Victor Palsson: What to Expect?
What can Argyle fans look forward to following the free transfer signing of Victor Palsson from Belgian side Eupen?
Image from playmakerstats.com
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Rumours surrounding Jayden Danns’ arrival on Thursday were rife. The loan signing of the 18-year-old from Liverpool had been hinted at by social media accounts connected to both clubs, and late in the evening Plymouth Argyle announced on their own channels that a new signing was set to be announced. Said announcement swiftly arrived and we found out that it’s… 33-year-old Icelandic international Victor Palsson.
Indeed, this was the signing none of us expected. Though maybe we shouldn’t be completely shocked; Palsson has worked with head coach Wayne Rooney before at DC United, and fills a defensive void that has perhaps felt untouched throughout much of the transfer window. And the player seems to have featured in just about every league in world football, so it simply must have been the Championship’s turn in his career cycle.
There is plenty to take in as far as Palsson is concerned. Unlike many of Argyle’s signings in the last six months, there is a wealth of experience to analyse, including a near ever-present season for KAS Eupen in the Belgian top flight last year. Let’s see what we can unearth.
Playing anywhere and everywhere
Looking at Palsson’s career, I’ve been struck by his willingness to play in a variety of places. And I mean that in many ways.
Let’s consider the literal sense. Palsson has returned to England 14 years after making his professional debut for Dagenham and Redbridge as a Liverpool loanee. In between though, you’d do well to pinpoint a country where Palsson hasn’t made an appearance.
After starting out in youth football in his native Iceland, then moving to England for the first time, Palsson has been on somewhat of a world tour. That has included spells in Scotland, the US, Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, Germany and most recently Belgium. And let’s not forget the 44 appearances he’s made for the Icelandic national team. His age indicates a wealth of experience and his career provides the proof.
And when I say he’ll play anywhere, that also includes his exploits on the field. As Argyle’s announcement article suggested, Palsson is most comfortable either as a defensive midfielder or right-sided defender. Across his career though, he’s been known to line up as a more advanced midfielder, in either of the full back positions, and even on rare occasions as a winger. He’ll surely be happy to line up wherever Rooney deems it necessary.
And he doesn’t just play, he leads. In his introductory interview, Palsson was quoted as saying “I’m a leader. I like to take the responsibility. I demand high standards and I want to win.” Eupen, his previous club, clearly agreed, trusting Palsson to captain the side on 14 occasions last season. Have you ever felt that Argyle lack leaders and loud voices out of possession? We now have a big noisy Nordic bloke to resolve that issue.
Everything points towards Palsson providing crucial intangibles. And if you’re here for the tangibles, the stats and general analysis, fear not: I’ll hit you with the numbers shortly. For now though, I’m pleased that Palsson’s career to date demonstrates strong levels of experience, versatility and leadership. It’s a lovely start.
Defensively sound
As mentioned, Palsson can play in a variety of positions, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see that versatility utilised on certain occasions across the campaign. Based on his recent career though, I think he arrives at Argyle as a natural centre back. He played there exclusively for Eupen last season (and played 97% of all possible minutes as he did so), and he was also primarily used at the centre of defence during his spell with Rooney at DC United.
And I hope that’s the case. His 35 appearances as a centre back for Eupen give us a decent sample size to work with, and the indications are highly promising.
We’ll take his defensive actions as the first example. Now, it’s important to note that Eupen were relegated last season after finishing bottom of the Belgian Pro League. You would expect a near ever-present centre back in such a side being required to do plenty of defending, and post high numbers of defensive actions as a result. Still, Argyle were also battling at the wrong end of the table last season, so a comparison between Palsson and Argyle’s defenders is relevant.
Those comparisons are positive. For example, last season Palsson completed 186 clearances. Within Argyle’s ranks only Lewis Gibson completed more with 191. And if we consider clearances per 90 minutes, Palsson (5.31) actually edges out the Argyle man (4.81). It’s a great figure when compared with the league as a whole too – only two players in the Championship last season played as many minutes as Palsson whilst completing more than 5.31 clearances per 90.
It’s not just clearances. Palsson is also second only to Gibson in Argyle’s ranks for shots blocked, though Gibson does have the edge per 90 on this occasion. Palsson also completed more interceptions last season (40) than anyone else in Argyle’s side.
I would like to know how the level of necessary defending impacts upon these numbers. Unqualified as I am, the way I take stats doesn’t allow me to contextualise the raw number of defensive actions by adjusting them for possession, or opposition touches (though I may become more sophisticated next season – watch this space, fellow nerds). Nonetheless, I imagine Palsson would still rank highly, given his impressive standard numbers.
Palsson also excels in another key metric for central defenders: aerial duels. He won an impressive number last season (74 – only Ryan Hardie won more at Argyle), and did so with a success rate of 69%. That’s objectively impressive. Palsson posted a better aerial duel success rate last term than even Dan Scarr, and comfortably beat the rest of Argyle’s centre back options.
I must admit that much of the above took me by surprise. Judging by the tone of Argyle’s announcement, and given where the player had lined up for much of his career, it appeared the Pilgrims had signed a deeper midfield player. All the evidence, however, points to the current iteration of Palsson being a centre back. And judging by the numbers, he could prove to be a very good centre back.
Comfortable with the style
Much has been made of the fact that Palsson and Rooney have worked together before, and that the player should be well versed in the new Argyle head coach’s style of play. That’s a sentiment echoed by Rooney himself, who said Palsson “knows the system we are looking to implement” in his unveiling article. That head start will undoubtedly help, and the numbers support the view that he’ll be suited to the style.
We’re led to believe that Rooney’s teams like to be attacking, and defenders need to be comfortable playing out from the back to build those attacks. But we also know that Rooney isn’t shy to switch things up and use a target man when required – it’s certainly how I envisage Muhamed Tijani being used this season. The defenders must also therefore trust themselves to play a long ball, and hit that target man when necessary.
Palsson excels in both short and long passing. Last season he had 2161 touches, and completed 1453 passes. Again, those were numbers only beaten comparatively by Gibson throughout Argyle’s ranks. Palsson also completed his passes with a success rate of 82%, which is more than acceptable. Argyle’s total pass success last year was 77%, with the average in the Championship as a whole being 80%.
Meanwhile, Palsson’s long passing stats were even more eye-catching. And I don’t necessarily mean that in terms of his success rate – at 41% it was about average, slightly above par at Argyle but slightly below average through the league as a whole. The sheer number he completes, however, is quite something. Last year he completed more long passes than any outfield player at the club, and by a comfortable margin.
We can also once again compare that to the league as a whole. Palsson’s total of 128 long passes completed would put him in the top 25 of all outfielders in the Championship last season. Another way of describing that would be that he completed more long passes than 97% of outfielder in the league. That’s despite the Belgian Pro League only having a 36-game season, compared to 46 in England’s second tier.
I would imagine Palsson’s experience as a midfield player helps; he’ll clearly have been no stranger to spraying the ball across the field from a deeper position throughout his career. That could prove to be a vital element of Rooney’s style. Palsson is the sort of player who will seamlessly keep things moving when building from the back, and will surely trust himself to ping the ball to a target man as the need arises.
If you were to look at those figures in isolation, you’d probably come to the conclusion that Argyle have signed another ball-playing defender. And don’t get me wrong, Palsson can absolutely play that role. But when you add in his obvious defensive capabilities, it’s clear he offers so much more than just being a passer in the back line. To be honest, it’s a really exciting combination.
Provided everything comes together, I genuinely believe Palsson could prove to be a right-footed Gibson. At 33, he obviously won’t have the resale value of his defensive partner, but if he can demonstrate similar skills he’ll be a huge asset to the side.
Boxes ticked
I’m looking at the style of signing Argyle have made, and am getting the impression that Palsson could give us the best of all worlds.
Across the last few windows, Argyle’s arrivals can probably be sorted into three categories. The first consists of loan players who have made their return to the club, whether permanently or otherwise. We’ve seen Morgan Whittaker, Bali Mumba, Finn Azaz and most recently Darko Gyabi make an Argyle comeback after initially being borrowed from elsewhere. Palsson hasn’t been at Argyle before, so we can disregard this category for now.
The other two categories, however, are very relevant. Argyle’s signings in recent times, when they haven’t already played at Home Park, have generally been data driven (particularly from abroad), or players already known to the incumbent head coach. The likes of Mustapha Bundu and Julio Pleguezuelo fall into the former category, whilst Ashley Phillips and Alfie Devine fell into the latter under Ian Foster.
Reading between the lines, I have little doubt that Palsson was brought in primarily because he’s worked with Rooney before. Had you not been aware of that though, you could easily believe he fell into the data-driven category. He’s from abroad, he’s posted good numbers, and he could give Argyle an edge from a generally untested market. Combine that with the fact he’s already well versed in a system being introduced by a new head coach, and Palsson just feels like the perfect fit.
I’m excited; I hope that’s coming across. And it makes a nice change. In certain situations, including the hiring of Rooney himself, I’ve had my reservations about Argyle’s dealings, and just had to hold onto the hope that I’d be proved wrong. Here, I truly believe Palsson’s arrival could turn out to be an outstanding piece of business. Let’s hope, this time at least, I’m proved right.