This week we use chalkboards to look at Wolves’ shackling of Joey Barton, Nemanja Vidic’s tackling, Mikel John Obi’s passing, and Leighton Baines’ positioning
Mick McCarthy’s Wolverhampton side had a clear plan to target Joey Barton on Saturday – he was subjected to a succession of extremely hard tackles. The main offender was Karl Henry, but he was not the only one, as four separate Wolves players were booked for fouls on the Newcastle platyer. The chalkboard above shows the seven fouls on him over the course of the game. Barton’s challenge in the 95th minute was just his second foul of the match, but still earned him a booking.
West Ham struggled to construct many meaningful attacks at Old Trafford on Saturday. A large part of this was Carlton Cole’s inability to hold the ball up as Nemanja Vidic kept winning it from him. The Manchester United defender had an excellent game, winning eight of the nine challenges he contested throughout the match.
The signing of Ramires from Benfica has raised doubts about whether Mikel John Obi will be a regular starter for Chelsea this season but the Nigerian has made an excellent start to 2010/11. He continued his good form against Stoke, completing 103 of the 106 passes he attempted. Critics will say the passes are all short and sideways – but Mikel’s primary job when he gets the ball is to keep possession and he did that excellently.
Leighton Baines was a constant outlet on the left hand side for Everton in their 0-1 defeat at Villa Park, constantly stretching the play and putting some dangerous crosses into the box. This heatmap of his passing shows how far up the pitch modern full-backs play when their side dominates possession.
Michael Cox is editor of zonalmarking.net. You can also follow zonalmarking on Twitter
ChalkboardsJoey BartonNewcastle UnitedWolverhampton WanderersEvertonManchester UnitedWest Ham UnitedChelseaPremier LeagueMichael Coxguardian.co.uk
