Serie A Prospectus: Cagliari
Cagliari
Possession: 49%
Offensive Vital Signs
Deep Completions: Average (9th)
Pass Difficulty: Very Difficult (3rd toughest)
Completions Above Average: Average
Field Position: Average
Shot Generation: Poor (13th)
Good Shot%: Slightly Above Average
Possession Length: Average
Zones They Progress Well From: 7
Zones They Progress Poorly From: 5
Defensive Vital Signs
Deep Completions Allowed: Very Bad (15th)
Pass Difficulty Allowed: Average
Completions Above Average Allowed: Average
Field Position Allowed: Average
Shot Generation Allowed: Slightly Above Average
Good Shot% Allowed: Poor (allow significantly more good shots than average)
High Press: Average
Zones That Are Easy To Progress Through: 2, 3
Zones That Are Tough To Progress Through: 7
Zone Reminder
50 Pass Types Were Determined By a Clustering Algorithm, These Are The Types Atalanta Plays at +/- 1 Standard Deviation from Average
Key Passing Combos: Blue=Cragno-Pavoletti, Orange=Srna-Pavoletti
Quick Summary
A very bland team whose dreadful offense means their average defense is still overmatched. Major left-sided problems again. They don’t let opponents generate shots quickly, but don’t do anything much besides that as opponents slowly move forward to pick out their shots. Offensively, it’s a long ball show with Leonardo Pavoletti being the absolute centerpiece.
Player Profiles
Leonardo Pavoletti, 29, forward
To take 2.5 in-box shots per 90 is impressive, especially when the entire team takes 11 total. Pavoletti dominates aerially, winning 7.7of his 12.1 aerials, which is basically how Cagliari get an avenue advance the ball from the back via goal kicks. He gets most of his shots via his head as well and 5 of his 6 goals this year and 14 of the 17 over the past two years have come via header. Cagliari would be fools to sell him but Sevilla are a type of team, with lots of quality crosses, who should be sniffing around looking for him as a plan B type.
Filippo Romagna, 21, center back
He can play the ball extremely well, standing out like a Coen Brothers movie on the Netflix recommendation screen. Can he defend?Cagliari don’t shut down passes into the box at any strong rate, if you squint you can say their xG allowed is lower than their deep completions allowed but that’s not much. I don’t have any clue if he can defend, I just know you should scout and look deeper and ask someone smarter than me.
Darijo Srna, 36, right back
Tries the toughest passes on Cagliari and only really gets involved in the longer possessions. An odd combination. He’s sort of the guy in the pickup game who floats around the perimeter and then when he gets it, always tries a step back 3. Not sure how useful that game type is.
Standouts
Deep Completions
79th Percentile: Darijo Srna
78th percentile: Paolo Farago
Great Ball Progressors
Filippo Romagna, Zones 6-7
Poor Ball Progressors
Artur Ionita, Zones 3-4
Lucas Castor, Zones 3-5
Defensively Active
86th percentile: Nicolo Barella
81st percentile: Paolo Farago
78th percentile: Luca Cigarini
Shooters
96th Percentile: Leonardo Pavoletti
Ball-Carriers
75th Percentile: Luca Ceppitelli
One-Touch Passers
100th percentile: Leonardo Pavoletti, that head again
93rd percentile: Artur Ionita
92nd percentile: Lucas Castro
88th percentile: Nicolo Barella