What the stats say about Amine Bassi at Barnsley: What’s he good at? What can he improve? | OneFootball

Amine Bassi joined Barnsley on loan from Metz on transfer deadline day after struggling for regular minutes in Ligue 1 in the first half of the season.

The attacking midfielder has been a breath of fresh air at Oakwell, alongside Domingos Quina who arrived on loan from Watford on the same day, and his brace in last weekend’s 3-2 win over Middlesbrough made a lot of people sit up and take notice.

Middlesbrough have been one of the most defensively sound defences teams in the Championship since Chris Wilder took the reins in November, yet they could not deal with Bassi’s intensity in combination with the likes of Quina and Carlton Morris.

The Moroccan is clearly a very intelligent footballer in possession and the statistics reflect that.

What’s he good at?

Bassi has been a prolific dribbler in his five Tykes appearances to date, but that is not to say that it is something that he relies on.

The 24-year-old has completed 15, of 20 attempted, dribbles so far at Barnsley, a success rate of 75%, as per Wyscout, that is very healthy and he was particularly effective in a recent 2-0 victory at Hull City, completing 100% of four attempted dribbles.

Bassi’s passing statistics are also very strong, which suggests that he knows where the line is in terms of when to keep possession and when to take a player on, which is impressive after such limited experience in English football.

Intelligence is what is standing out, so far he has achieved a pass accuracy success rate of 83.2% which is even more impressive given the tight areas that he is picking up possession and the way he has orchestrated Barnsley attacks since joining.

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What can he improve on?

There was some lacklustre defending that contributed to his brace materialising against Middlesbrough, otherwise his goal threat has not been very menacing in other appearances.

Bassi has taken just five shots in 331 minutes at Barnsley, if they are to save themselves from relegation, the 24-year-old needs to be taking up more dangerous positions.

With the knowledge that he can hold his own in possession and cause problems against the division’s best sides, Bassi could be pushed further forward to make it easier for him to create goalscoring opportunities for himself or others.

As it stands, albeit in a small sample size, averaging 0.08 expected goals per 90 minutes is not a sufficient attacking threat for someone in his position, and if that can be improved, Bassi has a better chance of hauling the Tykes away from what looked like a certain relegation.