Welcome to The Debrief. In his Sky Sports column, Adam Bate combines data and opinion to examine the key stories from the latest Premier League matches. this week:
The key to Manchester United’s Tsirkuzee comeback Numbers like Andersson and Modric Kamara and Villa’s long-distance records
Zirkzee holds key to Manchester United’s comeback
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Watch for free: Crystal Palace vs Man United highlights
It’s too early to call it a turning point, but Joshua Zirkzee deserves praise for his role in Manchester United’s come-from-behind win away to Crystal Palace on Sunday. Any faith in the much-maligned forward had long evaporated before this performance.
Zirkzee struggled for 45 minutes at Selhurst Park after failing to capitalize on his chances against Everton at home on Monday night. Indeed, the contrast between him and Jean-Philippe Mateta is likely to be one of the obvious reasons for Palace’s success.
Instead, Zirkzee scored a superb equaliser, from a tight angle, with a header that gave United a free-kick, from which Mason Mount scored the winning goal. His contribution drew praise from head coach Ruben Amorim in the end.
Manchester United vs Crystal Palace Joshua Zirkzee touch map
“It wasn’t just the goals, it was the goals conceded. In the first half he struggled with duels. In the second half we won some duels, but in the second half we improved a lot because of Josh’s quality. It was important for him to understand that it’s not just the goals.”
Statistics support that claim. Zirksee won twice as many aerial duels (including the one that led to the second goal) in the last 30 minutes of the match as he had in the first hour. “We played better because Josh played better in the second half,” Amorim said.
His pass completion rate jumped from 57 percent to 77 percent. Boosted by his first Premier League goal in almost a year, Zirksee finished the game with six successful layoffs, the most ever in a Premier League weekend.
Although he did not match his tally in seven games against Everton last season, it is the first time in seven years for context, going back to Romelu Lukaku’s days at Old Trafford. Not since another United forward recorded so many successful layoffs in a single game.
It may seem like a strange little statistic, but Zirksee ranked third in Serie A for such passes in his final season at Bologna. Not only are they features of his game, but United’s presence of players who can bounce passes is fundamental for Amorim’s plans to work.
Zirksee needed to be more physical to make that happen, and he did it, albeit belatedly. It’s been 18 months since the Dutchman signed for the club, and he could hint at this necessary growth when he recalls a conversation he had with his former coach at Anderlecht, Willem Weiss.
“That can sometimes be a problem for players,” Weiss told Sky Sports. “They believe that skill and scoring goals and playing great football are the only things that matter, but professional football demands other things from players.” Against Palace, Zirksee showed those qualities.
Andersson’s Modric-like numbers
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Free to watch: Nottingham Forest vs Brighton highlights
This column usually highlights the performances of three individuals who helped the team achieve positive results, but Elliott Anderson’s efforts deserve a rethink. Nottingham Forest lost 2-0 at home to Brighton, but his stats were noteworthy.
Anderson created six chances and completed six dribbles in the match. No other player in the Premier League has achieved this feat at the weekend. The only player to have achieved both figures in the same game so far this season was Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka in October.
Unlike Saka, Anderson’s 13 ball recoveries were also a Premier League record in a game where a midfielder had 107 touches. This incredible combination of ability to steal the ball, run with the ball and create is almost rare, even at the elite level of the game.
A look at Elliott Anderson’s performance in Nottingham Forest vs. Brighton in numbers
Perhaps a look at the context will make it clear. The last central midfield player to create so many chances in a Premier League game, put up such numbers, make interceptions and show off such breadth of passing was Luka Modric in 2011.
It’s been 14 years since Tottenham’s performance against Blackpool. Another similarity is that the Spurs didn’t win that day either. Still, Anderson’s numbers show why the rising England international is considered a do-it-all player.
Example of Villa shooting incident by Camara
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Premier League highlights of Aston Villa vs Wolves
When it comes to midfielders who can do it all, Aston Villa needed a great strike from retainer Boubacar Kamara to beat bottom club Wolves at Villa Park on Sunday. He scored with a weak left foot from outside the penalty area.
The goal was Villa’s ninth goal from outside the box. Not only is this more than any team in the Premier League this season, it’s more than Villa have scored from inside the box and more than Wolves have scored in total. That’s certainly unsustainable.
Nine of Aston Villa’s goals this season have come from outside the penalty area.
Don’t try to tell Unai Emery that. One journalist tried to crack a joke in a subsequent press conference, playfully suggesting to Emery that the Villa manager might be trying to tell us that Kamara was scoring goals like that every day in training. He kept his face straight as usual.
Emery spoke of how his players “work a lot in every training session and take shots like that” and pointed out that the ability to score from that range is essential given Wolves’ “defense is very poor”. “We are responding tactically as a team,” he explained.
The expected goals data shows that Villa have to find another way. But Kamara showed once again that he’s the guy the team needs. “That’s what it took to beat us today,” Wolves coach Rob Edwards said. “A world-class finish by a genius soccer player.”
