Joleon Lescott

[nomorethaksintimes]

What I like about Lescott is that he plays within his limits and doesn't try passes he can't make. Even if he looks not particularly composed on the ball compared to the rest of our techincal wizards, it's to his credit that he now rarely punts it long - and when he does it's usually the right option.

I think it speaks volumes that Mancini berates Hart if he kicks it long and tells Joleon to come short to receive it. That must mean he has faith in him to play the simple passes consistently well - the OP's stats bear that out. I think until something goes wrong he's earnt his start in our next big CL match.

 

[Skashion]

Without Joleon's useless forward punts Yaya might never have put the ball in the Munich's net.

 

[binitd]

sorry for him not included in english squad.he should have been.deserves so much

 

[leewill31]

still scratching my head at him being dropped for bayern and for England one of the top performing central defenders in the league at this moment!

 

[Nixon_The_Bike_Thief]

 

[moomba]

If you'd ask me I would have said that Lescott is a flaky passer, overly reliant on short passes, usually backwards and sideways to easy options.

And when there are no easy options I would have had him as the prime candidate on our team for the hoof upfield, usually straight to an opponent.

Stats tell a bit of a different story.

So far this season he has a passing success rate of 88.8% which is up there with the best. Nearly three quarters of his pass attempts are in the mid range (I'm trying to find out what they classify as a short pass, but above that), and he's only attempted 7 long passes all season so far. Over two thirds of his pass attempts are forward passes.

Still not convinced that he is a long term option for us, but found the stats a bit of a surprise to be honest.

 

[sbm]

If you'd ask me I would have said that Lescott is a flaky passer, overly reliant on short passes, usually backwards and sideways to easy options.

And when there are no easy options I would have had him as the prime candidate on our team for the hoof upfield, usually straight to an opponent.

Stats tell a bit of a different story.

So far this season he has a passing success rate of 88.8% which is up there with the best. Nearly three quarters of his pass attempts are in the mid range (I'm trying to find out what they classify as a short pass, but above that), and he's only attempted 7 long passes all season so far. Over two thirds of his pass attempts are forward passes.

Still not convinced that he is a long term option for us, but found the stats a bit of a surprise to be honest.

It is really refreshing to see someone prepared to think again when confronted by the evidence! What are your data sources?


Long ball issue
When there are discussions about someone's ability to play long balls, I think that too little attention is paid to whether forwards have moved into positions which make long passes viable. My impression is that Edin, Kun and Mario are running into the spaces that do make long passes more appropriate. I would be very interested to know whether there is any evidence about the numbers of long passes per game this season compared to last season (passes by any / all City player).

 

[ell]

His passing was dreadfull when he first arrived typical Everton style passing from the back. But very much improved and no more "hoofs"

 

[moomba]

Stats are from the 442 Statszone Iphone app. Lots of data in there from Otpa.

As for long balls, comparing the first seven matches of this season to the last seven of last season we're slightly down on the number of long balls (158 this season to 170 last season).

Without having looked at the stats I'd say we have had more possession of the ball this season as well so as a percentage I'd say it would be a bigger decrease in long balls being played.

 

[Abbeygoo]

I was at Blackburn and am surprised nobody has mentioned on here the number of aerial challenges Joleon won that day - which is a big factor in his improvement since Kolo got banned.

Blackburn launched every free kick they had from Robinson's boot towards the edge of our box and a few things impressed me about Lescott ...... the way he could hold off N'Zonzi's attempts to baulk him before he headed clear, the way we held our defensive line so we didn't get dragged too deep and finally, the way he allowed the ball (more than once) to go over his head to Joe Hart - that last bit might sound a bit strange but it showed great positional awareness and organisation that Blackburn couldn't get past. He was the same from Pedersen's long throws.

He has improved hugely, without any doubt, since Kolo got banned and forged a tremendous partnership with Kompany - the benefits of which we reaped big time at the end of last season as with so many 1-0 wins, they were part of the reason why we won the FA Cup and qualified for the Champions League.

Long, raking, 50 yard balls might not be in his kit bag but he does what he is there to do ..... then gives a simple pass to Milner or Yaya who take over .... for me, Lescott is our most improved player over the last year.