Monday 21st July saw England Captain Steven Gerrard announce his retirement from international football. Gerrard amassed 114 caps for his country. Despite a a below par World Cup and his own criticisms of his play at international level, I believe he always gave everything and can, in the main, hold his head high.
Frank Lampard, who has been another mainstay in England’s midfield over the last ten years, is set to seal a move to New York City. I would assume, whether he retires from international football or not, that this rules him out of the England reckoning.
So what does this have to do with Villa, I hear you ask? Suddenly, there are two England squad spaces up for grabs in central midfield. Could one of our own now stake a claim to a place in the England squad?
Fabian Delph was undoubtedly our player of the year last year and the dishing out of the awards proved this. It was the season from Delph that Villa fans had been waiting for ever since his big money move from Leeds United in 2009. Unfortunately, as we know, injury plagued Delph for a large proportion of his first few years with us and really set him back. Delph now seems to be free of injury woes and there were murmurs about Hodgson looking at him last season.
Using Squawka, I’ve decided to have a statistical look at whether Fabian Delph deserves a chance. Squawka is a handy statistics website for football fans to use and I have come up with some stats using it.
I’ve picked five English central midfielders, including Fabian Delph, to compare using last seasons statistics. These players are the five who I think would be the main contenders for the England squad in central midfield. I have not included Ross Barkley as I don’t see him as an orthodox central midfield player; I would say he is a ‘number ten’.
I’ve chosen Fabian Delph, Jack Wilshere, Jordan Henderson, Tom Cleverley and Gareth Barry. I don’t particuarly rate Cleverley but I think he will be in Hodgson’s plans having played a lot under him previously. With Gerrard and Lampard retiring and Michael Carrick being injured, I believe that Gareth Barry will, rightly, come into contention again.
The first comparison matrix looks at distribution. Delph actually has the lowest pass completion percentage of the five. Surprisingly, it is Cleverley who has the best ratio. I do not think passing is the main facet of Delph’s game but his percentage is not too shabby.
You can see Henderson is comfortably topping the assist pile but he plays for a top team and obviously has better movement around him. He also plays further forward in a wide area on occasion.
Henderson also tops chances created and key passes. These statistics have been compiled based on totals. Wilshere and Cleverley have played considerably fewer games than the other three but Delph’s record is not bad. Wilshere’s statistics are very good, considering his game time compared to the rest.
Distribution conclusion: Delph doesn’t come out on top but he is not a million miles away from the other contenders.
Shooting wise, Delph more than matches the others, especially in terms of goalscoring. He scored one goal less than Henderson, playing one game less. Henderson was seen as a real success story at Anfield last season – and rightly so. When you think that all Delph’s goals were goal of the season contenders, he is capable of producing spectacular shots. His strikes at Southampton and against Chelsea were match winners to boot. Typically, Tom Cleverley’s only goal of the campaign came at good old Villa Park.
Fabian Delph can definitely improve on his shot accuracy as his is the lowest out of the five. Henderson, yet again, comes out on top.
Shooting conclusion: Something to build on this term but the quality of his strikes gives him extra kudos.
Looking at Delph’s duel stats, I have looked at these as an average per game rather than overall.
Delph is second in terms of successful take ons. I would say his dribbling is one of his best attributes so this is no surprise to me. We all remember how tidy Gareth Barry is on the ball but I’m surprised that he leads the way on take ons. Wilshere is renowned for this trait so I would say it’s a good sign that Delph beats him on this count.
Delph is the top tackler of the five. He definitely calmed down his tackling last season: before 2013-14, he had been known to be a bit reckless. Breaking up play is a decent attribute for any central midfielder to have.
Our number sixteen also leads the way for interceptions and he does seem to have a good reading of the game.
Blocks are topped by Gareth Barry again, with Deph second.
Duel stats: A good set of stats for Delph, really showcasing the strong points in his game.
The different totals are worked out using all the statistics Squawka use – and, believe me, there are lots.
These scores are again based on an average per game. Jordan Henderson comes out on top with attacking play while Fabian Delph falls in third. Going forward, Henderson had a very good season so it is no surprise he tops this category, in which Wilshere is second.
Delph tops the defensive score charts, which does surprise me as I would have picked Barry if I’d had to guess an outcome. Neverthless, I’m really pleased to see Delph come out on top.
The total score sees Delph come in third, as Henderson just tops Gareth Barry. It’s no mean feat for Fabian to beat Wilshere as he is a fantastic player and seen as one of the leading lights of English football. Wilshere has played fewer games but since these totals are an average per game that doesn’t affect this.
Conclusion: Happy reading For Delph and all Delph fans, according to Squawka.
So, after looking at these statistics and using my own opinion from watching him and the others play, I would say that Fabian Delph is at least worth a go for England. Even if Gerrard had still been available, I would say Delph would have deserved a chance in a friendly.
I remember Jonjo Shelvey getting a call up a few years ago off the back of a few starts for Liverpool when Rodgers arrived. Barkley, although he is obviously an exceptional talent, got the call last season after only a few starts for Everton. Barkley went on to prove he deserved the call and I think, after a whole season of consistently high performances in what was a poor Villa side, Fabian Delph deserves his chance.
Delph is dynamic, committed and talented on and off the ball but I fear playing for us could deny him a chance. You’d like to think regardless of the clubs they play for players can get the call for their countries but watching Cleverley, Jones and Smalling regularly getting picked for England despite being bench warmers for Manchester United leads me to believe there is a top club bias.
With one year left on his contract, let’s hope Delph gets the call soon: I would hate to think that a lack of international recognition could cost us him signing a new deal when offered one. We stuck by Delph through some dark times in his career. He seems like a genuinely loyal man and I hope that he thinks he owes us more.
2014 has turned into a dark year for England and Villa fans so far and it would be nice to see Delph improving the fortunes of both teams.
He needs to start playing far better than he did against Mansfield then !