Dwight McNeil was the hero as Everton came from behind to beat Crystal Palace and claim their first Premier League win of the season. He scored both goals in the second half, but the performance only underlined his great form in his new role.
McNeil has previously been primarily restricted to playing on the left flank, but now plays as a number 10. “Can my staff and I talk about it and bring him in?” [Ndiaye] He did a good enough job in a wide area that we were able to move Dwight around more freely,” Sean Dyche said.
The Everton manager added: “As long as we can theoretically win the ball, we need to improve our opening quality a little bit more, finding the pass, finding the finishing, finding the delivery and, in theory, being in the center of the pitch.” I thought there was,” he added. The inside brings him more life than the outside. ”
Dwight McNeil’s impact on Everton shown in shot maps and heat maps
McNeil has already matched his goal tally from last season, and even surpassed it if you include his goal in the Carabao Cup, but as Dyche suggests, just as impressive has been his performance in this new position. It was creativity. In fact, he has the best record of anyone.
Expected assists are probably the fairest measure given that it measures the quality of chances created and is independent of who is creating the chances. McNeil leads the way ahead of James Maddison, Bukayo Saka, Kevin De Bruyne and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Dwy McNeil has created more quality chances than any other player in the Premier League.
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Highlights of the Premier League match between Everton and Crystal Palace.
His creative methods are also changing. Once seen as just a crosser of the ball, he has played more through balls than anyone else in the Premier League season, just ahead of fellow playmakers Maddison and Cole Palmer in that metric.
His set-piece delivery has long been an asset for Everton. Supporters are now more aware of what he can do when he is in good territory. Dyche believes there is more to come. “The more he plays there, the more he’ll mature into the role.” A transformed player.
The key to Kulusevski’s creativity
Going into this weekend, Tottenham’s Son Heung-min had created more chances from open play than any other player in the Premier League this season. Given their impressive performance against Manchester United, a heavy defeat at Old Trafford was expected.
He would certainly have liked to have scored one of the two one-on-one chances that substitute Timo Werner got, but that doesn’t matter as Dejan Kulusevski created more. There wasn’t. The Swede was sensational as Spurs defeated United 3-0.
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Watch for free: Tottenham’s Premier League match vs. Manchester United highlights
His nine chances in this contest were the most by a visiting player in a game at Old Trafford since the Premier League began collecting such records over 20 years ago. Eight of those games came from open play, meaning Kulusevski, not Son, is currently at the top of that list.
To get a sense of how rare that particular statistic is, peruse the complete list of opportunities where a player has created this many chances over the past decade. It has only happened 12 times. He is the first Spurs player to create so many chances in over eight years.
His ball-running was the hallmark of the game and it was a privilege to watch him run through the wide spaces of that big pitch. His success in the inside role justified Ange Postecoglou’s positive team selection and led United away.
Dejan Kulusevski’s heat map this season shows him in a different role
When asked about the chemistry between Kulusevski and James Madison at a press conference, Coach Postecoglou said, “Our play matched their characteristics. Maders did a lot of damage with the ball, and Deki had good running and balance. He brought a lot to the table.”
Kulusevski was considered a right-winger during his long spell at Tottenham, but Brennan Johnson’s form in that position could be a turning point in both their careers at the club. Inside, the entire repertoire is currently displayed.
Grafenberch’s brilliant ball handling
The same could be said for Ryan Gravenbirch. He was a bit underwhelming in his first season at Liverpool but is now thriving under Arne Slott. He was again player of the match as his team moved to the top of the table with a 2-1 win at Molineux.
When I saw Grabenwerch up close at Molineux, his running ability was outstanding. His ability to get the ball past opponents even from deep areas of the pitch makes a huge difference and is a rarity among central midfielders. Second spectrum data reveals just how rare it is.
When carrying the ball at his feet, Graben-Birch has bypassed a total of 39 opponents in his runs so far this season. This is not as much as Manchester City’s Mateo Kovacic, but 14 times more than any other central midfield player.
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Ibrahima Konate not happy with Ryan Gravenbirch being named Wolves’ player of the match
“If you want a possession-based style of play, if you want to hold onto the ball and hold on to it for as long as possible, it always helps to have a player in the holding midfielder position who is very comfortable with the ball.” ” said Arne Slott. sky sports.
The Liverpool manager is not the first to stress that there is more to Grabenwerch’s game than this. “He does a really good job even when he doesn’t have the ball. To be honest, I was a little surprised by that because I know him from the Dutch league.”
Liverpool’s Ryan Gravenbirch leads the way in interceptions this season
It’s that rare combination of carrying the ball from deep, making 62 passes with a 92 per cent success rate and making the most tackles of any Liverpool player against Wolves that has people excited. That is best illustrated by his interceptions.
He has taken a total of 42 shots this season, including the goal in the win against Manchester United. No other central midfielder in the Premier League has played as many as 30 games. This is an important difference, and one that is a major factor in Salt’s Liverpool being at the top of the table.
