I think this comes back to the “not all that counts can be counted”. He’s not great at consistently covering the left back but there isn’t an Expected Dawdles stat. For the record, I’m not saying that he never does it but he’s more prone to lapses in concentration than Sakamoto (who himself let a man go v Sheff Utd).
On EMC specifically, his defensive numbers were poor last season and the data shows that his numbers are good. With respect, anyone maintaining the narrative that he’s a defensive liability is basing it on opinions from last season.
Sakamoto should be a better defender than EMC, we originally signed him to be a WB. When I bench marked EMC v Sakamoto, it’s because one player is considered a ‘good’ defender and the other is often considered a ‘liability’. EMC, to his credit (and Lampard’s), has gone from being a weak defender to a respectable one in one season. Against WBA, for example, he had the most tackles out of anyone.
Sakamoto has been consistent in all his outputs in attack and defence since he’s joined us so doesn’t suffer that negative perception that say, JDS or EMC does.
