Breaking Down Paul Pogba's Stats for Juventus This Season

Paul Pogba arrived at Juventus almost three years ago, knowing he would have to work incredibly hard just to earn a place in the Bianconeri midfield. With Claudio Marchisio, Andrea Pirlo and Arturo Vidal ahead of him, the Frenchman had a trio of top-quality players ahead of him and many wondered just how regularly he would feature.

That was the summer of 2012, and just a few months later the name of the former Manchester United youngster was already a regular fixture on Antonio Conte’s team sheet. An injury to Marchisio gave him his first opportunity, but Pogba began to feature in place of all three stars and adopted some of their myriad of skills into his play.

Still prominent today, those attributes—along with his own incredible athleticism and wonderful natural talent—combine to make Pogba one of European football’s most coveted stars. Just last week, his agent Mino Raiola told Le Parisien that “all the big clubs are interested,” in his client (h/t Football Italia) and it is increasingly easy to see why.

Marco Vasini/Associated Press/Associated Press/Associated Press

At just 20 years old, Pogba has already begun to blossom into one of arguably the world’s most complete midfielder, able to tailor his game to any occasion or opponent. While there is no substitute for watching such a gifted star in person, even his 2014-15 statistics offer valuable insight into the impact he has upon matches.

The following statistics are taken from WhoScored.com unless otherwise stated

Defence

It may not be the most glamorous part of the game, but like any valuable central midfielder, Pogba’s work rate and intelligence without the ball are essential. Under Massimiliano Allegri, Juventus are much more subtle defensively, resting far more than they did when Conte sat on the bench, as the new coach seeks to ensure his players are not overly fatigued later in the campaign.

That approach may make the team appear more vulnerable, yet they have conceded just 14 goals in their league games this term, with Pogba playing a major role in shielding the back line. Only Vidal (3.0) has averaged more tackles than his mark of 2.5 per game, while he has also added 0.8 interceptions per outing.

Squawka.com

As the above graphic—courtesy of the Squawka website—shows, Pogba has improved across the board from last year to win an overall 54 percent of his challenges, up from just 47 percent in 2013-14. He has begun to take advantage aerially, with only Giorgio Chiellini (2.4), Fernando Llorente (2.0) and Angelo Ogbonna (1.9) winning more than his average of 1.5 headers per game.

Passing

Working alongside Pirlo in training on a daily basis has clearly been good for Pogba, whose passing has improved steadily over the last three years. In his first season, the Frenchman averaged 38.4 passes per game and completed 82.9 percent, figures which have shifted to 47.0 and 83.1 respectively in the current campaign.

Like any truly top-quality player, he rises to the level of his opponents too, improving to make 46.9 passes per game in the Champions League and connecting with 85.7 percent of those efforts. Back in 2012-13, Pogba made just 0.8 key passes—ones leading to a direct scoring opportunity—per game, and that figure is now up to an impressive 1.5 per outing.

Shooting

Having scored some wonderful long-range goals in his early appearances for the Bianconeri, Pogba began to shoot far too often last year, taking two attempts per game in the league and 2.7 in the Champions League.

Squawka.com

According to Squawka.com, just 33 percent of his efforts found the target but, as the above graphic shows, he has improved this term. Taking just 1.6 shots per outing in Europe, he has hit the mark with a much more respectable 54 percent of those attempts; and his goal against Sassuolo on Monday took him level with last year’s tally of eight in all competitions.

His match-winning effort—and its significance to Juventus—were reviewed in detail here, but the strike and those statistics are testament not only to his increased accuracy, but also vastly improved shot selection.

Dribbling

Perhaps the most eye-catching part of Pogba’s play is his close control, instantly able to bring the ball down in the tightest of situations and beat an opponent. Now averaging three completed dribbles per game, he is successfully completing 75 percent of his take-on attempts compared to 54 percent last term and 51 percent back in 2012-13.