Dominic Solanke seems set for a club-record switch to Tottenham, having proved final season that he’s prepared to maneuver again to a much bigger membership.
That is an up to date model of our article from April 2024 – The Numbers That Show Dominic Solanke is Able to Step (Again) As much as a Huge Membership
For Dominic Solanke, 2023-24 was a giant season.
Having tried – and, in the end, failed – to succeed as a proficient teen at two of England’s greatest golf equipment in Chelsea and Liverpool, he had completed little within the first 5 years after leaving Anfield to show he might make it on the high of the sport.
After scoring three objectives in his first 42 Premier League appearances for Bournemouth, he appeared extra at house within the second tier. He stormed the Championship in 2021-22, scoring 29 objectives as Bournemouth earned promotion to the Premier League, however might solely comply with that up with six objectives within the high flight in 2022-23. His first marketing campaign again within the large time additionally included a aim drought of 17 hours and 20 minutes.
One other yr like that final season and Solanke would have been in actual hazard of turning into a kind of gamers described as ‘too good for the Championship, not ok for the Premier League’.
However he went from energy to energy below Andoni Iraola, a supervisor whose type proved completely suited to Bournemouth’s quantity 9.
That front-footed type, with an aggressive press and a good share of possession, has helped put together Solanke for all times again at a much bigger membership. With all due respect to Bournemouth, after the season Solanke had, it is sensible that he’s reportedly “determined” to make the transfer to Spurs a actuality.
Having performed within the Champions League aged 17 – when he turned the youngest participant in Chelsea’s historical past to seem within the competitors – and with only one England cap to his title – which got here some seven years in the past – it’s comprehensible that, now aged 26, Solanke needs to strike whereas the iron is sizzling.
Solanke was certainly in red-hot kind final season. He completed the season fourth within the Premier League’s goalscoring charts, with 19 objectives. It was the highest-scoring season by a Bournemouth participant within the Premier League, overtaking Joshua King, who hit 16 in 2016-17.
Much more spectacular is the truth that he scored 5 extra objectives than anybody else enjoying for a staff within the backside half of the desk, forward of Nottingham Forest’s Chris Wooden, on 14.
And Solanke turned solely the tenth participant in Premier League historical past to attain as many as 19 objectives for a bottom-half staff.
It’s grow to be more and more uncommon for groups who end low down the desk to have a high-scoring particular person. Within the Premier League period, there have been 38 situations of a participant ending within the backside half having scored 15+ objectives, however solely two of these have occurred within the final seven seasons – Solanke final season and Danny Ings for Southampton in 2019-20.
Which means it occurred 36 occasions within the first 25 Premier League seasons, however solely twice since. Lately, having a 15-goal striker normally means a top-half end. Solanke’s season was actually worthy of ending within the high 10, and he was in some sense slightly let down by his teammates. He could properly really feel he deserves to be surrounded by higher gamers.
He additionally contributed objectives at key occasions, and loads of Bournemouth’s video games have been tight affairs settled by an odd aim from him. Take Solanke’s objectives away from Bournemouth’s season and they might have had 15 fewer factors – no participant’s objectives have been value extra factors than his within the Premier League final season.
He was extra single-minded in his goalscoring final season, tasked by Iraola with staying in central attacking areas for longer durations and offering a better aim menace. It should come as little shock that he averaged extra non-penalty objectives (0.46), non-penalty anticipated objectives (0.47), photographs (3.0), and touches within the opposition field (6.5) per 90 minutes performed than in another season since he joined Bournemouth.
In relation to totals for these numbers, he ranked fourth of all Premier League gamers for objectives (19) and anticipated objectives (19.6), third for photographs (109), and sixth for touches within the opposition field (239).
These are elite-level numbers and he’s in elite firm with the Premier League’s finest on every entrance, suggesting he is able to step again as much as an elite membership. And he ought to be suited to enjoying for Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham for quite a lot of causes, too.
He has improved remarkably in relation to entering into good goalscoring positions – this accounts nearly totally for the huge enhance in his output in entrance of aim final time period. He isn’t but an elite finisher (and should properly by no means be), underperforming in comparison with his non-penalty xG by 0.6 over the course of his finest season in entrance of aim, however he simply acquired into much more harmful capturing positions. He scored simply six non-penalty objectives from 9.2 xG in 2022-23.
And whereas elite ending is clearly a large plus in a striker, it’s the capacity to get into good positions near aim that’s extra essential within the trendy recreation, and that’s very a lot the case for Spurs below Postecoglou.
He doesn’t ask his striker to get entangled in build-up play an excessive amount of, preferring that they keep excessive up the pitch occupying centre-backs with the goal to getting them into central positions near aim. Look the place Spurs’ high scorers from final season, Son Heung-min and Richarlison, scored their objectives from (allowing for that Son spent a good chunk of the season on the left flank):
Richarlison did an excellent job of main the road for Spurs for a nine-goal, eight-game scoring streak within the winter, however he didn’t rating persistently throughout the season, and in fact by no means has completed in his profession. There have at all times been doubts from the followers over the knowledge of spending £60 million on him a few years in the past, and final season received’t have completed a lot to take away these considerations.
Son, in the meantime, was Spurs’ most suitable choice up entrance in 2023-24, however he was additionally the best choice on the left. So, enjoying him by the center weakened the staff elsewhere in assault.
Son struggled, nevertheless, with holding the ball up – a aspect of the sport that doesn’t come naturally to him – unable to take care of the bodily battle in opposition to large Premier League centre-backs. Whereas Richarlison did this slightly higher, Solanke is extra technically adept and Postecoglou will count on him to have the ability to do a greater job on the ball.
Solanke has additionally proven he’s a succesful urgent ahead. He ranked greater than each different participant within the Premier League final season for pressures (1,242), pressures within the closing third (703) and pressures within the closing third leading to a turnover (142).
A few of that can be all the way down to the staff he was enjoying for – Bournemouth have been among the many most proactive urgent groups within the high flight final season – however Spurs have been certainly one of few groups who pressed excessive up the pitch extra usually than Bournemouth, so Solanke ought to be an excellent match. Spurs made extra pressures within the closing third (2935) and pressures within the closing third leading to a turnover (591) than another staff within the division, whereas on a person participant degree, solely Solanke was forward of Son in each of these metrics (639 and 130).
Having spent years at Chelsea and Liverpool, Solanke is aware of what an elite membership surroundings seems like, and he’ll know higher than most different 26-year-olds what it takes to succeed at a staff like Spurs. He was unable to fulfil his huge potential at each of these golf equipment and received’t need to make it an undesirable hat-trick.
Nevertheless, the numbers recommend Solanke is a unique participant nowadays, and he appears to be like prepared to maneuver again to a aspect on the high finish of the Premier League. Postecoglou’s Tottenham might be the right match.
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