West Ham United attacker Nikola Vlasic has some worryingly poor attacking statistics this season that don’t compare favourably with defensive players.
Over the summer, the Hammers paid a reported £26.8m (with a further £7.7m in future add-ons) to bring in the Croatian from CSKA Moscow on a five-year contract that includes an extension option for an extra year.
So far, however, it’s hard to argue he has exactly proven his worth. Indeed, in his debut campaign, he has just one goal in 32 appearances across all competitions.
Judging from that worrying outlay, TIF decided to look at how some of his attacking stats compare to more defensive players.
Big chances created
As an attacking player who has played on the wing or in an advanced midfielder role for David Moyes this season, it would be fair to judge Vlasic on how many big chances he has created for his teammates – especially as the goals aren’t flowing in for himself.
However, it is quite shocking to see that he has yet to have a create ‘big chance’ (via Sofa Scored) in 15 Premier League outings this season. Worryingly, defender Craig Dawson has done better than that, with one big chance created.
Of course, he has played more frequently than Vlasic, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a pretty damming stat.
To make things worse, other central defenders such as Ben White, Raphael Varane, Dan Burn – and even Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson – have all created more.
Shots per game
If he isn’t assisting, or even scoring, it would at least more promising if the attacking midfielder was getting into good areas and taking lots of shots.
Sadly, though, when it comes to shots per game, he is also performing at a poor level. Indeed, he averages 0.3 shots in every Premier League game, which is less than Dawson’s 0.8 – and it is also only equal with another Hammers defender Kurt Zouma.
When comparing his shots per game (via FBREF) in the past 365 days, it is also discouraging to see that he is in the lower 21 percentile for players who play in a similar position in Europe’s top five leagues and European competitions.
Will Nikola Vlasic come good for West Ham?
Yes
No
TIF verdict
That he is yet to claim a single assist in the Premier League this season, goes some way to prove his lack of creative quality – this is only backed up by his failure to set up a single big chance for a teammate.
If he can’t create, Moyes would no doubt hope his player could at least score some goals. Clearly, as proven by his lack of efforts and inability to even take shots with any regularity, Vlasic hasn’t been able to manager this either.
All in all, it’s fair to say the 24-year-old is approaching ‘flop’ territory if he can’t turn his form around soon.
In other news: ‘Want to give him massive praise’ – TalkSPORT man eating his words over ‘amazing’ West Ham man