injury to Carl Starfelt and a solid preseason run next to Cameron Carter-Vickers has seen the young Scot take a starting position in the league opener against Aberdeen.
Welsh did not waste the opportunity.
Not only did he open the teams’ account for the season with a 3rd minute header, he contributed as the main ball distributor throughout the match.
His 106 completed passes were 30 more than the next highest. But, crucially, 24 of them were Pack Passes that were forward and took opponents out the game.
He defended solidly too after losing the initial header to Bojan Miovski. After that, he was largely faultless bar one turnover that put Aberdeen in a promising breakaway situation.
Welsh was the primary carrier of the ball out from the back. He completed 6 progressive runs (running forward with the ball (the anti-Jack Grealish) for at least 10 yards in the opposition half). Admittedly, this was mainly not at great pace. He wasn’t galloping forward with the wide legged voracity of a Kristopher Ajer. But this is probably a new development for him.
The non-data assessment I took was he looked confident. The manager has placed trust in him as the season starter ahead of Jenz and Chris Jullien. He seemed to exude belief in taking the extra responsibility I have outlined above.
Early days of course. But I will suggest now that if he continues with this form Starfelt will have to await his chance to get back into the team.
Who’d have thought that at the end of last season?
Ryan M says
The eye test was that he was given the ball most by Hart (this makes you wonder if Hart prefers passing to the LCB or just trusts Starfelt and Welsh more than CCV – or if CCVs body language and positioning makes him less available).
The more you receive the ball the more passes you are going to make.
He was quite solid on the ball although slow to release it.
Again by eye his most successful passes were into space down the left wing for the fullback or winger to run on to. There didn’t seem like there was much variety in forward passes.
You wonder if this would cause us to be easier to defend against with a higher quality opposition.
celticbynumbers@btinternet.com says
thanks Ryan
Welsh’s pack passes were to:
Abada 1
Hatate 4
Jota 1
Maeda 1
McGregor 4
Taylor 12
Turnbull 1
So i agree with what you say BUT it is still of high utility to pass that first press line accurately
And your point about scaling this vs better opponents is always the big question
Lubo's Boots says
“The anti Jack Grealish” – heh heh nice one.
Good to see the data reflect a composed performance. And great to see a young defender coming through and getting game time. Potentially bodes well for the national team down the line, but for us its crucial that we have quality to replace injuries, and for young players to see a future for themselves at the club.
Thanks for the report, the passing stats were really interesting to see. Hope big Ange views this page…
celticbynumbers@btinternet.com says
thank you