Sky Bet Championship: The main statistics behind the top defenders this season
The defensive side of a team always tread a final line between heroics and disaster. It's one of football's toughest positions.
Particularly in the Sky Bet Championship, where the stakes are so high, those at the back have to get it right and the smallest of mistakes could be incredibly costly.
We've taken a brief break with the season suspended until April 4. There's no football being played across Europe.
Sky Bet Championship: Top Performers Series
It creates a stoppage to the battle for the Premier League in England's second tier with a number of teams still holding an opportunity to secure promotion.
There have been a number of stand-out performers throughout the campaign who have played a significant part in helping their side reach their current position.
Throughout the coming weeks, Tom Carnduff will look at the best performing players in each position; aiming to find those who have excelled in the areas that matter most.
Today, we look at the defenders as we create a back four based on the main statistics.
You shall not pass
Number of tackles this season:
- Matty Cash (Forest): 101
- Kristian Pedersen (Birmingham): 100
- Mahlon Romeo (Millwall): 100
- Joe Bryan (Fulham): 95
- Max Lowe (Derby): 92
This is the 'old-fashioned' category for judgement but ultimately a defender is there to, well, defend.
One of the best indicators for this is the number of tackles made across the course of the season.
This does divide opinion. Some of the world's best defenders, such as Virgil van Dijk, see a low overall tackles tally as they are better at reading the game and getting themselves into positions that doesn't require a tackle to be made.
For others, it just suits their game better and there's no real right or wrong answer to this approach. For Forest, they possess the division's best defensive tackler with right-back Matty Cash leading the charts - a total of 101 across his 36 appearances so far.
Birmingham's Kristian Pedersen and Millwall's Mahlon Romeo both boast a three-figure tally when it comes to tackles. They're joint on 100 at this point of the campaign.
Alongside them in the top-five is Joe Bryan from Fulham and Derby youngster Max Lowe; two other players to have over 90 tackles across the course of the season.
The eye-catching part of this area is that all players are full-backs - with Romeo and Cash being the duo who play on the right-side.
Dominic Iorfa, who sits ninth overall, is the highest-rated centre-back in terms of tackles with a total of 70.
Pinpoint accuracy
Accurate pass percentage (more than 20 games):
- Tim Ream (Fulham): 90%
- Pontus Jansson (Brentford): 88%
- Alfie Mawson (Fulham): 86%
- Julian Jeanvier (Brentford): 86%
- Ben White (Leeds): 85%
When it comes to distribution from the back, Tim Ream's numbers are beyond impressive.
The Fulham centre-back sits top of the charts for accurate pass percentage with 90. What truly deserves praise is that he's had a total of 2300 accurate passes, which is far higher than any other defender in the division.
There's a West London dominance in this category with Fulham and Brentford both taking the top four charts. Pontus Jansson sits on 88% while Julian Jeanvier is at 86%.
Then Leeds are represented for the first time through Ben White. However, White deserves further recognition given how he sits second in the overall tally of accurate passes. His number stands at 1759.
Alfie Mawson is just behind on 1623 while Leeds captain Liam Cooper, who doesn't make the top-five in terms of accuracy, makes the cut for number of passes with his figure at 1564 and an accuracy percentage of 82.
What this figure highlights is the teams who prefer to play out from the back and are willing to be patience when mounting an attack.
Leeds and Fulham clearly have that preference with their four centre-backs taking the top four spots for accurate passes. Jansson's accuracy is high, but his number sitting at 1211, while Jeanvier is on 1152, shows that they aren't required to pass the ball as much as some of the others around them at the top of the table.
Reading the game
Number of interceptions:
- Ben White (Leeds): 86
- Mads Andersen (Barnsley): 72
- Shaun Hutchinson (Millwall): 63
- Ashley Williams (Bristol City): 63
- Kristian Pedersen (Birmingham): 61
Some defenders prefer to try and read the game and intercept passes before they reach their intended target.
White tops this statistic by a comfortable margin. His 86 interceptions this season is well clear of any other defender in the Championship.
Cooper, his defensive partner, is sixth overall on the list which again indicates the way that Leeds want to play at the back. They're allowed to take the risks and look to intercept, but it equally comes down to individual player skill and their ability to carry it out.
Mads Andersen, the Barnsley defender who has had no involvement in recent weeks, still sits high in the charts with 72 over the season.
Shaun Hutchinson is better recognised for his aerial dominance, which we'll discuss shortly, but he's also got the talent to carry out interceptions. The Millwall man is on 63.
Behind him is Ashley Williams. The Bristol City man sits on 63 while Pedersen makes his second list with a total of 61.
Aerial dominance
Aerial duels won:
- Patrick Bauer (Preston): 206
- Marc Roberts (Birmingham): 193
- Sean Morrison (Cardiff): 177
- Shaun Hutchinson (Millwall): 174
- Aden Flint (Cardiff): 173
This list demonstrates that Neil Warnock built this Cardiff side.
Both Sean Morrison and Aden Flint, their previous centre-back pairing, sit in the top-five for aerial duels won this season with a combined total of 350.
What's incredible about Flint's number is that he hasn't played a minute of their last eleven Championship games. He's yet to make an appearance since the 6-1 hammering at QPR on New Year's Day.
Curtis Nelson has become a more regular feature of the Bluebirds' back line and his total of 108, an average of 4.5 per game, shows that he has come in and filled the vacancy in the manner they would have hoped for.
Top of this list though is Patrick Bauer. The Preston centre-back has won 206 in 33 games this season - that works out at a huge average of 6.2 per fixture.
Ben Davies, Bauer's defensive partner, sits on less than half of the above figure with 101. He is relied upon to be the player that wins the battles in the air.
Also on the list is Hutchinson at Millwall. His 174 is also reflected in the five goals scored this season. He's also only played in 27 games this season, which is much lower than the others in the top-five.
There's been six occasions this season where Hutchinson has hit double figures in aerial duels won. It's clear that he is the dominant defender in this category.
What's the ideal back-four?
- RB: Matty Cash
- CB: Ben White
- CB: Tim Ream
- LB: Kristian Pedersen
It's a tough situation closing such a strong list down to just four players but with the names listed above we can create a defence that boasts key abilities across the line.
The centre-back pairing is where the most debate can be had but the certainty for inclusion is White. The Leeds man, on-loan from Brighton, is the best defender in the league.
He has everything required for a modern centre-back. He can carry the ball and pick out team mates with short or long passes. A defender who can create attack and be comfortable in possession significantly increases their value in the transfer market.
White is also in the perfect environment at Leeds, working under the guidance of Marcelo Bielsa. The former Argentina coach wants his defenders to be able to carry the ball out for the back and the 22-year-old ticks all the boxes.
Alongside him is the biggest challenge. Do you go for a player, such as Ream, who will compliment his ability to pass, or do we bring in someone to cover for the lack of aerial presence, a Hutchinson or Bauer?
I'd have a strong argument for Hutchinson if that's what we were after but the stats show that if you want to play out from the back you must have both central defenders being comfortable passing the ball.
Therefore, for this team, we're going for Ream to work alongside White and be that sort of centre-back partnership. That's not to say they won't do their defensive duties, as the interceptions and other main categories show, but this team has the 'modern' approach and we'll pass our way to the top.
Cashing in at right-back is the Forest man who leads the way when it comes to total tackles made. He was a target for Premier League and Serie A clubs in January and it's clear to see that he is top level talent.
On the opposite flank is Pedersen. The Birmingham defender's interceptions and tackles statistics put him among the very best in the division.
Solid full-back choices, with ball-playing centre-backs, creates an ideal defence for the way the league currently is.
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