Series A
Why Napoli shouldn’t be concerned about Kvaratskhelia
It’s been six months since Khvicha Kvaratskhelia final scored for Napoli, however an in depth look reveals why the Georgian winger remains to be a potent menace regardless of an unfortunate interval, Apollo Heyes argues.
The 22-year-old was awarded the Serie A Most Invaluable Participant title for his debut season in Serie A, enjoying an explosive position for the Partenopei as they ended a 33-year watch for the Scudetto. His prompt emergence and lethal partnership with Victor Osimhen rapidly launched him into the limelight.
In his debut season for Napoli, Kvaratskhelia scored 14 targets and supplied 14 assists in 43 appearances throughout all competitions, profitable three penalties within the league.
His direct objective contributions had been constant within the first 27 matches of the Serie A season however dried up after this, solely profitable a penalty in a 1-0 win over Fiorentina. It was clear that his type started to drop, however his star standing within the squad was in little doubt regardless.
Issues have seemingly been equally irritating for Kvaratskhelia this marketing campaign, producing only one help in his first 4 appearances underneath Rudi Garcia. While this may occasionally initially look regarding to Napoli followers, it’s far too early to begin worrying in regards to the Georgian expertise.
When wanting on the underlying numbers, Kvaratskhelia’s early work this season is extremely reflective of his spectacular debut marketing campaign – for instance, he produced a npxG+xAG (non-penalty anticipated targets plus anticipated assisted targets) of 0.51 per 90 minutes final time period in Serie A, and 0.65 per 90 this season.
Different stats inform the same story – 4.96 progressive carries per 90 final season, 6.00 per 90 this marketing campaign; 3.25 progressive passes per 90 in comparison with 5.00 per 90 now; 4.86 shot-creating actions per 90 final season to six.39 per 90 this time period. One limitation of that is the pattern measurement, with the 22-year-old enjoying 2518 minutes in comparison with 183 this season.
One other fascinating comparability is predicated on two video games in opposition to Lazio, a 2-1 loss earlier this month and a 2-1 win 12 months in the past.
Within the win, Kvaratskhelia scored as soon as, tried three dribbles and took 45 touches. Within the loss, he failed to attain, tried three dribbles and took 48 touches. His heatmaps for the 2 video games additionally look extremely comparable, exhibiting him largely primarily based in the identical positions on the pitch.
These parts all mix to counsel one factor – that technically Kvaratskhelia is on the similar degree of final season by way of efficiency, even when not in end result.
While he’s at the moment struggling to place objective contributions on the board, his foundational play is identical, suggesting that it’s solely a matter of time earlier than he begins discovering himself on the scoresheet as soon as once more.
Phrases: @ApolloHeyes
