Memphis Depay - Dutch Football's Future?

Picture found on PSV.NL

Memphis Depay, so many things have been said already about him. When it’s not about his abilities as a football player, it’s about his attitude, his past or his off-the-pitch antics. But I’m going to do something different.

I’m going to have a more in-depth look, a look at the numbers behind the young man. At only 20 years old, he’s made some massive improvements the last season and a half or so. He’s arguably PSV’s most important player and also the most influential. He’s PSV’s top scorer for a reason. 

Having now scored 12 goals in 12 appearances over multiple competitions (Eredivisie, Europa League including qualifiers) and given 4 assists, he’s becoming PSV’s anchorman more and more. Not only is he important in goals and assists but also in his passing, dribbling and the chances he creates.

Using the key elements in his game is what makes him so important. He likes to take on opponents one on one, he likes to have a crack on goal. And besides those two attributes, it gets even worse for defenders. He’s also incredibly quick and strong. 

The Eredivisie is getting more and more well-known with Depay. Not in the sense of popularity obviously, but more so for his skill and his abilities. It’s what got FC Utrecht defender Van der Maarel send off in the game FC Utrecht – PSV. Even though Depay was still on his own half, he got tackled late by Van der Maarel after a counter was about to get going. So to stop that from happening, Depay got taken down.

Many people said that Depay’s break-out season was last year, but I don’t agree. Yes he finally became a starter and a massive influence but he was still a rookie and still had to get used to the level of play.

Now he’s playing his second full season and is already showing vast improvement. Not just in scoring but also as a team player. 

He had a successful first season, scoring 14 goals and assisting 10 in 43 games. Which are great numbers considering he was only 19 years old. He then went to Brazil to the World Cup. He scored twice and assisted once. His substitution against Australia at half time was critical for that game. He assisted Van Persie for the equalizing 2-2 and scored the winning 2-3 from range. He also scored against Chile the following game. In added time of the second half he finished a low cross from Robben and finished the game 2-0.

Since then, there seems to be new air about Depay. Whereas last year is was more cocky, now it seems he is more confident. Yes, there is little difference in those two. But as Bergkamp was quoted about the Dutch in his book, Stillness and Speed, 

“Of course we adjust to the country or the club where we are. But we still have the Dutch mentality. We want to be someone, to do something our way. We’re the kind of people who say: ‘I know what I’m talking about, and I know what I want, and I see what I can do. That can be seen as a bit arrogant, but it’s not really.’”

So it’s all about confidence. He’s getting more confident in himself, his own skill and abilities. And of course, more confident about the team. You can’t play with a certain flair and a certain air if you don’t have enough confidence in your team.

Having recently signed a new contract, PSV hopes to keep him for a few more seasons, as tough as that will be. Rising stars don’t go unnoticed and Depay’s star is going for the top. We’re off to a great start of the season and hopefully this form is kept. We have a title to win, it’s been 6 long years.

So now I hope that you have a little more knowledge about Memphis Depay. We all want him to have a great career and by the looks of it, he will.

Thank you for reading and until next time

Davy 

The Curious Case of Luuk de Jong

Photo by Peter Price, 21st August 2012.

Luuk de Jong's football career is  definitely a curious one. A story, of some-sorts, that has had many turns within his tale.

The 24-year old Swiss-born Dutchman has gone from high to low in a matter of seasons. It is really a wonderful where it went wrong for the striker. He has had a string of clubs since 2008, most notably FC Twente – where he managed to amass 39 goals in 79 appearances between 2009-2012 before being scooted off to Borrusia Monchengladbach for around €15m, where his career took a turn for the worse. De Jong couldn't recapture the form that he had shown in the Twente team at Borussia, with little opportunity to gain first team appearances, it led him to a lack-lustre spell on loan at Newcastle (ironic in itself, as his elder brother Siem is now a Magpie) for the second part of last season, before PSV swooped him up for as little as €5.5m. The contrasts from the past and now being highly note-worthy. 

But my article isn't about De Jong's failures, or what went wrong for him. This is an article to show how De Jong is slowly recapturing his confidence, and his form up front for his new team. His career at PSV is still young, it still has a long time before we see it in full blossom, but if Luuk de Jong continues to play as he has been doing, I can imagine PSV and Eredivisie fans alike will enjoy watching him play once more.  He has already instilled influence on the team, and I am really pleased that he has finally found a club, especially a club that I thoroughly enjoy supporting, that allows him to play as well as we all know he can. 

Thus far, de Jong is proving game-by-game that he is starting to be worth that €5m Cocu spent on him. It's not too difficult to prove your worth at such a bargain price for someone that has still quite a bit of potential in the tank, but in a league where money isn't splashed or hugely flashed about, every penny counts.

So let's look at the numbers shall we?

In the league, De Jong has appeared eight times, scoring three goals and assisting twice in the first ten Eredivisie games. Sure, it's not setting the world on fire just yet, but let's dig a little deeper.

Those three goals have come from 12 shots on target, mostly from inside the box with a shot accuracy of 75%, De Jong converting 18.8% of the chances he has had in front of goal. 

Not only is he starting to bag some goals, his other traits are coming to light on the pitch as well. For example, his ability in the air – he has won at least 60% of the aerial duels he has challenged for, giving PSV another dimension to their attacks. 

His passing ability is proving to be worth something too. So far, De Jong's pass success rate is a staggering 74% for a striker, with him making at least between 20-30 passes on average per game in the league, something that isn't commonly known for a player in his position. And then, we have his ten key passes. All of them being within the final third, with 84.3% being centrally, and 16.6% coming from the wing. Of course, we all know how consistent De Jong's passing can be, as he has always finished seasons with past clubs around the 70-75% pass success rate. I think out of all the traits De Jong possesses (including his first touch and quick distribution of the ball) his passing will definitely be the most useful for those quick PSV counters. 

By looking at these stats, we can see what De Jong really excels at and how effective he can be. They aren't neccesarily Earth shattering statistics, but he has been quite positive for PSV so far – and if he can stay injury free (fingers tightly crossed) as well as keep the confidence flowing, I think somewhere inside – we will see the De Jong of old shine through once again and as well as him having quite the influence on PSV's title charge this season – especially when he has players like Depay, Maher and Wijnaldum around him along with some quite talented youngsters coming through PSV's ranks – as well as title charges in future seasons to come. 

Don't worry, I'll try not to shout that too loudly. But here's just hoping, the tide will finally turn in PSV's favour and that they can finally get some silverware with De Jong helping them along the way.

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For stats and transfer figures, the following were used: Squawka, WhoScored, TransferMarkt