Mateo Kovacic by the numbers: Drastic improvement in 2021/22

Defensive Metrics

For the basic defensive metrics that were analyzed, Kovacic has increased all stats in 2021/2022 on a per 90 basis.

The largest improvement for Kovacic has come in his pressuring of the opponent per 90 minutes. This is a crucial aspect of all players within a team managed by Tuchel, and Kovacic has to be gaining more and more of his manager’s trust with defensive improvement in all aspects. Taking a look at Kovacic’s pressures per third per 90 minutes also supports the previously suggested idea that he is playing further up the pitch and being tasked with creating opportunities for others, instead of being used further back and as a reset option for the attack when it would break down like last season.

“PRESSURES GRAPH”

This graph is perhaps the most revealing and supportive that Kovacic is being used higher up the pitch in matches and that it is bringing out the best of him as a player. His ability to now pressure more in the middle and final thirds per 90, along with his increased SCAs, GCAs, key passes, passes into the penalty area, and lesser attempted long passes into the final third, are key reasons why Kovacic is making a strong claim for Chelsea’s Player of the Year, although there are still many matches left to be played at this point.

Overall, Mateo Kovacic is drastically improving his game in the most often criticized areas. He is continuing to be a silky-smooth dribbler on the ball, beat the opponent’s presses, link the thirds of the pitch on the ball, and play high percentage passes, but his transformation in the direct attacking phases of the game is most eye-popping. This is what Chelsea fans have been craving with Kovacic: a world class center midfielder who can be effective and consistently involved with the attacking phases of the game. This has long been an issue with Chelsea’s CM room since the departure of Cesc Fabregas, but there is reason to believe that Kovacic is beginning to alleviate some of these concerns, however so slightly.

Chelsea fans should be delighted at these stats and the overall improvement of Kovacic so far in the 2021/2022 season. These are the types of numbers that would easily position the Croatian for a second Chelsea Player of the Season award, and he is beginning to display why he is an essential cog of the team moving forward. There just are not other midfielders in this squad who can perform the specialized and general aspects of Kovacic’s game at this moment. These statistics per 90 will be difficult for Kovacic to continue for the rest of the season, and regression to the mean (in some capacity) is likely, but for the time being there is little to question or criticize: Kovacic has proved many wrong and will continue to do so.

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