Damsgaard v Bergwijn
You may have heard of our genuine interest in Mikkel Damsgaard so I thought I'd talk about him and another Danish international, Christian Eriksen.
We have snow down here on the coast and a constant flow of birds to the bird feeders all day.
I put warm water in one of the two bird baths and break the ice on the pond each day,
This morning (Tuesday as I write this) they have some of the fat from the pork wrapped in bacon that I cooked for Sunday roast.
One must look after the wildlife in this weather.
While we are outside I'll give all you window box gardeners some tips.
Amazing, I have just had a seagull try and feed from the hanging bird feeder, perhaps it is the one that has regularly visited the balcony and tapped on the patio doors.
Anyway, back to recycling food waste for your window box.
Two tips today.
Don't throw away your chicken egg shells.
They are full of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) crystals, around 96%, which are bound together by proteins.
Swallows, house martins, sparrows, finches, bluebirds, for instance, all eat egg shells.
Rinse them out and put them in the microwave for 2-3 minutes to dry them and kill off any chicken bacteria.
You do not want them to go brown on the inside.
Put them out to attract birds or rush them up and sprinkle them around plants.
They are a natural fertilizer, plus, if coarsely-crumbled, they keep slugs and snails at bay.
Egg shell decomposes very quickly so you can put them into the bottom of any new pots you use in the spring.
Or, sprinkle them on the soil you are going to plant in the spring.
Once it gets warmer, till them into the soil.
Why not get your young children to help.
Explain what you are doing and why, get them involved.
You'll be teaching them about wildlife, which is healthy and spark an interest.
It may help them to grow up with more respect for people, animals and their surroundings.
It'll help forming bonds as you'll be doing something together that costs nothing.
You an keep an eye on the results together, even keep notes and use it as a primary school project.
Well I was going to give you two tips but we'll save the other one for another day.
OK, now you have been edumacated back to Spurs and our interest in 20-year-old (21 in July) Mikkel Damsgaard.
If you haven't heard, Damsgaard is a winger we have a strong interest in.
West Ham are one of them and hae already held a meeting with him.
He also sat on the bench for a Nations League match in which Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg played.
MP = Matches Played
Min = Minutes Played
xG = Expected Goals
npxG = Non-penalty Expected Goals
xA = Expected Assists
SCA = Shot Creation Actions
GCA = Goal Creation Actions
The youngster arrived for €6.5 million (£5.7m) fee from Danish Superliga side FC Nordsjælland, which is located in the North Zealand town of Farum.
My god, I educate you on this blog.
Their ground is the fantastically named, Right To Dream Park.
Damsgaard played in Denmark as a central midfielder, on the left wing, as a number 10, and even up front, logging over 1,500 minutes in each position.
In 2016/17, he played most of his minutes as an attacking midfielder.
Using xG stats, his end product in midfield and as a striker were as figures suggested...
But as a left winger, he overperformed against statistical expectation.
His attributes include his movement off the ball and ability to get into goal scoring positions.
This movement off the ball allows him to move into better passing positions where he can play a more threatening pass.
The bottom rows are his figures at Sampdoria.
Expected Goals 1.7 he has 2
Non-penalty Expected Goals 1.7 he has 2
Expected Assists 1.6 he has 4
Look at the expected figures (xG, xA, etc) per 90 minutes against his actual per 90 minute figures.
He is statistically performing better than expected.
Damsgaard has had 12 shots this season, 4 of which have been on target.
His expected goals to shot ratio is 0.14
His actual goals to shot ratio is 0.17
He has attempted 466 passes
329 have been successful (70.6%)
Successful short passes (the most important) 82.1%
Successful medium length passes (15-30 yards) 69.5%
Successful long passes (30 yards+) 49.2%
18 Key Passes
25 Passes into the final third
9 Passes into the penalty area
2 Crosses into the penalty area
39 Progressive Passes
33 Shot Creation Actions
2.72 Shot Creation Actions per 90 minutes
He is 6th in Serie A for dribbling (42 successful)
How does that compare to Steven Bergwijn, who has played 70 league minutes less?
Expected Goals 1.7 he has 0
Non-penalty Expected Goals 1.7 he has 0
Expected Assists 1.0 he has 2
Bergwijn has had 12 shots this season, 2 of which have been on target.
His expected goals to shot ratio is 0.14
His actual goals to shot ratio is 0.00
He has attempted 345 passes
329 have been successful (81.4%)
Successful short passes (the most important) 90.5%
Successful medium length passes (15-30 yards) 81%
Successful long passes (30 yards+) 28%
10 Key Passes
18 Passes into the final third
6 Passes into the penalty area
0 Crosses into the penalty area
14 Progressive Passes
27 Shot Creation Actions
2.38 Shot Creation Actions per 90 minutes
Using last seasons stats, Steven Bergwijn creates shot chances but they are of poor quality. Damsgaard is the red dot.
The two lines are the average.
The further to the right the higher number of shooting opportunities a player creates...
The higher the better quality.
This season Bergwijn has still scored no goals and the stats above confirm my opinion (posted previously on Twitter) that he is underperforming.
The takeaway from that graphic is that he tries passing to unlock defences but has a below average success rate.
Couple that with underperforming and you see the need for an increased threat from the flanks.
Output is the same beef I have with all our wide players...
For me, it's why we are looking for replacements.
Two players who have similar stats;
26-year-old (27 next February) Adnan Januzaj, the former Manchester United player now at Real Sociedad
28-year-old (29 in March) Stuart Armstrong at Southampton.
Other youngsters include;
19-year-old (20 next January) PAOK Salonika player Christos Tzolis
17-year-old (18 in March) AZ Alkmaar player Yusuf Barasi.
He has progressed by leaps and bounds over the past couple of seasons, making significant improvements to his game.
We might hear more about this as the summer draws closer.
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