This week on Twitter, I’ve been debating with fellow Newcastle United fans about which of the club’s ‘Homegrown’ players – players trained at the club as youngsters – should be retained for any European adventures that will hopefully come our way in the next few seasons.
This debate has helped highlight the gulf between the Champions League ambitions of the club’s new owners and the quality of the players who have come through our underfunded academy over the last decade.
As the debate swirled, the team at WyAyeScout thought it’d be a good idea to check in on the performances of our young outfield players who have the potential will be good enough to become a part of the first-team squad in years to come.
In this article, we look at the most promising of these youngsters, Elliott Anderson who has spent the second half of the season on loan at Bristol Rovers in League two:
Elliott Anderson – WyAyeScout Report 21/22
| Name: | Elliott Anderson |
| Age: | 19 |
| Position: | Attacking Midfielder |
| 90s Played: | 21.3 |
| Goals: | 7 |
| Assists: | 3 |
Since his January move to join Joey Barton in the West of England, Anderson has grabbed headlines as part of the Bristol Rovers promotion push.
In the first of three images below, you can see an overview of Anderson’s performance data via a radar diagram vs. the league average attacking midfielder. It shows in all areas bar turnovers (4.40 per-90) and expected goals per shot (0.07xG), Anderson profiles well ahead of his League Two peers.
While the vast majority of this report will go into detail about his attacking qualities, Anderson’s defensive work is also noteworthy. With just shy of four pressure regains (3.65) per-90, the 19-year-old ranks 4th among all League Two attacking midfielders in helping his team regain possession. it’s for this reason that the second of the images below shows a map of his defensive activity by pitch location.
The third image is something we’ve included for additional context. While Anderson has played the majority of his 20+ games in predominantly attacking positions, he’s spent time deeper on the field and this has a small effect on his statistical output.
A high shot volume player with above-average finishing
One area in which Anderson excels is shot volume. Given that he’s taking just over 3 shots a match, it’s perhaps unsurprising that Anderson has found himself among the goals.
However, with just two efforts worth more than 0.30xG out of 70 shots it’s fair to say that Anderson needs to work a little on his shot selection and movement to get a tap in or two.
Still, with 7 actual goals from a total of just 4.71 xG it’s clear he’s in a fine form in front of goal – even if this level of finishing is unlikely to be sustainable.
Example: Goal vs. Port Vale – One of my favourite goals by Anderson as it shows just how quick he can be to react. The moment he sees the ball has been won in transition he’s making a run in behind the finish with his wrong foot is emphatic.
An open play creator with work to do
Among League Two attacking midfielders, Anderson ranks 13th for passes leading to a shot (1.43 Key Passes) and 15th for Expected Goals Assisted (0.14 xGA) per-90. Currently, Anderson doesn’t take set pieces, so all of this is from open play.
The first of the two images shows Anderson’s Key Passes and Assists and there’s a distinct lack of chances created with shorter passing. While the second reveals an overall passing success (🔴 lines) rate of 69% in the opposition’s half, revealing another area for improvement.
Example: Assist via cross vs. Stevenage Town – Anderson shows good movement and awareness to stay onside before taking a deceptively good touch that quickly sets himself for a cross.
Good close control and ability to beat defenders
An area that shows Anderson’s technical ability, quality and potential as a Premier League level talent is his willingness and ability to take on and beat his man via the dribble.
While he’s not attempting Allan Saint-Maximin’s level of volume, he’s attempted to beat his man 84 times so far this season and has been successful 48.8% of the time.
What’s striking is the high amount of success he’s had in beating his man to get the ball into the box (7) and dribbles completed inside the area (10).
Example: Run and goal vs. Harrogate Town FC – I think we’ve all seen this and got excited by it, Anderson picks up the ball in space from a quickly taken freekick and then waltzes past a few defenders before calmly slotting it home.
Conclusions
With 7 goals and 3 assists in just over 21.3 games, Anderson’s attacking output has made him a fan favourite at Bristol Rovers.
While I’ve not taken the time to watch back all of his matches in full for this analysis, I have a few friends and colleagues who are Rovers fans – Up The Gas 🙌 – and one described Anderson as: “the best player we’ve had in 10 years” which is very encouraging.
For a young attacker playing his first senior games the move to Rovers has gone about as well as loan manager, Shola Ameobi, could’ve hoped for. It will give the coaches at Newcastle United a better idea of Anderson’s strengths, areas which are in need of sharpening and whether he needs another loan before becoming an important part of Newcastle United’s Premier League Squad.
