I don't watch a ton of Liga MX, so this is a pure stat review, but I'm a bit tepid on Zendejas. This year we're talking about someone who's a teench above-average in creating goal or assist opportunities (60th percentile), above average in progressive passing (69th), and is an elite outlet (90th percentile in progressive passes received). He also a plus in terms of defensive activity. So we're talking about a pretty good but seemingly not elite winger in Liga MX. A decent comp, statistically speaking, would be Paul Arriola -- who's a bit of a bete noire for many in the fanbase. Of course, doing it in Liga MX is more impressive than doing it in MLS, but then again it's less impressive than in a top Euro league. He seems like a solid depth piece but not a contender as a starter, unless he has another massive step forward left in him.
I haven't seen Zendejas in years since he played for FCD but Arriola is a good comparison. He may be more skilled but I'll have to wait and see. Both are terriers and every team needs a few of those.
He's borderline elite in goals/90 relative to position - it's 92nd percentile. 37th percentile for assists though. Tends to look for his shot. But when he doesn't, I've seen plenty of accurate passes. Something to build off. The possession #'s are pretty good. I don't see the carrying #'s anymore, but he's seemingly a plus at that. And we miss it when it that's out of the lineup. He's good in duals. Don't know about pressing. So it would even out. He'd not be a total defensive liability, to benefit from contribution in attack & position. Arriola is a poor comparison. He never had more than 2 goals in a LigaMX season. Zendejas has been at 4+ in 4 straight samples. You're also talking a rangy, effort guy vs. a skill one. It's also not necessarily more impressive really that he's doing it in Liga MX. MLS may have more talent at this point. LigaMX is more competitive on the daily. It's not linear. Some players are going to do better in one, others in the alternative. It's not useful data, beyond a jumping off point. I'm relatively agnostic about his future, while sharing there's some intrigue despite his profile, and I can see analogs of the better versions of his style that have been pretty successful in the game.
Sure, the goals are elite. But as we've seen from Jordan Pefok and others, we should care about the expected goals. And there, Zendejas is above average but not necessarily a standout. Arriola's MLS numbers are a perfectly fine comp. Arriola last year was 75th percentile in xG+xA in MLS; Zendejas 60th in Liga MX. Both of them were 85+ percentile in progressive passes received. Arriola was 52nd percentile in progressive passes...Zendejas 69th (certainly a solid edge there.) Basically, run down the numbers for Zendejas, you're looking at an above-average guy relative to the competition. The question is how impressive you find the competition. Obviously it's better than MLS but somewhat worse than the best Euro leagues -- which means something like "depth, but not a starter" is a perfectly reasonable and correct projection.
XG, to rate individual performance, is junk science. What the Pefok situation tells us is to not get lured by a small sample & for many players finishing confidence runs in streaks. In Zendejas' case, he's scored across 4 apertura/clausuras. That's not a small sample. It's who he is now, and possibly almost always. He warrants credit for that. He can score, at least in LigaMX. If this is where the data points are leading you, you need to go back to the drawing board w/ these being your criterium. Because style-wise, they're quite different players. Arriola isn't technical or nuanced in his game but he's relentless and at slower speeds he can hit a shot or pass. Zendejas is going to be more effective in a possession game when he can find the ball and operate thru smaller spaces, Arriola on the counter when he has space. That means the style of team and league is going to translate better for one or the other. Where you're going to see the vast difference statistically is in possession and out. Zendejas is plus in a vast majority of possession categories, while Arriola is in the negatives. But Arriola can make runs to stretch the d. And he can pressure. While Zendejas can ball win. Decisively wins in his area, Arriola out of it. It's a pretty pointless comparison. Again, you're saying things like "it's obviously better than MLS", when there are counterpoints that make it far from obvious, like MLS spending more $ and producing more talent than Liga MX these days. But LigaMX has more passion + still some degree of pro-rel. Presence in those leagues v. the other just doesn't tell us anything either way. Arriola also has the negative of having proven he's not good enough/doesn't translate. Zendejas is a blank slate. He's in the category of a dice roll now. He could end up translating everything he's done in LigaMX to Copa America/WC & Spain. It's not that you're necessarily going to be a 6 at this level, when you're an 8 at a lower one. Stuart Holden was borderline best XI in MLS of yesteryear (a worse version), and then he immediately did the same thing in the EPL. So step right up!
If Zendejas helps set the new floor at the winger position for this cycle, that's a pretty decent floor... Established: Pulisic/Reyna/Weah/BAaronson Moving up: Paredes/Tillman/Mihailovic/PAaronson Floor: Zendejas/Arriola/JMorris Others who could emerge: Konrad/Cowell/Koelosho/Clark/Gutierrez/Mighten Probably below the floor: Gioachinni/Mueller/JLewis/etc. Move a few of those guys around as you want (maybe Morris is now sub-floor, maybe PAaronson is still in the Others, etc.)
John Tolkin is one to keep your eyes on. Left back. He has come up through the Red Bulls youth system. Very good defender. Very good fighter for loose balls. Good passer but not too aggressive offensively. Now 20 years old (4 months older than entitled Gio) he was defender of the year for the Red Bulls. Also he is mature for his age. This is probably his last year in MLS.
Zendajas Stats: percentile for position Non-PK Goals: 92 Assists: 20 XAG: 37 Pass Completion %: 62 Dribbles: 56 Progressive Passes: 51 Tackles: 81 Int: 78 Blocks: 78 Aerials: 59 Strong defensive numbers. Has a nose for goal. Pefok, Hoppe, Sargent, and Dike. I'd love to see Ferreria get minutes in a wide position. He has good pace and passing ability.
Fair point but Philly had the best defense in MLS last year so it's probably better than any CONCACAF team. Concerning Top 15 international teams - we play them so seldom now with all the NL crap that it's hard to measure and comparing our forwards against each other shows none of them to be a solution yet. I still get your major point and that's while he has scored in MLS he needs to prove he can score on the international scene as a small forward from a secondary league. He really needed/needs to go to a top 5 league to improve now. MLS will start to be diminishing returns.
Agreed and it would be great to raise the floor all over the team. The team was exhausted against Netherlands because there wasn't much WC caliber depth. Next time it would be great to be truly at least two deep at each position. I should say three deep since there are so many injuries. Lose Richards? Hopefully someone a bit better than Long is there who the coach is seemed afraid to play. DLT not 90 minute ready? Then someone just as good makes the roster so the kids get proper rotation (I actually think had Reyna not been injured so much this would have already happened but then we always have lots of injuries so we need another mid at the level - or two or three).
Even though Ferreira is GGG’s #1 guy in the heart, I don’t see European clubs rushing to throw a big money at him. So far MLS exports over $20M is very rare. You can understand why Aston Villa rather using that on player like Jhon then in Ferreira. So far most US forwards are pretty in range of $10M-$15M. Pepe was a little inflated for sure. Maybe first one to break if he switched is Balogun.
Wrong Fastest MLS players in 2022, per Second Spectrum's top sustained speed:1. Cade Cowell, 10.18 m/s2. Luis Diaz, 10.17 m/s3. Jesus Ferreira, 10.12 m/s4. John Nelson, 10.11 m/s5. Yimmi Chara, 10.04 m/s6. Alvas Powell, 10.027. Patryk Klimala, 10.0108. Jordan Morris, 10.009— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) October 12, 2022 edit: And it's Jayden Nelson (not John) which was later cleared up.
Your opinion on this differs greatly from fact. There are other things to argue about that aren't so clear, but Ferreira's speed is not one of them.
Ferreira is fast but he didn’t drive aggressively in the attack. Kind of like when Pulisic in the form or like today the new guy Mudryk in Chelsea.
Surrounded by the controversy of the Berhalter-Reyna fallout, I asked #USMNT assistant coach Anthony Hudson what his own goal are: “To get to the end of this week, to have supported these players and put them in a position to show what they can do and express themselves.” pic.twitter.com/9hkUbZmmdE— chandrima (@chandrimatweets) January 21, 2023
Ferreira did something I don't think I've ever seen before: He receives the ball in the box, turns around and back passes from inside the box to the center circle. That's called chance dese-creation.
I saw the clip. He still doesn't seem fast. The CB is as slow as molasses. My money would be on Arriola, De La Fuente, Weah, Pulisic, Jedi, Adams, etc. etc..