Aston Villa News 24/7I’ve been doing a little research. I worked these same stats a while ago in the Luke Young vs Carlos Cuellar at right back comparison, so you should be familiar. However, this time I didn’t isolate games played in the same position – they’re both versatile midfielders – and I’m not comparing data from the same season.
It seems to me that we’re all optimistic about getting the Stephen Ireland from two years ago. For whatever reason, and they are surely numerous, last season wasn’t that brilliant for Ireland, but it’s fair to say that we saw Milner at his best, he did win the Young Player of the Year award after all.
So, two different seasons, two different teams, there’s plenty of caveats to this comparison. Nevertheless, if Ireland comes to us in the right frame of mind and settles reasonably quickly, perhaps he can recapture his 2008/09 form. If that happens, I think we really do have a very good replacement, it’s just a question of whether Ireland will remain happy and continue developing in the same fashion as I’m sure Milner would have.
| James Milner 09/10 | Stephen Ireland 08/09 | ||||
| 36 | Appearances | 35 | |||
| 36 | Starts | 34 | |||
| 3,172 | Mins | 3,030 | |||
| 93% | Season Involvement | 89% | |||
| 7 | Goals | 9 | |||
| 12 | Assists | 10 | |||
| 6 | Man of the Match | 0 | |||
| Starting Position | |||||
| Left Midfield | 8 | ||||
| 20 | Central Midfield | 18 | |||
| 16 | Right Midfield | 6 | |||
| Forward | 2 | ||||
| Per Game Metrics and Success Rates % * | |||||
| 0.20 | Goals | 0.27 | |||
| 0.34 | Assists | 0.30 | |||
| 1.87 | Shots | 1.81 | |||
| 0.60 | On Target | 0.68 | |||
| 0.65 | Off Target | 0.86 | |||
| 0.62 | Blocked | 0.27 | |||
| 32% | Shooting Accuracy | 38% | |||
| 11% | Goals:Shots Ratio | 15% | |||
| 33% | Goals:Shots On Target Ratio | 39% | |||
| 28.91 | Successful Passes | 26.29 | |||
| 25.17 | Open Play | 25.31 | |||
| 1.45 | Crosses | 0.21 | |||
| 0.60 | Free Kicks | 0.33 | |||
| 0.31 | Corners | 0.21 | |||
| 1.39 | Throw Ins | 0.24 | |||
| 9.16 | Unsuccessful Passes | 6.42 | |||
| 5.62 | Open Play | 4.87 | |||
| 3.09 | Crosses | 0.65 | |||
| 0.17 | Free Kicks | 0.06 | |||
| 0.17 | Corners | 0.80 | |||
| 0.11 | Throw Ins | 0.03 | |||
| 76% | Pass Success Rate % | 80% | |||
| 82% | Open Play | 84% | |||
| 32% | Crosses | 24% | |||
| 78% | Free Kicks | 85% | |||
| 65% | Corners | 21% | |||
| 92% | Throw Ins | 89% | |||
| 1.84 | Interceptions | 2.64 | |||
| 6.10 | Tackles | 6.27 | |||
| 3.21 | Tackles Won | 3.83 | |||
| 2.89 | Tackles Lost | 2.44 | |||
| 53% | Tackle Success % | 61% | |||
| 1.02 | Clearances | 1.78 | |||
| 0.45 | Successful Clearances | 0.89 | |||
| 0.57 | Unsuccessful Clearances | 0.89 | |||
| 44% | Clearance Success % | 50% | |||
| 0.37 | Blocks | 0.24 | |||
| 1.59 | Fouls Won | 0.89 | |||
| 1.48 | Fouls Conceded | 1.57 | |||
* “Per game” statistics are calculated by dividing the total for any given metric by the total number of minutes played in a season and multiplied by 90 minutes.
It’s worth noting that 3 of Milner’s 7 goals came from the spot and if you discount those and the shots that go with them, his Goals:Shots ratio is an even less impressive 6%, meaning he scored with 22% of his shots on target. I have to say, that surprised me, I expect Milner to have scored with a higher proportion of his efforts on goal.
Oh, and when Ireland finally arrives, no one let him take the corners.
Click here for Part II which takes a look at their key statistics over the last 4 years.
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18 Comments to “Tale Of The Tape: James Milner vs Stephen Ireland”
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Great analysis. I think every Villa fan will be looking forward to Ireland’s first start.
I agree. Nice to see their stats side-by-side….not all that different a player if you ask me. Plus we get ~18 m on top??
Any idea what the stats are like for comparing Ireland’s season just gone and those for Milner back in 2008-09? Would be interesting to see how good an ‘off-form’ Ireland is, because I guess it might take a little while for him to settle in.
that’s a good question, but there’s a lot of legwork achieving this level of detail.
maybe i’ll see how deep the easily accessible data really is and add a larger comparison.
These Opta Stat’s are interesting – Milner v Ireland in PL 09-10 – Apps: 36-22, Goals: 7-2, Shots per game: 1.8-0.7, Assists: 12-2, Mins per chance created: 46-69.
yeah, ireland spent just less than half the amount of time milner did on the pitch last season. it’s clear he wasn’t a happy camper.
if *that’s* the ireland we get, it’s easy to see why city are giving us a wedge of cash.
If we’re getting around £18m (is that right?) as well as Ireland, then we can afford Ireland to be the replacement for Milner to begin with – he’ll get us through to the next transfer window (or next summer) at least, even if he’s not as good as hoped. But by then, hopefully we can afford a better replacement.
the figure seems to wobble between £16m and £18m, depending what you read. i’ve read about a £2m add on clause regularly since this deal was agreed in principle a few weeks back, so that could explain it.
it may well be £16m + £2m in add ons which are more then likely going to get triggered meaning it’s popularly reported at £18m. i’m guessing though.
I’m going to stick my neck out on this one: I think he will prove to be a sound replacement for Milner. Like Dunne he needs to be good to prove to everyone that City have made a mistake. That’s the 1st positive thought I’ve had since THAT day.
I will 2nd this view, Kev has a way of building players, just look at the young lads coming through now, I’m confident if he brings this to first team players, and ones out of form such as Ireland, they will find form again and build on it. Come end of season Man City could well be regretting letting him go – as others have stated, he has raw talent!
i believe you may be in the fifth stage of grief, nan: acceptance. you were in stage four for a while there i think.
if he plays to his best, there’s no question he’ll be a great player for us. he’s definitely a mood player though, so i really hope villa park suits him.
It’s been like finding out Santa doesn’t exist: the idea that MON did not have the support of the dressing room. It has utterly changed my view of him as a manager. Bizarre.
Interesting to see some of the City blogs and fan sites – many not happy; some thinking Ireland is a better player, some thinking Milner won’t be able to cope with the “excel immediately or you’re gone” philosophy the club has taken.
they call him “superman” there and he’s been with the club 9 years. their reaction is understandable, it’s not like he’s “doing a barry”. it will be intriguing to see how milner gets out though.
I just can’t see him being selected to run the midfield and we all know his limitations when he is put out wide. If you have flair players in your squad, sitting on the bench, and you’re watching Milner blast the cross against the nearest defender every 5 minutes, then you’re going to get pretty cross.
i’ve added a follow up to this which takes a view of the last four seasons at a less detailed level.
http://astonvillacentral.com/2010/08/tale-of-the-tape-james-milner-vs-stephen-ireland-part-ii-the-bigger-picture/
ITV football have picked a couple of points from Opta –
http://www.itv.com/sport/football/europaleague/news/fivereasonswhyirelandcanbebetterthanmilner/
Nan, Santa may not exist but; you still get pressure at Xmas. Point is, Ireland is a bonus, I mean we could have lost Milner for cash and not seen any of it for transfers. This has to be a silver lining?
Absolutely, and only time will tell how good a deal it really is. Fingers crossed.