One minute, the best player of the Eredivisie seemed set to join Paris Saint-Germain. The next, it was officially announced that he had become a Manchester United player. After a whirlwind of events which culminated in the confirmation of Memphis Depay's arrival at Old Trafford next season, quite a few people were bound to wonder as to the qualities of the player. Sure, best in the Eredivisie sounds nice, but Alfonso Alves was also one of the best players in that league before he crashed and burned at Middlesbrough. On the other side of the coin, Luis Suarez came to the Premier League, adapted, and simply ran rampant last season. So, the question then arises: will Memphis Depay be an Alfonso Alves or a Luis Suarez?
In case it has not already been made clear yet, Memphis likes to drift inside off of the left wing quite often, being most influential when given the freedom to do so. An issue may arise as if Louis van Gaal persists with placing Juan Mata on the right wing while having Memphis on the left, as they both will look to cut inside, thus narrowing the team considerably. Such a situation may be solved by placing Angel di Maria in his best position as the left central midfielder, so he may drive from a deeper position to create an alternate threat by running either through the heart of the opposition defense or out wide to the left wing. A noticeable feature of Real Madrid in the Decima-winning campaign was di Maria surging through the midfield onto the left wing as Ronaldo drifted into becoming a quasi-striker. There have been multiple suggestions of Memphis perhaps becoming the "next Ronaldo," and, given his shooting ability combined with a potential partnership with di Maria, it is not necessarily an impossible title to acquire.
Here, make note on the range of Memphis' passing to create chances for his teammates. This reinforces the idea of his vision to be able to create opportunities for his teammates in addition to scoring chances himself. Memphis is an intelligent footballer who knows what to do and when to do it. Usually.
This is a more interesting range of passing on behalf of Memphis in this match. Though PSV dominated and ended up winning quite handily, with Memphis scoring yet another goal, he was perhaps not as influential as he might have been. Sure, the performance was impressive, yet one can see that he drifts quite a bit, perhaps too much for his own good. There must be a level of control, as he may unintentionally leave Manchester United's left wing wide open to be exploited by floating out of position. Like Gareth Bale at Tottenham, Memphis is given great leeway at PSV to do what he wants to do because he is easily the best player on the team. Matches like this one show his youthfulness in the sheer number of misplaced passes he commits in searching for the one "Hollywood pass." His creativity is not to be denied, but let this be a reminder that Memphis is still only 21 years old and has quite a bit of room to develop in. He has to be given time and patience and he will surely grow.
IMPACT: 9/10
Statistical Analysis:
Memphis' immediate impressions are striking indeed, with him having scored 21 goals while assisting 4 more over the course of his 28 league appearances this season, as he totaled 2396 minutes played, or roughly 85 minutes per game, all at the age of 21. He has started almost all the games for which he has been available for PSV, with the only exception being a groin injury which kept him out of 7 matches at the start of the season, indicating his reliability in terms of fitness, something which is undoubtedly a relief to Manchester United fans given the consistent injury woes which have plagued the squad throughout much of the season. His goal-scoring (and assisting) prowess resulted in him contributing a goal to the team in some form roughly every 96 minutes that he has played this season, a consistency which places him above the likes of Eden Hazard (141 minutes per goal+assist) and Gareth Bale (114 minutes per goal+assist). One must keep in mind the gap between the Eredivisie and both La Liga as well as the Premier League, so these numbers should be expected to drop, but even then, he would likely find himself in very good company. Nevertheless, this keen eye for goal permits Memphis to play across any of the front three positions, something Louis van Gaal will undoubtedly be pleased with as it will give the manager a flexibility in his tactics, most notably in giving a very quick option to play as a striker in matches where the Manchester United boss chooses to set up a more counter-attacking formation.
He is a volume shooter, averaging 5.5 shots per game, starkly more than Eden Hazard (2 per game) and definitely more than United's current left winger Ashley Young (1.2 per game). Much like a certain Cristiano Ronaldo (who himself takes 6.3 shots per game), Memphis is more than willing to take a shot from anywhere on the pitch, provided he is given a slight chance to take a shot. While it would be nice to have someone taking long-distance shots at goal, something which Manchester United has largely lacked this season, it is pointless if the player is consistently failing to find the target. In this area, Memphis puts in good numbers, scoring a goal for every 14% of the shots he takes, a little off of Ronaldo and Hazard's 20% shot conversion rate. However, statistics can be misleading, as Ronaldo and Depay are both likelier to take riskier attempts shots at goal, something which is likely hampering their shot conversion rates while Hazard, who shoots significantly less, appears to make his attempts when it appears to be "safer" to shoot.
There are noticeable gaps between Memphis and the likes of Eden Hazard and Gareth Bale, and these begin to become apparent as one goes deeper into his performance statistics. Memphis makes 2.8 successful dribbles per game, much more than Ashley Young (1.5 per game) and about one more than Bale, but significantly less than Hazard (4.6 per game). And, despite his completing of less dribbles than Hazard, Memphis is dispossessed at about the same rate (2.4 dispossessions per game versus 2.8), while having about one more unsuccessful touch per game, indicating a tendency to give the ball back to the opposition. This is not helped by the fact that his from his 32 passes per game, he only has a completion rate of 74.6%, significantly less than all the other players involved on this comparison. This is somewhat rectified by his 2.1 key passes per game, which is fairly close to Hazard's 2.6 key passes and far more than Ashley Young's 1.3 key passes per game, highlighting Memphis' willingness to play a risky pass and attempt to create opportunities for his teammates.
This is furthered by his fantastic crossing ability, wherein Memphis completes 28% of all the crosses he attempts, which is higher than both Hazard and Young, with both of them having a 25% completion rate, though Young attempts far more crosses than Hazard does. Where Memphis tries about 4.6 crosses per game, Hazard only tries 1.5 while Young pumps in 8.4, which definitely places Young in a more positive light in keeping such a reasonably high success rate while sending the ball into the box so often. Nevertheless, Memphis' statistics all indicate that while he is definitely a talent, there are some glaring issues which stand out, something which reflects his youthful age and ability to grow. Through a purely statistical outlook, it appears as though Manchester United have signed a player with major potential who has the ability to slot into the team and start growing. However, one must keep in mind the difference between playing for PSV in the Eredivisie and playing for Manchester United in the Premier League. As such, only statistics cannot be relied upon.
Match Analysis:
Memphis, as successful as he has been throughout his entire season, has had to have performed in individual matches in order to produce the numbers he has produced. Much like any other player, he is bound to have had poor games from time-to-time, and so it is critical to see what he contributes even when he has not performed well, thereby allowing to best understand his qualities in the team:
PSV EINDHOVEN 1 - 3 AJAX
While definitely a poor loss for PSV on their march to the title this season, several aspects of Memphis' play become immediately apparent. While he is defined as being a left winger, he has a tendency to drift inside the pitch and at times even merging onto the right side of the field where he should theoretically not be. Furthermore, he does not appear to be the type of winger who sticks to the sideline and runs down, whipping in crosses; instead he seems to work the spaces in and around the box, looking to find an angle which he can come in from. A look into his passing decisions throughout this match further validates this notion:
The starting position of Memphis' passes immediately draws attention to and reinforces the idea that he is the type of winger who, while largely sticking to his position, is very capable of drifting inside. More often than not, he passes inside, suggesting that he may be looking to create quick one-twos between the left-sided central midfielder and himself to he can make forays into the box. Memphis' capabilities to drift inside will be critical as it will open up space for Luke Shaw to attack into with greater effect next season, as Depay provides an additional threat to simply being able to cross: his shooting
What is critical to note here is how often Memphis takes his shots from outside the box. Out of 7 total attempts, 5 were taken from positions he had taken after drifting infield while still outside the box. Furthermore, two of his shots were blocked by defenders, while another two forced saves from Jasper Cillessen, indicating his ability to threaten the goal from outside the box even on an off-day like this match.
FEYENOORD 2 - 1 PSV EINDHOVEN
While this is another loss on PSV's march to the title, Memphis was one of the Rotterdam outfit's best players on the day, in his being able to still score a goal. (Please note that PSV is attacking the left side, as such making the left wing in this instance the bottom half of the figure)
His heatmap in this instance is more conservative than in the Ajax match as though he showed an ability to influence the match by taking multiple positions across the entirety of the pitch in the previously discussed match, he adopts a deeper role in this instance. What this suggests is that though Memphis much prefers adopting an attacking role in which he is running at defenders and dragging them out of position, he is more than capable of being disciplined and holding his place for the sake of the team. However, this does not contain his tendency to drift in search of goals, as is evident by how his heatmap trails off towards the center of the pitch.
Again, despite being forced deeper than he usually is, Memphis produced quality in being able to slip into space before eventually scoring from a long-distance effort which again highlighted his ability to shoot from any spot on the football pitch. He continually demonstrates a consistency in being able to force the goalkeeper into dangerous situations which may benefit himself in terms of his goal tally or his team if the goalkeeper were to parry the ball back into the box or simply by pulling defenders around him because of the threat that he provides.
TWENTE 0 - 5 PSV EINDHOVEN
Where the previous two were losses, here is an absolutely sublime performance by Memphis in which he scored two goals in a match away from home.
Just a small note on his shooting here. Again, the long shots are a feature, though his clinical ability inside the box is something to note as he goes across the goalkeeper for one of his two goals while coolly slotting it home for another. He knows how to find space, get in the right position, and put the ball into the back of the net, not just take long shot after long shot.
PSV EINDHOVEN 4 - 1 HEERENVEEN
Final Thoughts:
Was this somewhat long? Perhaps. Actually, almost definitely. But for good reason. Memphis Depay could very well be one of the best players of his generation. It is most definitely possible given his flair and scoring ability. He has a multifaceted, intelligent approach to the game which flows wonderfully with his sheer pace and raw strength, attributes which would surely aid him in succeeding in the Premier League. Memphis has an innate sense of finding the goal, either be it for himself or through creating chances for his teammates. But he is still young. While it is important to hope for him to fulfill his potential and believe in him becoming a Manchester United legend, it is equally critical to appreciate the fact that he is moving from a league that he dominated to a league which is foreign and strange and one in which he may not succeed from the get-go. But he will grow, and he has the talent to be the focus of the team, much like Cristiano Ronaldo was a little under a decade ago. This time, however, I do not think he will be trading Manchester for Madrid.
IMPACT: 9/10
POTENTIAL: 10/10
LIKELIHOOD OF TRANSFER: ALREADY DONE
All statistics sourced from WhoScored.com and all diagrams sourced from Squawka
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