Player Suggestion Harry Darling

[Aston max]

Moving off the subject on CBs... anybody got any ideas were you can get decent back bacon from

Underwood at Rotherham

 

[Bergen Blade]

Been looking at some stats from WhoScored for CBs and Harry Darling doesn't seem any better than Jack Robinson (who is more successful in the air, at tackling and at passing).

They're both the same height at 5'11. Robbo is slightly below the league average for successful aerial duels with Darling a bit below that (Anel is well below the average and Robbo attempts nearly double what Anel does in the air despite Anel being 6'4). Souttar was the most dominant in the air in the entire league, not surprising as he was a monster at 6'7! And for those obsessed with height, in the top 10 most dominant CBs so far, after Souttar seven are 6'4 or 6'3 and two are 6'1.

Robbo is well above the league average for both tackling and passing accuracy whereas Darling is below average for successful tackles and above average for passing accuracy (Anel is below average for both tackling and passing accuracy, altho the latter may be because of the number of times he carries the ball up field). Souttar had one of the worst records for successful tackles and is actually in the bottom 10 in the league for this stat, possibly suggesting he was getting done for speed, but he did have above average passing accuracy.

By far and away the best Souttar replacement is Charlie Hughes from Hull. He's the most dominant in the air after Souttar (despite being 6'1), has above average tackling and one of the best passing accuracy stats. Unfortunately, he picked up a hamstring injury on Boxing Day and while he is now back on the grass, he's still expected to be out for another 4 weeks, and at 22 years old and under contract til the summer of 2029, would cost an absolute bomb.

I suppose we're not necessarily looking for a Souttar replacement. Neither Leeds nor Burnley (the two teams with a better defensive record than us) have dominant CBs and Rondon and Egan-Riley are actually in the bottom 10 for aerial duels won (Esteve and Struijik are both a tiny bit above average). All of them have very good passing accuracy and while Esteve and Struijik lose more tackles than they win, Rondon and Egan-Riley are two of the most successful tacklers in the league. So each team has one CB that is ok in the air, partnered with one who is crap in the air but excellent tacklers.

Darling's stats show he's not particularly successful in the air nor in the tackle (unlike Robbo who is one of the best tacklers in the league - the 4th best actually for successful tackles), so not really comparable to the Leeds/Burnley defenders. Tanganga is a better tackler than Darling (but not better than Robbo), but has the same aerial dominance (below average and below Robbo), and his passing accuracy is one of the worst in the league.

Assuming there's no chance with Charlie Hughes, even if he weren't injured, and if Kyle Bartley and Danny Batth are too old, then the other dominant-in-the-air CBs, with either good tackling or good passing would be Sean McLoughlin (28yo from Hull), Francisco Sierralta (27yo from Watford) and Luke McNally (25yo from Bristol City)

Obviously this is all based on stats, and they don't tell the whole story, like their team's style of play, ability of team mates, etc, etc, all of which can skew the stats one way or the other. But based on stats alone, I'm not sure there's many options in the Championship so maybe it'd be best advised to look for someone out of favour in the Premier league, maybe an older/more experienced CB who could do a job in our league til the end of the season at least

Darling's about 6'2.

 

[Colombia Blade]

I would take the tackling stats with a pinch of salt. Good centre halves don't need to make as many tackles as their positioning, anticipation and awareness prevents this being necessary.

Van Dijk barely makes any tackles whereas Robinson is constantly having to throw himself into them.

Yes the tackles stats might be like the goalkeeper save stats in that worse teams will have more opportunities.

However, my stats were % of successful tackles, not total tackles. So they show when they are called on to make a tackle, what % do they stop (compared to what % they get dribbled past).

Van Dijk attempts an average of 1.3 tackles per game and is successful 85% of the time. Robbo attempts the same amount of tackles per game as Van Dijk but is successful 92% of the time (all these stats are so far this season and obviously one is in the prem and one the league below - I'm not trying to compare Robbo with Van Dijk!)

Last season in the Prem, Anel attempted 2.8 tackles per game and was successful 75% of the time, Trusty attempted 2.2 with 68% success and Robbo 1.7 with 76% success.

 

[Colombia Blade]

Darling's about 6'2.

Yes I've got the wrong height off Google - show Darling is 6'2 and not as good in the air as 5'11 Robbo!

 

[Colombia Blade]

How do they compare in errors leading to goals?

I've searched high and low and can't find this but these kinds of stats, including errors leading to chances, would obviously be extremely valuable

 

[Bladey_blade]

I've searched high and low and can't find this but these kinds of stats, including errors leading to chances, would obviously be extremely valuable

At the moment if the stats are similar to robbo, at 25 he should still be a signing we look at the right price. Think Swansea style of play is a weird one for stats as they have all of the ball but lose often. Will improve and has decent number of years on Robbo. Think he passes the eye test vs robbo too

 

[Colombia Blade]

At the moment if the stats are similar to robbo, at 25 he should still be a signing we look at the right price. Think Swansea style of play is a weird one for stats as they have all of the ball but lose often. Will improve and has decent number of years on Robbo. Think he passes the eye test vs robbo too

Yea sometimes stats say one thing and your eyes tell you differently. So hopefully if we do sign him he's got room for improvement (or maybe he just doesn't look as good on paper playing in the Swansea team)

 

[Upton_Blade]

Moving off the subject on CBs... anybody got any ideas were you can get decent back bacon from

There's a farm shop at Jump near Hoyland/Wombwell that does the best bacon I've had

 

[3Cheers4Ramirez]

Based on the eye test, I'd say Darling could play in midfield. Not all that different to Basham

 

[cahill]

There's a farm shop at Jump near Hoyland/Wombwell that does the best bacon I've had

Jump ? Where ? Used to be one in Hemingfield.

 

[Upton_Blade]

Jump ? Where ? Used to be one in Hemingfield.

It might be Hemingfield tbh. Not 100% sure where all the parts of that area start and stop.

 

[cahill]

It might be Hemingfield tbh. Not 100% sure where all the parts of that area start and stop.

Think it was Hemingfield. Believe it’s closed now. By the way where is Upton ?

 

[LudlamBlade]

I hereby state, with witnesses, that I'll drop my kecks on Fargate if he signs for us this month

In hindsight, I think this one probably worked out for the best.

For the club, for me, but most of all for Fargate