David Moyes’ decision to sign Rennes defender Nayef Aguerd appears to be based on some bizarre stats from last season which clearly have an Angelo Ogbonna involvement BEYOND the central defender’s age.
It’s been said fairly regularly that the club seriously missed the Italian’s left sided game although few were left complaining about the signing of right sided Kurt Zouma.
However, the stats appear to show just how badly the squad missed Angelo after he broke down against Liverpool at the London Stadium.
His defensive abilities plus his strength in getting things started down the left side before being injured against Liverpool had seen the side helped to a start of seven wins, three draws and just two Premier League defeats over those 12 games – a total of 24 points. During that time we conceded 13 goals and scored 24.
Following his disappearance we won nine, drew six and lost 11 which saw us concede half a dozen more goals or so than we scored suggesting that Oggy’s absence may well have cost us a Euro League or even Champions League place next season.
So the signing of a left sided central defender makes good sense at first glance – whether Nayef is another Oggy remains to be seen.