Thread by @AlexanderBrkr

THREAD

Donning the jerseys of Barcelona and Juventus should be a sign of skill, class and honour💫

Arthur Melo though is 25 years old and a conundrum 🇧🇷. Over £90 million has been transferred on him, he's just a waste of money...or is he?

Guys, I know how to fix Arthur Melo...

Arthur is a Brazilian midfielder who came through at Gremio, before moving to Barcelona for around 40 million euros in 2018.

This came after Arthur made 50 appearances for Gremio, scoring 2⃣ goals and assisting 3⃣.

So, let's first try and see why Barcelona spent so much money on him. Because, Arthur is 7th most expensive Brazilian 🇧🇷 league export of all time, more than:
Alexandre Pato
Robinho
David Neres
Bruno Guimaraes

All players who have been far more noteworthy in Europe so far 🤷‍♂️

Infairness to Arthur, Gremio won the Copa Libertadores with him as the MOTM in the second leg of the final! 👏

This came in 2017, which was when the-then 21/22 year old really broke through into the first team.

He played on the right side of a 4-2-3-1 (something we may come back to).

Still at this point from public (limited) data, Arthur looks like a *meh* player, but guys - stick with me, because the plot twist will come.

So first, I went on WhoScored for the 2017 Brasileirao season, and looked for midfielders.

This is Arthur's breakout campaign, but his ranked as the 17th best DM/CM in that year - just eh😐

Out of those 2 positions (80 players), Arthur came:

47th for dispossessed p90
29th for successful dribbles
51st for tackles
61st for interceptions
66th for shots
20th for key passes
75th for aerial duels won

And 1st for completed passes p90, with 83.
Again, not exactly glowing

In raw numbers, Arthur created 1⃣ big chance in 27 appearances, made 3⃣ Tackles and Interceptions p90, completed 0.6 dribbles p90 too.

Although, he did win 68% of his ground duels, which is pretty impressive..

However the key LIMIT here is that we don't have access to proper underlying numbers - clubs do though.
Maybe that explains why in 2017, aged 21:

-Gremio turned down an early £10 million bid from a PL club 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
-He was compared to Thiago 🇪🇸
-He was called up to 🇧🇷 national team

See on the pitch, Arthur was class at keeping hold of the ball. He also held a surprising amount of pace too.

I would guess that Arthur would have stocked HIGH in passes-into-the-box/progressive passes for his side.

Signing him is beginning to seem less dumb 🤷‍♂️

ARTHUR AT BARCA 🇪🇸

"Arthur can mark an era at Barcelona." - Xavi

Let's show where Arthur played before presenting his output.

He was deployed on 27 occasions in Barcelona's midfield, and judging by his heat map, predominantly on the left hand side of a 4-3-3 in La Liga.

Now in 17/18, the season previous also under Ernesto Valverde, Iniesta was the man appearing in that left midfield zone.

As you can see below, Iniesta's responsibilities in midfield were ball carrying, progressive passing, and getting the ball into the box.

How did Arthur perform by these metrics? 🤔

Well with the same midfielders around him, the output chart looks like this.

Shockingly, Arthur came 1st in ZERO metrics, and was as penetrative in-the-box as Sergio Busquets 😬

But, that was because 1. Arthur was adjusting to a new league, and 2. He wasn't allowed to push high enough ❌

First, look at this graphic from 19/20 from @DyslexicDdue - those dribble and passing metrics have risen A LOT by 19/20!

That not convinced you? Guys, look at this improvement. This is....really really good?

Arthur came in the top 10% of La Liga midfielders p90 for:

-Carrying the ball into box✅
-Passes under pressure (sign of press resistance)✅
-Fouls drawn✅
-Dribbles % rate✅
-Dribbles completed✅
-Goals✅
-Assists✅

Left is 18/19 - right is 19/20 - touches come closer to goal.

At risk of banging on like a mathematician - here's some clips from 19/20:
Here's some good showing's of Arthur's positional intelligence 🧠

A nice hint at Arthur's press resistance!

Again, the signs of great vision spoken about at Gremio!👁️

This isn't the first long shot Arthur has scored either...

When I first started this thread, I was thinking about how I would have to delve into the financial books to prove how Arthur is just an international money laundering scheme.

However, there was so much good on display! 😅

Former Barca manager Quique Setien said: "He is an extraordinary footballer who understands everything."

That quote was noted on this great article on Arthur in 19/20 from @SudeshBaniya10 - definitely worth the read if you can spare the time 👍

totalfootballanalysis.com/article/arthur…

Arthur's only problem was: Frenkie de Jong.

The Dutchman was too similar a player to Arthur, and so when Barca needed to balance the books in the Pjanic deal - Arthur made sense.

But, why hasn't Arthur been a success at Juventus? 🤔

ARTHUR AT JUVENTUS 🇮🇹

Well remember those statistics about Arthur's difference in 19/20? This really is going to hammer home the damning misuse of Arthur Melo.

Take a look at his output p90 across all seasons in Europe. Notice anything? That attacking output has dwindled 📉

"But Arthur can't have become a bad player over night!" - I agree.

This was in part, to how Arthur was utilised. Far from the Iniesta-role at Barcelona, at Juventus in 20/21 Arthur was used NOWHERE NEAR THE BOX 🤦‍♂️

Not only has Arthur started just 14 Serie A matches, but he was used as my friend @gasipo_opinions says like a holding midfielder - supporting the the fact Arthur wasn't used further forward, where at Barca he shined at times.

This is a guy who at Gremio, got the accolades BECAUSE of his work in the final third.
Not just his ball retention, and definitely not his defensive work. So why, WHY, did Juventus deploy him so deep?

Under Allegri he has made just 1⃣ start, because everyone thinks Arthur is just a waste of space.

He can't defend and he won't do anything from defensive positions - that is a knock on him. However in attacking positions, he looked to be flourishing! 🤷‍♂️

If you're thinking I'm basing too much on a season at Barcelona - he put up those previously high numbers as a 22/23 year old.

My point: had he KEPT playing there, we may have seen his numbers 📈📈📈

There's a good player in Arthur. Potentially a great one.

He is a press resistant player who has exceptional vision, and still underrated athleticism! He's not the Brazilian Andre Gomes - or an illegal operation (as I once thought) - surprisingly, he is actually a footballer!🤣

So, where does he go? 🤓

It's clear there is no home for him at Juventus. Also, he isn't going to play DM, or a defensive role.

However, I think he could press well, (averaged 18.2 pressures p90 across his career) and he has great qualities to build on.

A club *like* Liverpool, makes sense 🔴

A team where the midfield is slightly more industrious, and creativity comes from wide - Arthur slots in because he adds an attacking edge while keeping the ball in high pressure situations.

Maybe @SelecaoTalk can add his thoughts on that

A midfielder of his ilk should age well too. I want to see him resurrect his career, because there is some talent in this boy.

So, where do you think he should go? Over to you 😃

- also if you liked this thread, make sure you follow me! I do two threads a week that delve into detail like this on a fun range of topics!