From La Liga to the Premier League, will 23-year-old Felix be more successful than 36-year-old Ronaldo?
After the Atletico CEO publicly admitted that Felix wanted to leave, the Premier League became his best place to go. I thought it would be Arsenal or Manchester United, but Chelsea were too sincere, spending 15 million euros in half a year and not asking for a release clause, which made the loan extremely smooth.
Will Felix, 23, enter the Premier League better as a Portuguese than Cristiano Ronaldo, 36?
What Chelsea may want is for him to play at the same level as when he first arrived at Manchester United.
01. The position on the field is getting closer: 3 and a half years of La Liga goals still not double
One. Last 3 years: Averaged 7 goals and 4 assists per game in La Liga
When Atletico paid €126 million to sign Felix three and a half years ago, some hoped he would succeed Griezmann, while others compared him to Sergio Aguero.
However, after playing three and a half seasons in La Liga, Felix has scored six, seven and eight goals in his last three full La Liga seasons. With one more enrollment a year and no double-digit growth in three years, such a pace is hardly satisfactory.
IMHO, this is not a pure striker, and the passing record of 1 assist, 6 assists and 4 assists in the last 3 years is also a bit sloppy.
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Averaging 7 goals and 4 assists per game in La Liga for three consecutive years, it is a bit disappointing for a player worth hundreds of millions. After all, he plays about 1500 minutes a year.
B. Chelsea are too rich: beat Manchester United and Arsenal to get Felix
Atletico CEO Hilmarin said publicly in an interview: "Due to the bad relationship with Simeone, it is reasonable to let Felix leave, although I hope he continues to play at Atletico.
As soon as these words came out, the result of leaving the team was almost impossible to change. Originally, he was closer to joining Arsenal or Manchester United, which is also the team with which he has been involved since the summer window.
But as soon as the winter window opened, Chelsea made an offer for Felix, not only paying 11 million euros in loan fees, but also paying 4 million yuan in salary for the remaining six months, while satisfying the Atletico CEO in the short term.
Rent without purchase agreement.
Chelsea, who have spent more than £300 million on net investment in the Premier League transfer market this season, topped the list, while Manchester United, who are ahead of second-placed Manchester United, topped the list.
Burleigh got the team at a very low price, and he was not distressed to spend a lot of money to strengthen him, but the effect was not satisfactory.
02. The biggest feature: sudden paddling when swimming
One. Seems to be good at everything: but not very skilled
It can also be seen from the data that Felix's current performance is not satisfactory.
As a striker, he doesn't seem to have a clear advantage. You can do a little of everything, but it's not good enough.
Relatively speaking, what he is best at is swimming while looking for opportunities to complete the fatal blow at the right time. In the Champions League last season, Felix had good performances in the Premier League against Liverpool and Manchester United. The key is to seize the moment when the opposing defender is distracted, grab a point shot after a sudden move, or grab space on the counterattack.
Felix's shot is actually very decisive, and his strength is not bad. He is best suited to counterattack, and when there is a certain amount of space, he suddenly runs forward.
Whether it's heading or footing, there's a certain level. This time B Fei helped him score a goal, which is also an example.
b. The core area has average ability to actively hold the ball
As can be seen from the data, as a striker, Felix has the number of touches and passes in the offensive three zones of the midfield.
On the one hand, his technical ability is not enough to pull back the forward insertion with the ball. On the other hand, his physique is relatively weak, and it is difficult to attack the core area independently.
It can be seen from this wave of attacks that Ronaldo passes the ball after retreating, and B-Silva cuts forward with the ball at high speed.
Felix just needs to follow his teammates and run away to meet the attack, and then decisively complete the shot.
But overall, Felix's shooting efficiency is not very high. If you simply use him as a striker, the return is not high, which is one of the reasons why Simeone clashed with Felix.
Felix is still very smart in his movements and can react to his teammates' fast scores when switching between attack and defense.
The problem was the end of the last shot, with Sergio Aguero and Aguero being far apart.
Sometimes he scores goals and you think he's good, but more often he doesn't score and it's a bit chicken.
Felix may be his biggest threat after taking the ball for the second time in front of the box rather than organising the attack again with the ball himself.
From this point of view, Felix has a gap with B Fei and B Silva, but let him play the role of Cristiano Ronaldo, and the goal efficiency is not up to par.
Another embarrassing point is that Felix is not efficient and aware enough when he retreats. Just like this wave of exits, he not only allowed himself to get a yellow card for a senseless foul, but also sent a free kick in front of the opponent.
03. What Chelsea's forward line lacks most: not Felix's
One. Chelsea are missing the ultimate player
When it comes to Chelsea, many people complain about the lack of a striker who can score goals. It can also be seen from the data that the player's best player in terms of expected goals + expected assists is actually Raheem Sterling.
Kai Havertz scored the team's most anticipated goal, but only 3.8. Averaging goals + assists for 90 minutes per game, the highest on the team was Raheem Sterling with 0.51 goals. Overall attacking inefficiency is Chelsea's biggest problem.
But the deeper reason is that Chelsea have too few chances to create in the midfield as a whole.
When they rely on Mason Mount, Gallagher and Cukhumeka to organise their attacks, the opportunities that can really be created in each game are too limited. With the lack of suitable attacking entry points, Chelsea can feel messy. Offensive inefficiency leads to more defensive errors, creating a vicious circle.
Chelsea's "spitting pie" stats are not really outstanding.
The actual number of goals scored by Sterling and others was mostly slightly higher than expected.
The basic problem is that attackers lack organizers or offensive starting points to achieve effective overall results.
B. Chelsea need an organisational core: Felix isn't it
The stat that amazes Chelsea fans is probably the team's expected number one in assists and key passes, which is actually Raheem Sterling.
With the team having to rely on Raheem Sterling's creativity to launch an attack, this may be the reason why Chelsea's current attacking inefficiency is also possible. The problem is that Felix is not good enough to really take on the role of midfielder. It's really hard for him to help the team improve its creativity.
Felix's advantage is that the striker has a certain amount of heading ability, and can play as a double striker or pull back to play a second striker in the backfield.
But the problem is that Felix's organizational skills in the core area are, after all, average. In recent years, under Simeone, the progress of passing has been very limited.
Like this wave of attack, because Felix can head the ball and his teammates can cross. However, after being cleared by the opponent on the first point, Felix pulled the outside for the second time to get the ball and chose to shoot.
He's more of a shooting threat than a passing in this area, which is one of the reasons he's not strong enough as a second striker. Chelsea also need people who pass the ball, but Felix may not be able to pass that well.
Chelsea may be waiting for Nkunku, the number one striker in the Bundesliga half, to arrive, and Felix is only a transfer product.
Perhaps Chelsea didn't expect Felix to do too well, more for the sake of future tactics to do some practice in advance. This season is largely in a semi-abandoned state, just to provide some experience for subsequent changes.
Conclusion:
For Felix, this six-month trip to the Premier League will be a great opportunity to try.
If he succeeds, he also has hopes of a real move to the Premier League in the future.
Atletico also want to see him gain a foothold here. For this team, it is not impossible to sell Felix, it just does not want to sell cheaply. Maybe playing in the Premier League and finding someone to take over is the best of both worlds.