JJ Bull has been speaking on the latest edition of The Athletic’s Tifo Podcast about Allan Saint-Maximin and other topics from the world of football.
Since the Frenchman has returned from injury, he has turned in some impressive performances that have earned him strong WhoScored ratings.
However, according to Bull, the 24-year-old’s game has slightly changed since he has returned from injury.
The journalist claims that Saint-Maximin appears to be dribbling less and passing more, and he thinks that the coaching staff have been working with him.
He said: (22:01) “He has started doing more [passing] since he’s come back from injury.
“His passes per 90 are slightly up, his touches are slightly up, but also he’s making slightly fewer dribbles, slightly fewer crosses, slightly fewer shots, but his chance creation has gone up as a result. So he’s doing more for the team rather than only just running and trying to get on a highlights reel.
(24:55) “He’s definitely had some coaching at Newcastle, and he’s making more far more passes in a game.
“Against Arsenal, for example, he made 24 passes, which compared to Matt Ritchie at 29 is quite a lot. There are games before, I don’t have the numbers up in front of me, but in past games, he would have the fewest passes of like any Newcastle player on the pitch, but he’d also have about 29,000 dribbles.”
Do you think that Saint-Maximin has changed his game?
Yes, he seems to be more effective
No, he seems the same
Newcastle signed the Frenchman back in August 2019 from Ligue 1 side OGC Nice for a fee of £16.2 million.
TIF Thoughts on Saint-Maximin…
These are some interesting observations from Bull, and Saint-Maximin has been playing well in his last four games.
These displays have included two Man of the Match performances, and he even earned a high WhoScored rating from the Arsenal match.
So he has certainly helped his team in recent weeks, and it is interesting to hear that he has been dribbling less and shooting less, but that has made him more effective for the team.
We think that if these tweaks in Saint-Maximin’s game have contributed to his recent performances, then we hope that the Toon’s staff continue to work with the Frenchman to make him even more effective.
In other news: ‘Summed up the performance’ – MOTD pundit namedrops Newcastle players in fiery rant