The Curious Case of Jackson Irvine
Jackson Irvine‘s presence and leadership for St. Pauli is undeniable, but what do the statistics and data actually say about him?
Last week, Hamburger Abendblatt wrote: with Jackson Irvine in the starting eleven, St. Pauli averaged 1.23 points from 13 games. In the same article, it mentioned that the captain is the losing identity of St. Pauli’s recent defensive struggle.
The importance of Irvine to St. Pauli is undeniable. This is not only because he is the captain, but also because he is an experienced midfielder who understands the game really well and could help St. Pauli in both the attacking and defensive phases. He also brings energy, leadership and passion to the pitch, which could greatly benefit the team spirit.
But what do the statistics and data actually say? In which areas does Irvine really excel in order to help the team?
Looking at his on-the-ball statistics, it’s clear that he’s been struggling this season. On average, he has a passing success rate of only 71.7%, a final third success rate of only 60.6%, and makes only 0.46 key passes per 90 minutes.
A deep dive into advanced statistics reveals that Irvine has made little contribution to St. Pauli’s chances. He has an xGChain of 0.19 and an xGBuildup of 0.11 per 90 minutes. He has contributed the least of all the St. Pauli ‘double-six’ players (James Sands, Joel Fujita, Mathias Rasmussen and Eric Smith).
For context, xGChain (expected goals chain) is defined as the number of expected goals that players have contributed to, while xGBuildup (expected goals build-up) is based on identifying players involved in passing chains that end in a shot, excluding the final two links: the shot and the last pass.
If it’s a bit complicated, I’d sum it up like this: Irvine hasn’t really been involved in St. Pauli’s attack or the way they create chances, nor has he been valuable in that respect.
However, another context makes that understandable: Irvine returned from injury at a time when St. Pauli’s style of play had become much more passive and they were struggling in generating open play chances. It makes sense if the numbers show he has involved in or produced few chances.
When it comes to defensive statistics, however, Irvine excels. He ranks second for interceptions per 90 minutes with 1.60, behind only his injured partner James Sands, averaging 3.58 possessions won.
He also won more than 50% of his ground duels (54.7%, to be exact) and 48.1% of his aerial duels (fourth in the team). These are impressive numbers for a midfielder.
Even more impressively, among Bundesliga midfielders who have played at least 1000 minutes so far this season, Irvine is in the top 10 for both duels and aerial duels won.
Irvine was also among the St. Pauli players with the most defensive involvement in the last game against FC Köln, with a total of six from three interceptions and three clearances.
This was a good defensive performance by Irvine throughout the season, particularly in terms of duels and interceptions. And this shows which aspect he has mastered most effectively: Reading the game.
I once asked him about this in the mixed zone and he admitted that experience helps him to read the game better, which St. Pauli needs.
This applies to both sides of the game. When we take a deep dive into unconventional statistics and data, we can see that Irvine is actually making his teammates better offensively. We can see this with Arkadiusz Pyrka and Danel Sinani.
Data suggests both players benefit from having Irvine on the pitch. Because when look at their actions after receiving the ball from specific teammates, Pyrka and Sinani tend to progress the ball quite often after receiving it from Irvine.
More than 40% of their actions following passes from Irvine are progressive (moving towards the opponent’s goal). Compared to other double six players, such as James Sands, passes from Irvine have created more progressive actions for these two players.
While not all of these progressive actions lead to chances, this shows that Irvine has the vision to put other players in beneficial situations and create progressive actions—and the more progressive actions St. Pauli’s players make, the more chances they will get.
Another example of how well Irvine reads the game can be seen in how calmly he reacts after winning possession.
In the situation where he won possession back for St. Pauli, for example, his passing accuracy reached 77.1% (higher than his usual average).
This indeed shows that Irvine usually prefers to retain possession, enabling St. Pauli to control the ball, rather than releasing it quickly or recklessly. This benefits the team by reducing the likelihood of facing transition attacks.
Per 90 minutes, Irvine also was dispossessed only 0.6 times and had unsuccessful touches around 1.3 times. The 33 years old knows how to avoid risking the ball and keep it safe to help the team retain possession.
When watching his game, it is also sometimes obvious that he does this by positioning himself in the right place at the right time. He continues to scan the pitch, ensuring he does not receive the ball under pressure or at the wrong moment.
In short, while Irvine’s passing and chance creation statistics may not be excellent (this has never been his strength anyway), he still has the ability to read the game well, which translates into defensive stability and decision-making that helps his teammates improve.
On top of that, he provides the leadership and passion that are crucial for St. Pauli, especially in their fight against relegation.