Chelsea Could Bid £20m For Left-Back, But How Does He Compare With Cole?
It seems that the left-back merry-go-round is ready to kick in as the Telegraph suggest that Chelsea are ready to throw £20m at Southampton for Luke Shaw, which could in turn see Ryan Bertrand go to Everton and Leighton Baines jump ship to Manchester United. Whether Chelsea get their hands on Shaw and whether the rest of the deals happen I have no idea, but I thought that I would compare the teenager to Ashley Cole, who has himself come under some criticism himself of late.
While the latter has played in nine games, Shaw has made 13 appearance so some statistics may be unfair, but you can judge for yourselves.
Shaw wins in the key pass section with his 10 beating Cole’s seven, and he also takes the crown in the shooting, although Cole hasn’t actually had a shot at goal yet – Shaw has hit the target with all three of his efforts.
Cole also loses out on the duel success, as his 42% is some way below Shaw’s 55%. This is made up of tackle success, which Cole actually wins, fouls, take ons – Shaw’s 54% success in this is significantly stronger than Cole’s 18% – and headed duels, which again Shaw gets the better of. He has won 20 of his 39 headers (51%), while Cole has won five of his 16 (31%).
Cole has the better pass completion rate (90%) but Shaw has averaged more defensive actions per game.
There is no doubt in my mind that Shaw is the perfect replacement for Cole both for club and country, and his statistics go some way of showing that.
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