MOT View: 0% shot accuracy, but this Leeds talent still played a blinder v Derby County
It’s fair to say that Leeds United fans were suitably impressed with Ian Poveda on Sunday afternoon.
The youngster was handed his full debut by Marcelo Bielsa in the Whites’ 3-1 win over Derby County, and scores of supporters took to social media to express their delight at his performance, as reported by MOT Leeds News.
The former Manchester City starlet also drew praise from Sky Sports pundit Keith Andrews, who claimed it was a surprise that he hadn’t played more since arriving at Elland Road in January.
But just how good was he at Pride Park?
The stats would seemingly suggest that he had a blinder.
Poveda’s pass completion rate against the Rams was 82%, as per Wyscout.
As a point of reference, Pablo Hernandez’s pass completion rate this term has been 76.4%.
Similarly, Poveda completed 80% of his dribbles and won 56% of his duels.
Again, by comparison, Hernandez has a dribble success rate of 56.7% this season, and has won an average of 10.7% fewer duels.
If there was one downside to his game, it was that his shot accuracy was 0%, but one effort off target is hardly the end of the world at all.
And his natural flair and trickiness were clear to see throughout.
In the example above, Poveda takes down a superb cross field diagonal from Hernandez with ease.
His first touch is immaculate, and his first instinct is to get his head down and to drive at the full-back.
Poveda has pace in abundance, but he’s also got quick feet and great agility, and combined with his arsenal of tricks and flicks, you can only imagine how much of a nightmare he must be to try and dispossess – especially as he makes inroads into the box.
In this instance, he realises that the defender has squared up to him, and throws in a couple of step-overs and subtle feints to create half a yard for himself.
With that extra space, he is able to get a ball across the face of goal, and while it may have been cut out this time, the ingenuity and innovation he showed in the build up to the chance is a perfect illustration of just how good this lad is.
His potential is massive, and now that he’s made his first team bow, we just have to hope that he can keep on progressing to become a key player for Leeds in the Premier League next season.
In other Leeds United news, ‘I have no doubt’ – Angus Kinnear reacts to anti-Leeds Sky Sports incident, hints at revenge.