Paulo Dybala, a man with the opportunity to play with both Messi and CR7
Messi once said he can’t play with Dybala (source: goal.com). Soon after, CR7 transferred to Juventus and subsequently sent Dybala to bench. Whelps. Calm your pants folks, Dybala and CR7 can actually play together.
How can you be sure that Dybala and CR7 can play together?
There are, of course, many way to support or debunk the idea of them playing together. This article will only see it through the perspective of shooting habit based on last season’s statistic (source: understat.com) and touch position based on the game against Sassuolo (16/9/18, 1-2 Juventus). Let’s start!
Dybala and CR7 is doing things differently
First of all, both of them like to touch the ball a lot. It does not seems to be a problem just yet, but it is too early to conclude. Luckily, other player who played on the offensive-third of the pitch such as Mandzukic does not need to touch the ball that much to contribute. It is exhibited in the last game against Sassuolo as Mandzukic only touch the ball 17 times, while both Dybala and CR7 combined for a 97 touches (or 17% of 586 total touches).
But that is not the main reason. Why Dybala and CR7 could actually play together while both asking for a lot of touches is because Dybala is a creator and current CR7 is a poacher. To help those who did not watch their game lately, Figure 1 shows where Dybala and CR7 got their touches against Sassuolo.
Figure 1. Dybala and CR7 Heat Map (source: WhoScored.com)
Figure 1 shows that asked for the ball in different areas. They got the ball in different areas. Also, they are actually good with the ball in those areas shown above. CR7 is looking for the ball inside the penalty area and more on the left side of the box to cut inside into his dominant right foot. On the other hand, Dybala ask for the ball deeper and more into the right side of the goal. This is just one game, but Figure 2 below shows a map of where they shoot the ball from last season.
Figure 2. Dybala and CR7 Shots’ Location (green: goal, red: missed, yellow: post, blue: saved, purple: blocked) (source: Understat.com/ Dybala and CR7)
As shown in Figure 2, they are clearly shooting the ball from different areas. It is actually correlates not only to where Dybala and CR7 are asking the ball but also to where they are actually like to shoot and able to score. Dybala shots and score around the middle, on the edge of the penalty area, and just right outside. He predominantly went from the left side of the goal to ease a shot from his dominant left foot. On the other hand, CR7 is a real poacher and a threat in the air, explained by his sheer amount of close range goals and attempt (Uhh Tapinaldo?). It shows how he is coming mostly from the right side of the goal to unleash his lethal right foot.
Dybala and CR7 are not without challenges
I am not saying that they would be happily ever after. Douglas Costa might want the ball more than Mandzukic. Ego might one day kicks in and led to one of Dybala or CR7 hogging the ball more than now. Sure, many challenges lies ahead and this article only shows one piece of perspective.
17/9/2018