PSL Season: A different approach to examining squads
By Alex Rathke
Finally, the 2018/19 PSL season is nearly here. We thought August would never show and then there was the Ajax dilemma as well. Nevertheless, Saturday sees the first kick-off of the season taking place at Loftus Versfeld between “The Brazilians” and “The Amakhosi”. Sundowns will be hoping to successfully defend their title. The last club to successfully defend the title was Orlando Pirates (2010/11 to 2011/12). Over the last few seasons, Sundowns have tried yet failed with either Saturday’s opponents or Bidvest Wits standing in their way. Will this year be different and if so has Pitso Mosimane got the squad to do it?
We at Laduma Analytics like to do things a little differently. This past week, we have been active on Twitter posting visuals examining squad Age vs Utility. Using Transfermarkt data, we took last season’s squads and evaluated who the club chose to release, keep and add to their squad. Using % of minutes played from the previous season (new editions evaluated on previous club’s mins), we were able to visualise how the squads looked going into the 2018/19 campaign. Without further ado, we will examine the first fixture of the season: Mamelodi Sundowns vs Kaizer Chiefs.
From the graph, we can see that Sundowns have a very aging squad, which is quite the worry. A couple of youngsters played absolute minimal minutes last season and the club will hope that they build on these. Otherwise, next season will most likely need a major overhaul in personnel. In addition, losing star striker Tau to English Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion must also hurt.
The yellow dots represent the new signings that have joined “The Brazilians”. Was it a successful recruitment drive? We are not too sure…in terms of age, they have experienced personal yet how may injuries and age effect performance? Only time will tell.
What about Chiefs?
As we mentioned on Twitter, a very experienced squad but with an aging curve very apparent. They released the older players with fewer PSL minutes but did not replace them with younger players. In addition, their attacking players are OLD, well apart from Ryan Moon and Yusuf Bunting! Moon has at least a few minutes behind him whereas Bunting does not. It will be interesting to see how new coach Giovanni Solinas (previously of Free State Stars) gets the best out of this squad.
That’s all folks! Fancy seeing your club ahead of the new season? Tag us on Twitter using @AnalyticsLaduma and we will reply with a visual. The perfect pre-season gift am I right? Below we have already released visuals for Orlando Pirates, Cape Town City FC, and Bidvest Wits. What are your thoughts on their squads? Let us know on Twitter.
PS. We do not take responsibility for the crazy transfer market a mere 72 hours before kick-off. We also need sleep.
