![]() ![]() ![]() The path down the right wing appears relatively clear, with only one man to beat… Here he is with the ball at his feet in the final minutes of a game away to Marseille in November. One interesting thing about Gusto at Lyon - perhaps a result of his midfield instincts - is that he more often drives infield from the right flank and looks for passing options, rather than using his speed to overlap the winger in front of him and get into crossing positions near the byline. Overall, the advanced numbers on his Smarterscout pizza chart for this season paint a picture of a young right-back well suited to playing in a high-possession team:Ī comparison with James’ statistical profile from last season (he has missed too much of this one for it to be a reliable sample) indicates Gusto ticks a lot of the same boxes in possession, although he is not yet quite the goal and assist threat that the Englishman has been since his first-team breakthrough four years ago. He has both the raw speed to advance the ball into opposition territory and the skill to go past defenders with a sharp drop of the shoulder or swift change of direction. ![]() Gusto also ranks in the 93rd percentile (just seven per cent are better than him) for progressive carries per 90 minutes and in the 79th percentile for successful take-ons per 90. The below graphic illustrates he is significantly above average relative to other full-backs in Europe’s top five leagues over the past year in most passing metrics: This high technical level makes Gusto an asset to his team in possession. …but finds a way to jink past one of the two opponents in front of him, then stretch to poke the ball away to an unmarked team-mate before the third can dispossess him. He appears trapped in a triangle of pressure on his own side of halfway… Gusto is quite difficult for opponents to press into mistakes, even when they have superior numbers, as Lille discovered during a Ligue 1 match last October. While he is far from the first footballer to make that particular adaptation, it does inform the way he interprets the position.įor starters, the 20-year-old displays the comfort level of a midfielder when on the ball. One thing important to note about Gusto is that he began his football journey as an attacking midfielder, transitioning to full-back only in his early teens. The Athletic dug into footage of the Frenchman at Lyon in an attempt to find out what he will offer. Establishing what exactly Chelsea are getting in a player who turned 20 only last week will be an early priority for incoming head coach Mauricio Pochettino, whose style of play has traditionally required dynamic, attacking full-backs. Cesar Azpilicueta, Trevoh Chalobah and Ruben Loftus-Cheek have all been deployed at right-back or right wing-back with varying degrees of success.Īll face slightly different challenges fulfilling the responsibilities of the role, and none are particularly suited to replicating what James contributes in all aspects of the game. Injuries have limited James’ playing time to just 44.8 per cent of the available minutes in Chelsea’s 48 matches this season across all competitions, and his frequent absences have required square pegs to be crammed into a round hole. Then-head coach Graham Potter and interim successor Frank Lampard could have used him earlier.
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