Lots of people have done this before, mostly through the use of graphs, but this is my attempt to rank Chelsea's potential goalkeeping signings through the power of the spreadsheet. I've listed 30 keepers who have either been linked at some point, play for a rival or for us 1/12
So this is the first table, listing the 30 keepers in height order. Surprisingly, sources seem to disagree on height quite a bit but I've tried to use the most frequently cited height 2/12
As you can see, in relative terms, Kepa is on the shorter side for a top keeper. Which is not to say that it would necessarily stop someone from succeeding, but it is an additional disadvantage. Chelsea may like to choose a keeper who is a bit taller this time round 3/12
The second table here lists the 30 keepers' save percentages, both in the season just completed and an average of the last 3 seasons (where this data is available) just in case season 2019/20 was a statistical freak 4/12
What strikes me here is the fact that Oblak is a class apart in terms of this aspect of the game, though just ahead of Rajkovic and Mendy, and Kepa is so low that he barely deserves to be in this company (and remember the 3yr average takes in his last year in Bilbao) 5/12
This next table shows the keepers' passing ability, an essential attribute for Lampard's Chelsea. The overall ranking is on pass% but it also notes, the overall no.of passes/90, the no.of accurate passes in the GKs' own half/90 and how often they just launch the ball forward 6/12
What sticks out here is that Nick Pope and Dean Henderson are clearly very low ranked in terms of passing. How much of this is down to how their teams play and how much is their individual passing ability is unclear. Also worth noting how low Jan Oblak is on this list 7/12
The fourth table highlights the keepers' aerial ability, an area where Kepa has come up short. The table ranks on aerial involvement which is how often per game do the keepers try to catch or punch the ball? Also, how often do they punch and how successful they are aerially 8/12
What is clear is the fact that Kepa is far from the weakest keeper out there aerially. And some surprising names are below him including Courtois (just), Alisson, De Gea, Oblak and Neuer at the bottom. Right at the top we have Mendy, even ahead of Nick Pope 9/12
This next table looks at how often the keepers leave their line to deal with a situation and how successful they are when they do so. Some are clearly chained to their 6 yard box while others like to go a-wandering. Basically this stat helps to highlight the GK's style 10/12
Not sure there is a right or wrong result in this section, it really just depends on what style is preferred, an archetypal sweeper keeper like Manuel Neuer or a formidable fixture on his line like Jan Oblak. Mendy mainly falls into the second category 11/12
Finally, just some fun, not meant to be taken seriously. It's just a table which combines all the rankings by giving each of the tables an equal weighting (not a realistic scenario). So this is the definitive list of keepers Chelsea should buy in ranked order...12/12
Thanks to Whoscored, FBref and Sofascore for the underlying stats 13/12
You can follow @mrparkersdogbit.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled: