By James Dailey As I have made clear in prior pieces, I believe Celtic could field one of the best midfields among the remaining Europa League teams. However, this piece will focus upon what “is” rather than what could be. I will compare our likely central midfield three versus a comparable sample from the other … [continue reading]
Ntcham
Deeply Creative
Yesterday I showed how McGregor remains deeply creative despite having an extraordinarily high pass completion rate (94%) and that this did not indicate overly risk averse passing. Today I will complete the picture across the squad as regards deep creative abilities. You should expect some clustering around position which makes the outliers all the more … [continue reading]
McGregor Passes the Test
Whilst no stat is completely meaningless given the right context, it is certainly true to say that passing statistics on there own can reveal little. For example, if I tell you the player with the best Open Play Pass Completion is Simunovic who completes 94% of non-set play passes, you might wonder why this is … [continue reading]
Ntcham Bias
By James Dailey (@jucojames) I am guessing at the outset that this piece may trigger the most cognitive dissonance amongst readers and want to state upfront that I am not casting any aspersions on other supporters. I have noticed that players with more laidback demeanors, such as Edouard and Forrest, seem to get more criticism … [continue reading]
Midfield Red Flags
The mid term reports focus now on the midfield and wingers. I covered Brown in Brown: A Never Ending Story as he has a unique role in the side. Let’s now consider the rest of the midfield. PS I will include Brown in this for completeness. Celtic’s midfield and wide attack has largely been about … [continue reading]
Christie The Creative Spark
Celtic are creating slightly more chances than last season. I take an early season look at Expected and Actual Assists. Assists / Expected Assists Christie and Forrest lead the way with 6 assists each. Edouard and Johnston have 5 and Ntcham 4 This suggests that Lennon’s Celtic are an equal creative threat from all of … [continue reading]
Why Ntcham STILL Matters
There are rumours of clubs potentially bidding for Ntcham. He missed 19 games to injury and that hampered progress January to March. Prior to this I detailed his worth in Why Ntcham Matters. Now the season is over, how did his performance compare to last season, and compared to the squad? Comparison to Last Season … [continue reading]
Why Ntcham Matters
An article for the undervalued. But mainly Ntcham. Assists, chances and expected goals have all seeped into the mainstream on occasions and regular visitors to this site will be very familiar with those terms. Here we look further back in the moves to see who is creating the environment from which chances can follow. Secondary … [continue reading]
The Enablers
Goals, assists and Defensive Action Success Rate allows identification of key performance at the sharp ends of the pitch. Assessing the performance of those who predominantly play in the middle is not as straightforward. But Secondary Assists and Packing concepts may help here. Packing I introduced the measurement of Packing last season. Please read this … [continue reading]
Why Ntcham Was Bhoy of the Match vs Livingston
The sponsors and overwhelming fan’s Man of the Match against Livingston was Rogic. Here at Celtic By Numbers, we disagree, but this is not to denigrate an eye-catching performance from the Wizard of Oz. Ntcham was simply remarkable. Rogic had several moments of magic to lift the crowd. He completed 3 dribbles and was fouled … [continue reading]