Tammy’s more accurate than Kane and why Carroll is really hitting right note
LAST weekend was miserable for everyone concerned with Swansea City. While visitors Brighton and Hove Albion have proved on several occasions this season they are no pushovers in the Premier League, those who shuffled their way into the Liberty Stadium ahead of Saturday’s game would have expected more than the toothless and drab performance that their beloved side served up.
Boss Paul Clement has done his best to try and dismiss any suggestion that he or his side are under pressure, but make no mistake, fingers are already starting to hover over the panic button, even at this early stage of the season. And yet, believe it or not, there are positives... TAMMY NEEDS SUPPORT The form of Tammy Abraham has caught the attention of those beyond south Wales, including England boss Gareth Southgate, who decided to call up the Chelsea loanee to the squad for the friendlies with Germany and Brazil at Wembley.
Despite injury keeping him out of both games, much of the talk around the current England team has surrounded Spurs striker Harry Kane, whose reputation is seemingly on a perpetual upward trajectory.
Having recently helped his side to an incredible Champions League win over Real Madrid, Kane is arguably one of the most admired strikers in world football right now, and is certainly the sort of figure Abraham could learn a lot from.
Then again, the stats suggest the two strikers are not as far apart as one would first suspect.
Kane is currently tied with Sergio Aguero at the top of the goalscoring charts with eight goals, double the tally of Swans striker Abraham.
However, Abraham has required fewer shots to score his four goals this season, having just 15 shots compared to Kane’s total of 40.
When it comes to shot accuracy, the pair are very close, with Abraham’s percentage of 53 just two behind the Spurs hit-man.
One cannot help but wonder what would happen if Abraham had an equal number of total shots, and one could actually make the argument that he would be capable of matching Kane’s goalscoring prowess. CRITICISM OF CARROLL IS HARSH Perhaps Abraham needs to take more of a gamble in the final third, but it’s pretty clear that the Swans are simply not creating enough chances.
Tom Carroll has created the highest number of opportunities of any Swans player so far this season, but his tally of 14 would still see him sit outside the top three of Tottenham’s most creative players.
Christian Eriksen (24), Ben Davies and Dele Alli (both 19) are pulling together to create a wealth of chances that the likes of Kane can thrive on. Compare that to Swansea’s top-three most creative players, who have created just 26 chances between them.
That is where the gulf in class between the two teams really lies and the lack of excitement in the final third is understandably the biggest source of frustration for Swansea fans.
However, laying into the likes of Carroll appears immensely harsh given he is arguably Swansea’s most creative player at the moment.
Not only is his tally of chances created double that of second-placed Kyle Naughton, but he has also produced more crosses (57) than any other Swansea player.
He is also second only to Naughton as the club’s best passer of the ball, having completed 517 to the latter’s 544.
There is perhaps some justification in stating that Carroll’s position as Swansea’s most-creative player is indicative of the side’s limited ability, but to constantly single him out for criticism is ridiculous when so many around him are failing to pull up any trees. IS THIS WHY FERNANDEZ IS GETTING SO MUCH STICK? Another player who has felt the wrath of the fans recently is Federico Fernandez. The Argentine has come in for criticism from a number of onlookers, including club legend Leighton James.
But the stats once again suggest that Fernandez is actually one of the better performers for Swansea, whose defensive record of 13 goals conceded is bettered by only two sides in the bottom-half of the league, and is