On Wednesday, Columbus Crew SC got back to winning ways on the road for the first time since late October of 2014 with a 1-0 win over rival Chicago Fire. In that game, Wil Trapp made his first start in over three months while recovering from concussion symptoms. It’s far from a coincidence that such a lengthy losing streak came to an end with his presence on the field for the game’s entire duration.
If you follow MLS at all, you’ve probably heard Trapp’s name get mentioned alongside other promising young talents within the league. A product of the Crew SC Academy, he spent two years at the University of Akron under current Portland Timbers head coach Caleb Porter, winning MAC Freshman of the Year in 2011. Upon finishing his collegiate career, he signed a Homegrown contract with Crew SC is and one of five current players on the Black and Gold roster to have come up through their academy system.
What is it about Trapp’s on-field play that makes him such a valuable cog within Crew SC head coach Gregg Berhalter’s overall tactical setup? Is there any data we can collect and analyze to gain a better understanding of his specific role? How does that data compare to other players within the league who play that similar role for their respective teams?
Hopefully, by the time you’ve finished reading this the picture will be a little bit clearer.
How Wil Trapp Gets It Done For Columbus Crew SC
Soccer, like pretty much any other team sport, is built around individuals playing a targeted role within a broader team concept. It’s not just a bunch of mindless automatons running around trying to find a way to kick the ball into the net. Good coaches and technical directors find players with various skill sets and successfully mesh them all together into his or her overall system.
Trapp’s role is that of a holding defensive midfielder. His primary tasks on the field are twofold.
The first is to serve as sort of a first line of defense against opposing players bringing the ball into their attacking third. This is done by winning 50-50 balls and getting a hold of that second ball after the initial challenge. It’s also accomplished by anticipating the passing tendencies of opponents and disrupting the fluidity and rhythm of their ball distribution.
Secondly, a truly gifted number six (soccer jargon for a pure defensive midfielder) is able to effectively distribute the ball downfield himself. Not only is he the first line of defense when the opposition is in possession, he’s also in many respects the first line of offense in terms of germinating a team’s buildup play. This rings especially true with possession-oriented teams like Columbus.
Wil Trapp has a highly advanced grasp of both these qualities, and it’s why he gets such rave reviews from league observers for his play. Is there a way we can statistically analyze what he does on the pitch and how it compares to his teammates as well as players from around the league who have a similar role for other teams?
Thanks to soccer analytics firm Opta, who provides comprehensive data for a number of leagues around the world including MLS, we indeed have that ability.
Of particular interest for this discussion is an advanced metric known as usage rate. Basically, it’s a measure of a player’s contribution to a given stat as a percentage of the team’s as a whole over 90 minutes of play. In many respects, it’s a great reflection of a player’s overall work rate.
Since a good defensive midfielder is going to excel at winning the ball from the opposition as well as distributing it downfield, Trapp’s usage rate should stand out in key defensive actions as well as passing. It turns out that is indeed the case.
Since Trapp has missed a significant amount of this season’s play, looking at his 2014 stats might give us a better look at his effectiveness. Specifically we’re going to look at his usage rate in passes as well as tackles and interceptions.
The following two charts shows the top five Crew SC players last season in pass usage as well as tackle+interception usage.
Crew SC Pass Usage Leaders 2014
Crew SC Tackle+Interception Usage Leaders 2014
Trapp’s work rate both as a ball distributor and ball winner should be readily apparent.
Fast forward to this year and despite only having played around 20 percent of the team’s minutes, Trapp is once again leading the way. I’ve actually been keeping track of the league’s leaders in recovery+interception usage rate in 2015. I was forced to use tackles to tabulate the 2014 data since Whoscored.com doesn’t track recoveries. The Opta chalkboard for each MLS game allows you to do so though.
Here are the top five players for Crew SC in recovery-interception usage rate for 2015.
Kevan George, currently on national team duty with Trinidad and Tobago, as well as Mohammed Saeid, have done well filling in for Trapp. If you watch George for the Soca Warriors during the ongoing Gold Cup, you’re well aware he’s comfortable in the defensive midfield. I think Saeid is more geared to a box-to-box role untethered to any one spot in the midfield which is what Tchani accomplishes for Crew SC.
Across the league as a whole, we should see players with an identical role as Trapp leading their respective teams in the above category as well as pass usage. The following graphics should provide a pretty clear picture that there is some correlation.
Keep in mind these numbers don’t take into account Saturday’s games.
MLS Team Leaders Pass Usage 2015
MLS Team Leaders Recovery + Interception Usage 2015
Notice how players such as Dax McCarty for the Red Bulls, Darwin Cerén for Orlando City, and Victor Ulloa for FC Dallas, all lead their respective teams both in getting a majority of the distributive work as well as being able to wrest the ball away from opponents. All of them have a similar role on the field to Trapp in that their holding midfielders. It’s just another example of the importance of the d-mid to a side’s tactical orientation.
With Trapp now fully fit and able to contribute a full 90 minutes on a regular basis, the Black and Gold should certainly have an added pep in their step while also having an increased tactical soundness on the field.
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