 |
| 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.
-----------------
No comments:
Post a Comment