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Villarreal had a busy transfer period last summer. Now it’s time to grade the players we acquired. Part I is today—defenders and midfielders. Part II (strikers) comes tomorrow. Detailed stats refer to league matches only. Let’s start at the back:
Ramiro Funes Mori—came over from Everton for ~€9m. He made 31 appearances for us in the league, 42 in all competitions. Two goals scored for us, one assist....and 15 yellow cards. One own goal.
Until Vicente Iborra arrived, FM was about the only guy we had who could win the ball in the air—2.3 aerials won per game. 4.7 clearances per game, 0.8 blocks.
Poll
What grade for Funes Mori?
This poll is closed
-
6%
A
(4 votes) -
37%
B
(22 votes) -
46%
C
(27 votes) -
5%
D
(3 votes) -
3%
F
(2 votes)
Now let’s go to midfield (and we’ll add our January signing here).
Santy Cáseres—The young Argentine joined us from Velez Sarsfield for €10m. He made 17 league starts, came on as a sub 6 times, 34 appearances overall. No goals, one assist, 10 yellow cards. Led Villarreal in tackles per game (2.9), committed 1.5 fouls per game.
Poll
What grade for Santy Cáseres?
This poll is closed
-
0%
A
(0 votes) -
26%
B
(15 votes) -
45%
C
(26 votes) -
21%
D
(12 votes) -
7%
F
(4 votes)
Vicente Iborra—Apparently we were close to signing him last summer, but could not get the deal done. He arrived from Leicester for €9m in early January. 19 appearances, 3 goals, 1 assist, 7 yellow cards. 4.6 aerial wins per game, far and away our leader, and also led the team in fouls received per game (1.9).
Poll
What grade for Vicente Iborra?
This poll is closed
-
40%
A
(23 votes) -
47%
B
(27 votes) -
12%
C
(7 votes) -
0%
D
(0 votes) -
0%
F
(0 votes)
Santi Cazorla—Arrived on a free after Arsenal cut him loose, not having played in two years. 45 appearances overall, including 30 league starts. 4 goals, 10 assists, 2 yellow cards. 2.1 key passes per game, 1.7 fouls received, 2 tackles per game.
Poll
What grade for Santi Cazorla?
This poll is closed
-
88%
A
(53 votes) -
10%
B
(6 votes) -
1%
C
(1 vote) -
0%
worse than C? Are you kidding?
(0 votes)
Alfonso Pedraza—I’m putting him here because he returned to Villarreal after being on loan for two years. 34 league appearances (22 starts). 3 goals, 3 assists, 3 yellow cards.
Poll
What grade for Alfonso Pedraza?
This poll is closed
-
10%
A
(6 votes) -
40%
B
(22 votes) -
41%
C
(23 votes) -
5%
D
(3 votes) -
1%
F
(1 vote)
And of course, feel free to leave comments below.