🧵 THREAD: What's happened to Gyasi Zardes?
Zardes has scored 10 goals in just over 1,000' this year in MLS. Yet all of his overall ratings are basically the same as last season... and fairly mediocre... except for his finishing:
1/4 #Crew96 #MLS #Zardes #USMNT
Zardes's shot quality is the same, on average, as last season, but his conversion rate is through the roof. We think some of it is sustainable, though probably not all, since these numbers are just wacky (in a Zardes kind of way):
2/4
So what happened? Well, take a look at Zardes's shot maps from open play in 2019 and 2020. We've switched off the headers. It seems like he's taking a higher proportion of his shots from the left side. Could it be as simple as that?
3/4
Zardes's overall positioning has moved slightly to the left this season (check out the free smartermaps on our website to see how). And his style has changed a bit, too – less dribbling and more link-up play. Maybe he's drawing less pressure, in better positions to finish.
4/4
P.S. These are just hints from the data, and we'd want to use video analysis to validate them. But sometimes the data can help us to ask the right questions. And it's great to see a veteran player finding new ways to perform, if that's what's happening.
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