What Omar Alderete will bring to Sunderland - #onthewhistle - video Dailymotion

Sunderland Echo

Phil Smith discusses Sunderland's move for Getafe defender Omar Alderete

Transcript

00:00We're talking about a fairly, I would say, old-school aggressive defender.

00:03Now, the one caveat I would put to all of these stats that I'm going to throw at you

00:07and all this discussion that we're going to have is that Catafé are one of the least possession-based teams in La Liga

00:14and have been for a period of time.

00:15They're really happy to defend deep, sit in a low block, not bothered particularly about possession whatsoever.

00:21Therefore, you would expect their defenders to have quite strong defenders' numbers,

00:25defensive numbers, and maybe not great numbers compared with the centre-halves

00:28at things like build-up, play, pass, and all that kind of stuff.

00:32Alderete's stats very much bear that out, but I think it's still fair to say from watching him in action

00:37that we're talking about a defender who loves to defend his own box, really aggressive,

00:41likes to battle with the opposition, number nine.

00:44Yeah, as I say, I would say a pretty traditional old-school defender.

00:48Very much favours the left side, he's left-footed.

00:51So if we're thinking about how the squad looks right now, very much someone who I think would play alongside,

00:55Dan Ballard, maybe competing with Luto 9, and Luto 9's fit, that's definitely the position he likes to take up.

01:01And the fact that, as I say, a really strong defender, backed up by a large number of the statistics, really.

01:06So according to FBRF, the stats website that we've been using a lot this summer,

01:11he was in the top 4% for centre defenders across Europe's big five divisions for clearances last season.

01:18He was in the top 13% for aerial duels one, this is per 90 minutes.

01:23And he was also in the top 33% for interceptions, so those sort of base defensive numbers are really, really strong.

01:29When we look at Wisecout as well, it completely underlines this picture.

01:33He was the fifth-best centre-half in La Liga on their index for recoveries last season,

01:38so basically an action that wins his team the ball back from the opposition.

01:42So whether that's defending a long ball forward, a tackle, an interception, a clearance, a block, anything like that.

01:49Fifth in La Liga for centre-halves for that.

01:52And second, for camp pressing recoveries as well.

01:54So I think that tells you that his defensive game is really, really, really strong.

01:58What's also interesting is, for all that his passing numbers aren't particularly impressive,

02:04if we look at last season, I think there is probably a really important bit of mitigation for that.

02:10I mentioned about Getafe's style before, and if we look, he was actually in the top 4%,

02:15according to FB ref, for Europe's big five divisions last year, for long passes attempted.

02:21And he also ranked really, really highly in terms of defenders for passes into the opposition box.

02:25He was in the top 13% for that.

02:27What does that tell you?

02:28He's been encouraged to play really simple in possession and to go long quite often,

02:32which would explain why his passing numbers might not compare to somebody particularly well.

02:36For example, he plays for Barcelona, obviously, in a completely different style.

02:40So maybe not the strongest part of his game, but not something we should get too concerned about as well.

02:45And what's actually really interesting is when you dig beneath the surface a little bit further,

02:50it's absolutely not the case that he doesn't offer anything in possession.

02:53It's just slightly different style to maybe kind of slow build-up play.

02:56He actually ranks pretty well for a few interesting statistics when it comes to ranked against the defenders.

03:02So going back to FB ref, he was actually in the top 9% for successful take-ons last season.

03:08And if we look at Wisecout as well, he was 16th for dribbles in terms of our league of centre-halves,

03:1311th for progressive passes, and 10th for deep completions.

03:17So it's actually not the case that he doesn't contribute in possession.

03:19In fact, he's actually quite aggressive in stepping out of the ball and driving forward.

03:23So he definitely brings something in that sense.

03:26Maybe just a bit more of a traditional defender all-round.

03:29One of the things that I also found really interesting was FB refs lighted up the fact that

03:34he's in the top 1% of central defenders for shots per 90 across the Europe's big five leagues last season.

03:41He was in the top 5% for shots on target.

03:43Now that immediately caught my eye and thought,

03:46Oh, are we talking about a guy who's a massive threat from set pieces,

03:48is regularly making first contact on free kicks and corners.

03:52That is definitely true.

03:54Good in the air.

03:55The threat from set pieces will add something in both boxes from a Sunderland perspective on that front.

04:00However, what I also found watching his clips on Wisecout was this guy loves a long shot.

04:04I've seen him try a lob the goalkeeper from his own half.

04:07I've seen him take lots and lots of shots from about 30, 35 yards.

04:10Mixed results, but some of them I have to say almost caught the goalkeeper out.

04:14So he has got a very powerful left foot on him.

04:17My feeling is that we might have quite a lot of fun with this guy this season.

04:22Sunderland are going to be defending that box a lot,

04:24whether by choice or whether by design.

04:25We know that it's going to be a really tough season.

04:27The idea of Hulme, Ballard, Alderete and Real Mildo defending that box.

04:32We might have a lot of fun watching these guys.

What Omar Alderete will bring to Sunderland - #onthewhistle

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