Daniel Parejo Munoz is no strange name in Spanish football in last half a decade or so. He was the darling of Valencia fans for close to a decade. He was their captain and their hero who stayed for such long despite his obvious talents that could have warranted a move to any European club.
After starting his career in the famous La fabrica systems of Real Madrid, he could never nail down a spot in the main team before making a short loan spell to QPR in 2008 and thereafter moved to getafe where he got taste for first team football a lot. His talent was evident as within 2 years Valencia came calling in 2011 who were coached by none other than Unai Emery who also happens to be his coach now in Villareal.
So coming to an important question: What’s this article about and what’s the aim of this article?? This article is an in depth analysis of Parejo in a analytically and how he’s had performed with respect to various metrics when compared to some spanish midfielders that have played in his generation alongside 2 of the top midfelders in last decade in form of Luka Modric and Toni Kroos.
This article starts from all the way from the 17/18 season and until 20/21 when Parejo made the move from Valencia to Villareal. This article is a honest attempt from my side to try and analyze Parejo’s last 4 seasons and give my personal opinion based on my analysis as to who Parejo is, his traits deciphered from the numbers and his case for the Spanish national team.
THE 17/18 Season
The 17/18 season of European football was the season that preceded the 2018 world cup. The analysis of this season can partly be considered as to whether Parejo had a case over 3 other Spanish midfielders in name of Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and David Silva as Parejo Failed to make the final 23 man squad of the Spanish National team.
In the above graph we can see that in terms of progression of the ball with passes, Parejo ranked ahead of fellow Spanish midfielders Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and David Silva and Real madrid midfielder Luka Modric.
While the metric progression distance can be deceiving in many ways, the fact that Parejo was able to significantly progress the ball with his passes is more on show with this visualization.
During the 17/18 season, Parejo managed to play more progressive passes per90 (passes that move the ball towards opposition half) than Iniesta, Busquets and David silva in 17/18 while the passes that led to shots from these ranked him ahead of Modric, Busquets and Iniesta.
In order to be able to quantify the creative abilities both in terms of quality of chances and in quantity, one way can be to measure the key passes (passes leading to shots) and the xA (expected assists). Parejo was ahead significantly in terms of the Key passes he played ahead of Iniesta and busquets again while in terms of quality which is described by the xA accumulated, Parejo outshined his spanish counterparts except for David Silva.
An interesting metric to measure is Shot creating actions (SCA). It describes the actions leading to shot hence the name shot creating actions. When measured against with passes towards the opposition half and the impact it had on SCA, Parejo once again was ahead of Iniesta and Busquets while he led on progressive passes than all the other midfielders except for Toni Kroos.
Another interesting thing is to find out what the shot creating actions bore on the quality of assists (or even quantity). As said earlier, Parejo ranks ahead of Iniesta and Busquets in his shot creating actions per90 while his expected assists wrt to it is also significantly higher.
When it comes to defensive stats, it gets tricky here as it’s very hard to be able to tell any player’s quality in defensive standpoint with tackles. But here the following Radar plots made give an insight onto which areas of the field Parejo covers defensively and how it is compared to the other players in here.
The above is an example of Toni Kroos vs Parejo in season 17/18 wrt to some defensive metrics. Parejo made more tackle attempts and was won more than Kroos while he also was ahead in number of tackles made across all areas of the field (from attacking 3rd, defensive 3rd to midfield 3rd). But here it’s hard to conclude Parejo was better in defensive duties than Kroos though it can be concluded that Parejo was involved more in defensive phase for his team than Toni Kroos.
When compared to Luka modric, the conclusion is almost similar to previous figure where it can be concluded Parejo is involved more in defensive side than modric.
Here’s where it gets interesting when we bring Sergio Busquets to the equation. Busquets is predominantly known to be playing in front of defense and has functioned as a deep lying midfielder for almost his entire career. Again this radar is a representation of involvement in defense and doesnt entirely tell about defensive capabilities but Parejo’s metrics match very similar to Busquets while he’s had some metrics above Busquets showing his involvement in defense over entire pitch.
Now we will take a step further and analyze some metrics wrt how Parejo compares in ball carrying abilities.
An interesting note here is Parejo compared to toni kroos attempted more dribbles than him while he was also hence had more successful dribbles. This may not quantify as a better dribbler entirely but Parejo does dribble a lot compared to kroos, hence there’s also a fact that his dispossession (shown by Carries, Dis) is also higher. But what’s interesting here is Kroos carries the ball lot more than Parejo into the final 3rd of the field which can indicate that Parejo’s carries are more focused in buildup to any move than be involved in penultimate moves wrt to dribbling on the pitch.
Now comparing Daniel Parejo to Andres Iniesta with the same metrics shows how Parejo compares to the Barcelona Veteran. It’s no surprise that Iniesta known to be one of the best ball carrier throughout his career would be ahead of Parejo. But as Previously shown this graph can offer evidence that Parejo’s not involved more in carries deep into the field than Kroos or Iniesta. But to offer more insight into Parejo we will bring in his other countryman.
In the above plot, we can see that Parejo’s more involved than busquets when it compares to to be able to move the ball into the deeper areas of opposition. This graph can mainly offer the best insight into what Parejo offered in season 17/18 as we saw in a plot earlier that Parejo was as much involved on defensive duties closer to busquets while his involvement in carrying the ball far exceed his countryman.
So from the the analysis from 17/18 season for Parejo the question should certainly arise in mind of readers that did Parejo deserved a spot in 2018 world cup roster for Spain. His passing numbers were incredible when it came against Iniesta and Busquets. His defensive involvement certainly made a case wrt to someone like Busquets who’s job is more predominant in the position he plays. In terms of moving the ball, Iniesta was indeed ahead Parejo had enough credit as ranked ahead of Busquets in same. Overall it proved how Parejo was a complete package.
THE 18/19 SEASON
The 18/19 season was one Valencia fans would remember for a long time. Close to more than a decade, they were able to see their team lift a trophy, the Copa del ray after beating Barcelona 2–1. Parejo was the 1st captain after a decade to lift a trophy in a Valencia Jersey. So how good was Parejo that season?? Let’s take a look.
Once again we focus on the progression distance wrt to passes. Unlike 17/18, Parejo was a clear winner when it came to progressing the ball with his passing range. One point to note here is that we have replaced Andres Iniesta with Koke (Atletico Madrid) as iniesta retired from spanish national team duties after the 2018 world cup concluded.
In the 18/19 season as we once again take a look at Parejo’s passing numbers in terms of progression and ones that led to shots, Parejo led the number for Progressive Passes per 90 ahead of all the midfielders mentioned while he was surpassed only by Toni Kroos and David Silva in Key passes. After what we had seen last season and this season, it would’nt be wrong to conclude Parejo is excellent when it comes to progress the ball forwards through his passes than with ball carrying.
When it comes to seeing the kind of quality and quantity of chances Parejo could produce, it was no surprise Parejo played more key passes per90 compared to Koke, Modric and Busquets showing he had a knack for quantity while his xA accumulated per 90 was even ahead of everyone except David Silva showing once again that Parejo’s key passes were great in number while they certainly didnt compromise on quality of them.
When it came to seeing how Parejo ranked wrt to his peers in shot creating actions, Parejo was again comfortably ahead of everyone in progressive passes per 90 while his SCA matched with Toni Kroos and was only bettered by David Silva.
The above scatter plot gives another evidence that Parejo prefers passing as a way to progress the ball than carrying it with his feet but his SCA per 90 here is a testament to the fact that he’s efficient when it comes to carrying the ball though he may do it less often but generates very good impact as in terms of ball progression he’s ahead of Koke and Busquets while his SCA is only bettered by David Silva.
Unlike in 17/18, where Parejo showed his involvement in defense more than Toni Kroos, in 18/19 Parejo significantly ranked less in his involvement in defense. It is difficult to really say if his progression stats being significantly higher than in 17/18 meant Parejo was less involved in defense for 18/19 season but then again his tackles in defensive 3rd were still higher than Kroos showing that he still did offer when it came to defensive duties.
When compared to Koke, Parejo’s defensive involvement was lesser as it can be said that Koke plays in Diego Simeone’s system that emphasizes on a strong defense compared to Marcelino’s Valencia that were more expressive and less reliant on a stronger defense.
Now as we once again bring Busquets to the equation, compared to when in 17/18 Parejo matched Busquets in his defensive Involvement, in 18/19 Busquets significantly outranked him as it further proves evidence to the role Parejo Played in 18/19 season compared to 17/18 but also to the fact how Parejo was versatile enough to ease into roles required for the team.
Coming into some possession stats, it was curious to see how Parejo Would hold against Koke and Busquets than other midfielders because a hypothesis of Parejo’s ball progression with his passes was established but to see the same wrt to his countrymen would be more interesting. While Parejo attempted to dribble more, he didnt carry the ball more than Koke into deeper areas of pitch. But despite this previously we did see that Parejo’s Chance creation in terms of quality and quantity was higher in the sense that Parejo simple preferred to carry the ball until certain areas and used his passing range more.
If we look at same plot with Busquets, it is more apparent Parejo’s Numbers when he carries the ball lie between what Busquets, an outright defensive midfielder and what David silva or Luka Modric who are known to be more aggressive ball carriers. In other words it can conclude Parejo offered the best of both worlds in 18/19 season.
In fact during this season he was deserving to be called the best spanish midfielder alongside David Silva ahead of Koke and Busquets.
THE 19/20 SEASON
The 19/20 season was the final season of Parejo in a Valencia shirt. Due to many factors, it unfortunately came to an end after Parejo alongside his teammate Francis Coquelin moved to Villareal.
In this season’s analysis we bring in Thiago Alcantara after David Silva announced his International Retirement.
In an interesting look to this season, once again progression distance of Parejo’s passes are top ranking ahead of all midfielders and narrowly beaten by Thiago. In a 3rd season running, Parejo’s passes progressed higher than his La liga counterparts of Kroos and Modric while amongst his national teammates he was ahead of Koke and Busquets.
Again When it came to progressive passes Parejo was ahead of all his La Liga counterparts except for Thiago while in terms of Key passes, Parejo ranked higher than Thiago and Busquets. This could be an indicator that lot of Parejo’s passes can be more leading to shots than Thiago.
In the 19/20 season, Parejo led ahead of his national teammates Thiago and Busquets in Key passes played per90 while the expected assists was significantly higher than Thiago and Busquets showing his ability to create quality chances.
Again looking at the SCA, it is interesting to see Parejo rank above Thiago and Busquets per90 while also being slightly ahead on Koke. While Thiago’s progressive passes are higher, Parejo still manages to be efficient with his progressive passes as they can be part of more Shot creating actions.
Taking a look at progressive carries, it does establish the fact firmly as to that Parejo lets his passes move the ball than moving it with his feet carrying it. Though his progressive carries are ahead of Koke, in 19/20 Busquets was able to manage his progressive carries more than Parejo. But again the important thing is Parejo still managed to keep his shot creating actions well enough.
Coming to defensive side of things again, in 19/20 Parejo’s stats went close to line with Toni Kroos, except for the fact that Parejo was dribbled past higher than him (in fact Parejo was dribbled past higher than all the midfielders we have considered in the analysis). It can be said that Parejo may have been fragile when it came to 1v1 situations in midfield or anywhere on the pitch. Compared to his previous seasons, this was very higher than expected.
When compared with Thiago, it’s almost the same case where in for Thiago was more harder to beat in situations for opposition when they had the ball than Parejo.
Maybe the above Image might prove that Parejo’s involvement in defense gradually decreased as compared to what he had in 17/18 season as for the 2nd consecutive season Busquets natural qualities come to fore and his defensive involvement becomes more apparent to see.
Parejo’s 19/20 compared to Thiago does show that Thiago was more involved in ball carrying than Parejo. In terms of being dispossessed, Parejo may have been more vulnerable as despite lesser attempts in carrying he was more dispossessed.
But when compared to Koke, Parejo fared better as Koke was dispossessed more than Parejo while Parejo was more involved in carrying the ball than Koke.
Overall Parejo’s last season at Valencia still was successful and it establishes the firm fact that Parejo’s main strengths are his impeccable passing ability as he’s always a leader in most metrics involving passing while he’s versatile enough to handle involvements in defensive side and ability to move the ball forward carrying it.
THE 20/21 SEASON
The 20/21 season was a new chapter in the career of Parejo. After almost a decade, he made his move to Villareal where he was reunited with Unai Emery, the coach that brought him to Valencia in 2011 in the 1st place. It was a match made in heaven then and by end of the 20/21 season it proved again when Villareal went all the way in the europa league.
In the 20/21 season, Toni Kroos managed to progress the ball with his passes significantly higher than most of the midfielders taken for comparison but Parejo was still able to cut a 2nd as compared to when he led or was marginally just a couple of yards less than Toni Kroos. As we approach the final season of this analysis, it’s finally established that Parejo’s progression is always more with his passes than ball carrying.
As we go through the Progressive passes, Parejo was ahead of Koke and Luka Modric but his other countrymen Thiago and Busquets ranked higher though in key passes, Parejo was only behind Thiago while being ahead of Busquets and Koke.
Parejo’s 20/21 saw him produce some great quality in terms of chances as his xA ranked with the Key passes saw him ahead of all players except Toni Kroos. In a broader sense the quantity of chances might have been less but Parejo’s Key passes are more contributing in terms quality as seen in terms of expected assists.
When we look at the progressive passes with respect to shot creating actions, Parejo and Thiago are on same terms in shot creating actions while they both are significantly higher than Busquets and Koke.
In the 20/21 season, Parejo’s involvement in defense was better compared to the previous season say for case as Parejo was involved in all zones of the pitch compared to Toni Kroos and compared to when Parejo had a higher count for being dribbled past by opponents.
As we head to the finale of this article, it’s perhaps notable that Parejo caught up with Busquets in terms of defensive involvement after initial lead in 17/18 season when Parejo ranked well in these metrics.
Again when compared to Koke, Parejo looked safer out of possession as witnessed by how many times Koke had tendency to have his opponents get the better of him. While here it also showed that Parejo’s ability to cover defensive 3rd involvement was seen by how many tackles he managed in that area.
During the 20/21 season, like most of the previous seasons Parejo was more involved in ball carrying duties, Busquets managed to carry the ball more times per90 in to the final 3rd of pitch.
When compared to ball carrying metrics in 20/21 season, Parejo was significantly greater in carrying ball to various areas of the field while also maintaining lesser amounts of time he failed in attempts to gain control of ball (shown by Carries, Mis).
So as we approach the end of this article we talked about Parejo’s Journey in La liga, his journey when it came to his national team duties (he’s represented spain only 4 times in his career). We started of this article with showing how Parejo made a case to get a spot in the final squad of Spain’s 23 man squad for World cup 2018.
But after numerous visualizations the main question would be as to what Kind of player is Parejo?? As evidenced from his 4 seasons of analysis, Parejo is a pure passer that loves to move the ball more picking passes than trying to carry the ball. But his data has also shown that he’s reliable in taking the ball forward with a dribble and good enough to be engaged on defensive things.
Overall considering the plethora of talent Spain produced in midfield over last decade ranging from Andres Iniesta and Xavi to Cesc Fabregas to David silva and then from Xabi Alonso to Thiago, It’s hard for Thiago to nail a place amongst them but through this analysis the aim was to show how Parejo’s evolution in last 4 seasons gave him a case to do that and a need of a deserving chance.
