Who does Edson Alvarez replace in this Chelsea side?

That is relatively high stat considering the amount of the ball Alvarez’s team has. Clearly he is a very good defensive midfielder, as he has won 67% of his tackles so far this season. He also won 71% of his tackles last season, and 60% the season before that, indicating that he’s a very good tackler too.

His passing is also very good. All these point to Jorginho being the one that would be replaced, as he does not compliment Jorginho, but would complement a more mobile player. Of course Alvarez moves a lot as it is, but that’s because Ajax is often dominating play and naturally the defensive players will find themselves with space in front of them to get into and flex their legs.

Alvarez also plays the ball forward a lot, as he has averaged 86% passing accuracy last season and 87% this season. For that position in a team that has that much of the ball, you’d expect him to have a higher passing accuracy, however passes between the lines are often cut out much more frequently than short passes or switches of play. Long ball accuracy is comparatively on par with that of competent defensive midfielder at 61%.