Mark Noble – Match Passing Stats in detail
By DazP@Kirtonhammer
Over the last few seasons the debate on what Mark Noble brings to the team grows.
He is getting to the latter part of his career, but he still brings something that the other current midfielders don’t to the team.
Until we bring in someone better then he still has a role for me.
Jack Wilshere may be the player to improve on Noble but he needs to stay fit and show his consistency first.
Noble is not a full holding midfielder, he does not have the short distance speed or strength for that. But with a dedicated holding midfielder in the side then he can still play a part in keeping the ball and moving it from defence to the more creative advanced players.
There is always a need in the team for a player that keeps the ball moving and always makes himself available to receive a pass.
Mark Noble has been doing this for years now, often under the radar when compared to his more skilful team mates. But without this type of player a team loses the ball far too quick and do not allow the attacking players to get in the positions to hurt the opposition.
He returned to the side recently after his red card, when again the fan base was split on whether he should return to the team. He has been back for the last 3 games, all of which we have won.
In all three games he has completed the most passes for us.
The first response to this from those who do not like stats or rate Noble is “anyone can get a high pass completion when passing the ball backwards or short little passes”
So read on,
Noble’s passing stats from the last 3 games.
V Newcastle (Away)
36 completed passes from the 44 he attempted – pass completion of 82%
No one completed more passes than him and only Anderson and Cresswell had a higher pass completion rate.
Direction of passes.
From the 44 passes attempted: –
32 forward (73%)
7 square (16%)
5 backwards (11%)
Compared to the rest of the team – Only Balbuena (85%) & Cresswell (76%) attempted a higher % of forward passes.
Long or short passes.
Noble attempted 38 (86%) short passes and 6 long (14%)
Compared to the rest of the team -Only Anderson mixed up his passes with a higher % of longer passes of 7 (16%)
V Cardiff (Home)
55 completed passes from the 70 he attempted – pass completion of 79%
No one completed more passes than him.
Direction of passes.
From the 70 passes attempted: –
44 forward (63%)
18 square (26%)
8 backwards (11%)
Compared to the rest of the team – Only Ogbonna (75%) attempted a higher % of forward passes.
Long or short passes.
Noble attempted 66 (94%) short passes and 4 long (6%)
Compared to the rest of the team – Only Antonio mixed up his passes with a higher % of longer passes of 4 (16%)
V Crystal Palace (Home)
51 completed passes from the 55 he attempted – pass completion of 93%
No one completed more passes than him and only Diop had a higher pass completion rate.
Direction of passes.
From the 55 passes attempted: –
32 forward (58%)
9 square (16%)
14 backwards (26%)
Compared to the rest of the team – Only Balbuena (62%) and Diop (61%) attempted a higher % of forward passes.
Long or short passes.
Noble attempted 47 (85%) short passes and 8 long (15%)
Compared to the rest of the team
Only Balbuena mixed up his passes with a higher % of longer passes of 8 (22%)
Another couple of facts from the last game V Crystal Palace
Of Noble’s 51 completed passes: –
14 passes were to Masuaku
11 passes were to Zabaleta
Both sides of the pitch
Also he received the ball 47 times
6 from Masuaku
9 from Zabaleta
8 from Diop
6 from Balbuena
5 from Rice
4 from Anderson
3 from Snodgrass
3 from Chicharito
2 from Perez
1 from Carroll
Showing he gets in positions all over the pitch to receive the ball.
The day may be getting closer when he is not a regular first teamer but even if that comes in the summer, there will still be a place in the squad for him.