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 assists may sound like a stat too far (!) but gives value to the player who passes to the player who sets up the chance (the assister).
Passing Impect is the total score assigned to all the players bypassed by passing (3 points for taking out a defender, 2 a midfielder and 1 a forward). More information here Concerning Packing.
Brining the two together highlights the players most adept at providing the time and space for a chance creating pass. It provides a deeper insight into what we broadly call “creativity”.
This is the area of the game where Ntcham excels. He attempts 78 passes per game which is more than all but the centre backs and Brown. Indicative therefore, of playing deeper. Since Armstrong left no one else comes close to Ntcham for bypassing the opponents with passes. His average Passing Impect score is 13 more than the next highest. And although not leading on Secondary Assists, he has the 3rd highest with 1.64.
This view allows us to see what are often some of the undervalued players perhaps in a more holistic light. The 2nd highest Impect score is from Lustig. Not only is he aerially strong and an experienced defender (if perhaps slowing), his long passing from the back provides an alternative option for Celtic attacks. And he gets success with this approach.
Another player who receives criticism regularly is Sinclair but he leads the squad in Secondary Assists with 1.84 per 90m. He is operating further forward that Ntcham and his passing options are usually highly pressurised.
Note also that although Morgan may appear to be having a slow start to his Celtic career, he has quickly established himself as a creative talent with 1.84 Secondary Assists per 90m. As an aside, Morgan has also taken over from Ntcham as the player with the most shots from outside the box per 90m (2.55). Not necessarily one to be proud of but indicative of someone prepared to take chances.
A further point of interest from this chart is that whilst players are grouped by position. Within the striker cadre at the bottom Edouard is shown as the most creative highlighting again the need for a penalty box operator to replace Dembele.
Overall I hope this provides evidence of some of the less obvious work undertaken by key squad members.