James Maddison vs David Brooks- Stats comparison of 2 breakout stars
As we reach the crunch end of another enthralling season in the Premier League, it is time for us to take a look at some of the breakout stars of the campaign. While the seasoned campaigners like Sergio Aguero, Eden Hazard, Mohamed Salah, David Silva, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and many others have continued their merry way, the Premier League this season has also seen some of the young guns make their mark at the highest level with some scintillating performances.
The likes of David Brooks, James Maddison, Declan Rice, Domingos Quina, Harry Winks, Oliver Skipp, Matteo Guendouzi and a few others have been some of the revelations of the season. Although West Ham’s Declan Rice has been really impressive, Maddison and Brooks have set the stage on fire with their creativity.
Let us get a deeper insight into the statistics of two of the best emerging players of the Premier League this season- Leicester City’s James Maddison and Bournemouth’s David Brooks.
Signed from Sheffield United in the summer for a fee of £11.5million, David Brooks has really proved his worth for Eddie Howe’s side. The 21-year-old Welshman has accumulated 6 goals and 4 assists from 22 appearances in the Premier League this season, playing in multiple positions in the midfield and attacking third. While he has excelled in his favoured No.10 role, the youngster has also caught the eye with his pace, skills and technical abilities down the right-hand side of the pitch.
Along with Bournemouth’s assist king Ryan Fraser, Brooks has not only injected that creativity into the attack but he has also made runs into the box to get on the end of through balls and crosses. Furthermore, he has been equally impressive with his work rate off the ball, pressing the opposition higher up the pitch to win possession back for his team.
To sum it up, he has been an absolute livewire for Bournemouth and his energetic presence has allowed the likes of Callum Wilson and Joshua King to make a massive impact.
Now, let us shift our attention to Leicester’s James Maddison. Signed from Norwich City in the summer for a staggering £22million, many fans might have thought that the Foxes paid over the odds to secure the youngster’s signature. However, he has proven his critics wrong, taking the Premier League by storm in his debut season. Maddison has established himself as the heartbeat of Leicester’s attack, registering 5 goals and 4 assists from 23 appearances.
Just like Brooks has been one of the pivots of Bournemouth’s attack, Maddison has been at the centre of everything that Leicester have achieved this season, with Claude Puel relying heavily on the Englishman to spark that creativity. His quality on the ball, vision, technical abilities and eye for goal have been indispensable for Leicester.
Maddison has often been used on the left when Puel has gone in with a 4-3-3 but the Englishman has proved his worth as a well-rounded attacker. Not only has he impressed with his superb passing, eye for goal and immaculate deliveries from set pieces but also has done a lot of work off the ball as well, allowing players like Jamie Vardy and Demarai Gray to get into scoring positions.
Well, both the players have been fantastic performers for their respective teams but let us analyse their impact with the help of some figures. Maddison averages 35.6 passes per game with an accuracy percentage of 82.8, including 2.5 key passes, 1.5 crosses, 2.2 successful long balls, 2.1 shots and 1.3 dribbles per game in the Premier League.
Brooks, on the other hand, is slightly behind in terms of numbers, averaging 25 passes per game with an accuracy percentage of 72.1, including 1 key pass, 0.3 crosses, 0.5 long balls, 0.7 dribbles and 1.6 shots per game. Both the players have contributed a lot defensively as well, with Brooks and Maddison deadlocked on 1.3 tackles per game.
However, with all due respect to Brooks’ achievements, Maddison has shown a bit more quality on the ball and has been more apt with his decision-making in front of goal. While Maddison has created a total of 9 big chances in the Premier League, Brooks has managed to create only 5. On the other hand, Maddison has missed only 3 clear-cut chances as compared to Brooks’ 8. The Leicester man has been dispossessed 0.9 times per game while the Welshman has lost possession almost 1.5 times per game.
It would be a bit harsh to pass a verdict on who has been the best breakout star. However, the stats clearly show that James Maddison has been a little more clinical than David Brooks, although it must be considered that both the players have been assigned different roles by their respective managers.
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To conclude, both players have had a wonderful breakout season but Maddison has just shown that he is just an inch ahead of David Brooks in terms of development.
