A surprise inclusion on the team sheet against West Ham was Brendan Galloway. The former MK Dons man made his debut at left-back, in favour of Luke Garbutt.
As you would expect, the manager was full praise for the 19 year-old.
“It was a big moment in his career & he coped in a magnificent manner. I thought Brendan was always cool, composed and had an incredible confidence. All in all he has been outstanding in his standards over the last 10 months since we brought him to the football club. Brendan is a young man that is developing into a very special defender. He is a defender that can cope with one-v-one situations, is very good in the air and is very composed on the ball. He can start the play, play as a left-back and probably become a centre-half.”
Many supporters have echoed these sentiments, and despite being slightly caught out for the West Ham goal, the general consensus was that he had a solid debut.
But what do the statistics say?
Defensively, Galloway made 3 successful tackles, with only Gareth Barry making more. He also made 6 clearances, the fourth highest in the team, and managed to block one shot. Two fouls were committed but overall it was a competent defensive display.
In possession is where Galloway falls down slightly, but considering it was his debut this shouldn’t be a surprise. He made 26 passes, significantly less than his defensive partners, whilst his pass accuracy was 57.7%, compared to Jagielka’s 90.7%, Stones’ 84.4% and Coleman’s 95.2%. He played 7 long balls, with only 1 of them finding its target. He was also dispossessed twice.
Going forward, Galloway never really made much of an impact, but again this shouldn’t be a surprise. His future is clearly not as a marauding full back in the shape of Coleman or Baines, but at centre-half. He attempted just the one cross. As the heat maps show, Galloway was far less involved, particularly in an attacking sense, than Seamus Coleman on the other side.
Galloway v West Ham
Coleman v West Ham
Of course, statistics only tell part of the story. Anyone who watched the game will have seen Galloway put in a composed performance and one where he was completely unfazed by the prospect of playing Premier League football. His tackle on Cheikhou Kouyaté epitomised this, despite the Senegalese not taking too kindly to being shown up by the youngster.
Should Martinez choose to switch to a back 3 next season, it’s clear that Galloway would provide a viable option for the left side of that 3. His mobility and athleticism are key, whilst his possession play will only improve with games. In many ways, he share some characteristics with John Stones, which isn’t a bad thing by any means.
A promising debut, which bodes well for the future.
