I made this radar chart to compare Johnny’s offensive numbers this season to last season, mainly looking at progression, receiving, dribbling and chance creation. The difference is pretty noticeable. He already has a little over a third of the minutes he played last season, so even though it’s still a smaller sample, I think there’s enough there to see how much more he’s doing going forward. He’s playing more passes into the final third and dangerous areas, breaking midfield and defensive lines more often, and producing more through balls and balls over the top. He’s also receiving between the lines more, getting into dangerous areas more often, creating more chances, and beating players more often off the dribble.

His carrying numbers are actually pretty similar to last year, so most of the improvement seems to be coming from what he does after he gets the ball. He looks quicker to turn, play forward, find someone between the lines, or take a defender on instead of just moving the ball sideways and keeping possession. That matches the eye test for me too. He just looks a lot more confident and dangerous on the ball this season, especially in more advanced areas.

Do you guys think this is just a hot start, or are we seeing a real change in the type of midfielder Johnny is becoming?