Statistical comparison of Javi vs. Martinez

A tactical point that most pundits predicted was that defensive midfielder Javi Martinez would make the grand switch from being part of the strongest midfield double pivot in the world to a center-back, where he spent much of his time at Athletic Club Bilbao. The question remains, which Javi is the best Javi? 

The system still matters

Like I said in my article covering Philipp Lahm’s convergence into a defensive midfield which I’ll shamelessly plug here, the system that the players are in is different than they were last season, so different strengths and different weaknesses will show. In other words, what we’re trying to decide is if Martinez in a Pep Guardiola system is a better defensive midfielder or a better center-back.

The system Guardiola employs is begging for a center-back with Martinez’s distribution skills. At Barcelona and now at Bayern, the coach always looked to start the attack from the backline. A tall, strong, and most importantly intelligent player like Martinez has the potential to be a great center-back for Guardiola’s team.

It’s also worth noting that because of injuries, it’s been hard to really gauge where Martinez is at. Fitness has been a problem mostly because he was constantly playing at the club level or with Spain, so he needed quite an extended break. So compared to players like Lahm or Mandzukic who have pretty much played all season, the statistics that are available are a bit fragmented.

Javi this season

It hasn’t been a bad year for Martinez considering his injury woes and constant shuffling around. Let’s take a quick look at this statistics for the season so far all together.

Considering his struggles with fitness, it could be much, much worse. The first thing that jumps out is that his pass accuracy is excellent, which is what we’ve come to expect from him. If you want to start play from the back, you need to make sure that the player can actually pass the ball well.

It’s important to keep in mind that this quick statistical overview is cumulative. In otherwords, while statistically Martinez is having a decent season when he’s playing, some games are as a center-back and others as a defensive midfielder.

Javi as a midfielder

Because Martinez has spent different games in different positions, we’ll have to resort to using specific games as an indicator. One of Martinez’s better games as a defensive midfielder was in a 3:0 win over Augsburg.

Martinez had a decent game. He was dominate in the air and made a good defensive contribution. He didn’t do much in the way of an attack, but when you’re playing the single pivot as a defensive midfielder you’re not expected to do much other than defend and play the ball forward, which he did. All in all, a solid performance in midfield.

Javi the center-back.

Martinez has actually played more games as a center-back than he has as a midfielder this season, so the statistics are a little easier to come by. One game that sticks out as a particularly decent performance was the 4:0 win over Hannover where Martinez played a full 90 minutes there.

This game was more than solid, it was excellent. What’s interesting is that Martinez actually made more passes as a center-back than he did as a midfielder in our examples. The main reason behind this is likely because he’s doing what Guardiola wants him to do, and that’s start the attack. This was a good performance, but Hannover are not exactly world beaters, so let’s take a look at his most recent game against Arsenal.

Not bad, to say the least. Arsenal actually posed a decent threat for portions of the game too, committing themselves to attacking in the second half. Javi Martinez managed to hold his own in defense and didn’t make any serious, costly errors.

More time needed

It’s hard to say for sure if Martinez should become a full-time center-back under Pep Guardiola. While most were understandable skeptical at first, it seems clear that if that’s the direction Guardiola chooses to go, Martinez can do it. However, I am still of the opinion that while Javi can make an excellent center-back, he should be given his chance to prove himself as a midfielder in Guardiola’s system.

*All statistics taken from whoscored.com and squawka.com

Robben gespannt auf nächsten CL-Gegner

Peppy Birthday, Tom Starke!

FC Bayern - training session

FCB KidsClub zu Gast bei Ehrmann

Arjen Robben verlängert bis 2017