Formerly of Internazionale, then signed by Udinese, Marco Davide Faraoni spent the 2013/14 Championship season on loan to Udinese’s linked club Watford. Rumours have circulated that Leeds United are in talks with Udinese over Faraoni’s signature. This has been confirmed in some areas of the press by Faraoni’s agent. The question remains to be answered; ‘What options does Faraoni bring to the Leeds’ side should he sign?’

Table comparing Marco Faraoni, Luke Murphy and Michael Tonge (2013/14 season)

Per 90 metric Mins Play Passes Accuracy Key Pass Shots In area Out area Accuracy
Marco Faraoni 2013/14 2268 21.47 75% 0.63 1.27 0.91 0.36 48%
Luke Murphy 2013/14 3039 24.02 72% 1.33 1.07 0.27 0.80 27%
Michael Tonge 2013/14 1538 37.69 84% 0.63 1.93 0.64 1.29 48%

The per 90 metric allows a fairer comparison of individual player elements over a per 90 basis when these players have played a varying range of minutes, such as Faraoni played 2268 minutes during the 2013/14 season for Watford whereas Murphy played 3039 for Leeds United in the same season. Tonge is the busier passer of the 3 with 37.69 successful passes per 90 and is the more accurate at 84%. Luke Murphy is the one who provides the most ‘key passes’ (passes leading to shooting opportunities) with 1.33 per game whilst Tonge and Faraoni are equals with 0.63 key passes per 90.

One area, this season so far, where Leeds have been, well, pretty dire is that phase of play called ‘shooting’. It is interesting to note that Michael Tonge leads the 3 players with a figure of 1.93 shots per 90 minutes; this compares to 1.27 per 90 (Faraoni) and 1.07 (Murphy). What is of interest to note, however, is Marco Faraoni’s tendency to shoot from ‘inside the 18 yard area’ as opposed to outside the area (0.91 to 0.36) which means he possesses an inside area shot ratio (shots inside area/total shots) of 0.72; this translates to Faraoni either electing to, or being in the position to, shoot from inside the area 72% of the time. This figure is high when compared to those ratios returned by both Tonge (0.33 – 33%) and Murphy (0.25 – 25%) for inside the area shot. Accuracy-wise, both Tonge and Faraoni have 48% of shots on target whilst Luke Murphy only has 27% accuracy overall with the shots that he takes; Faraoni’s accuracy likely to be due to his tendency to shoot from inside the area whilst Tonge’s is likely to be influenced by the fact that he is an accurate shot taker with a high shot rate.

If this rumour does have any basis of truth, or if it does work out that Leeds sign Marco Faraoni, the upgrade on shooting must be considered because, in all honesty, shots on target and from inside the area are something that would develop a better, more creative Leeds game plan.