“He’s an exciting player and I’m sure our fans will enjoy watching him!” That was the verdict of Kevin Keegan on signing Jonas Gutierrez for Newcastle from Real Mallorca back in July 2008.
And, it’s fair to say, the Argentine hasn’t disappointed. He possesses amazing skill and has that drive and flair to evade even the toughest of full backs. He also has an excellent understanding of defending principles and matched with his hard work and endeavour, Jonas would be a key player for many sides.
Having said all of that, Gutierrez has become somewhat of a love/hate player at Newcastle United of late. Some claim the winger is too defensive minded, thus hindering his attacking threat – the player himself, the players behind him and the manager’s tactics all suspect for reasoning.
Furthermore, there are those that say even when the Argentine is given the freedom to play high and forward, he lacks contribution and his end product is poor.
A look at Jonas’ attacking and defending numbers for this Premier League season should shine some light on the wide man’s ability and performances.
Attack
Compared to the left-sided players of the current top ten Premier League clubs, Jonas Gutierrez fares average at absolute best. While none of his values are the lowest, he is way off the highest numbers for every value. Only Downing & Pienaar have scored less goals than the Argentine so far and only those two plus James McLean have assisted less goals.
From a creativity point of view, the weakness in NUFC in general has been highlighted recently, but in Jonas, Newcastle have a top ten left-sided player that creates more per game than only James McLean at rivals Sunderland.
In terms of dribbling, Jonas does as well as most, but his crossing data is way down the pecking order again.
Next Page: Jonas Gutierrez defensive stats…
