Celtic statsman Juco James has clarified the ‘key passes’ stats that Football Wonderkids released yesterday, putting David Turnbull at the top of their list, ahead of the likes of Mason Mount of Jadon Sancho. The Huddle Breakdown podcast panelist has moved to clarify wh
The midfielder has played 29 games, scoring eight goals and notching up six assists but Football Wonderkids on Twitter, the account which monitors up-and-coming stars in the game, has detailed 76 key passes this season.
Most Key Passes, U23s in Europe:
🏴 David Turnbull – 76 key passes
🏴 Mount – 62
🇭🇷 N. Vlasić – 53
🏴 Sancho – 52
🇫🇷 R. Faivre – 52
🇵🇹 Pedro Neto – 50
🇳🇱 J. Veerman – 46
🇭🇺 Szoboszlai – 46
🇮🇹 F. Dimarco – 44
🇧🇪 J. Bataille – 44
🇫🇷 Nkunku – 43
🇳🇱 Stengs – 43
🏴 Lookman – 41— Football Wonderkids (@fbwonderkids) February 22, 2021
However, James has taken to Twitter to address the stats and emphasise that we shouldn’t draw to heavily upon these stats as it may result in us as supporters placing unrealistic expectations upon the 21-year-old.
Encouraging to see more of this type of article. However, it also highlights why "stats" and the analytics domain are distinct. About half Turnbull's Key Passes are from taking corners and his rate from open play has been good but not anything special- certainly not Messi level. https://t.co/xqgotNmdW6
— jucojames (@jucojames) February 23, 2021
I really like Turnbull- but this sort of flawed context can set unrealistic expectations on a young, & still developing, player. Turnbull's open play Key Pass output has been very similar to Christie's this season, who I don't think most supporters would compare to Messi.
— jucojames (@jucojames) February 23, 2021
Juco James and guys like The Cynic have been increasing the attention to stats relating to Celtic in recent years and their outputs are fascinating. Other accounts which deliver interesting tactical and statistical output such as BhoysAnalytics have started recently and it can only be a good thing having information like this in the public domain for supporters to see the science behind the game as Celtic modernise.
Jack Lyons, formerly a scout at Celtic, started a tactical blog and was signed by Brendan Rodgers and brought with him to Leicester.
