After the storm of the transfer window comes a calm, take a read of Adam Price’s latest in his analysis series, looking at the hero of the West Brom win: Maksym Talovierov.
For a moment, just a moment, a horrible thought crossed my mind. What if Plymouth Argyle hired a new head coach in Miron Muslic, a man who would look to revolutionise the team’s style of play, and just didn’t sign anyone for him in the transfer window? Sure, Michael Baidoo and Tymoteusz Puchacz have arrived this month, but both signed before Muslic’s unveiling. What if Argyle, desperately in need of new blood, just didn’t sign anybody else?
It felt a distinct possibility at one stage, but fortunately the Pilgrims’ hierarchy finally delivered. Having been turned down by Mike Eerdhuijzen, and with a move for Paudie O’Connor seemingly failing, the Greens got the centre back they were seeking in Maksym Talovierov. The 24-year-old Ukrainian signed for a club-record fee of £1.7 million, seeing Argyle break their transfer record for the second time this window following the arrival of Michael Baidoo.
For many, the best thing about Talovierov is it may not be necessary to learn how to pronounce his name. For his debut against West Bromwich Albion, Talovierov had “Maxi” printed on his shirt, which is utter woke nonsense obviously completely his choice. More pertinently for this piece, he arrived having played over 2000 minutes for LASK in the Austrian top flight across the last two seasons. That gives us a handy sample size to work from, so let’s take a closer look at a player who has turned up at Home Park to great fanfare.
Ball-playing excellence
Talovierov arrives as a centre back, which is handy given the severe lack of defensive depth in a team now hard-coded to playing three at the back. As such, his defensive attributes will be paramount to his success at Argyle. I will be discussing those a little later, but I’d like to start on the aspect that really caught my eye when investigating Talovierov’s numbers. In general, he appears to be an excellent modern-day footballer.
When it comes to playing out from the back, Talovierov would appear to be the perfect choice. During his time at LASK, he attempted an average of 55.70 passes per 90 minutes, completing an average of 47.23. In both metrics, he’d only be beaten at Argyle by the recently departed Lewis Gibson. If Argyle were lacking calmness on the ball in their defence through Gibson’s absence, Talovierov has that in abundance.
That’s all well and good, I hear you say, but playing out from the back isn’t crucial to Argyle’s philosophy these days. Since Muslic’s arrival, we’ve heard repeatedly that quick, direct football will be the order of the day, and that a defender’s long passing may prove more vital than their short game. Fear not; here, Talovierov comes into his own to an even greater degree.
In the period we’re investigating, the Ukrainian completed an average of 5.31 long passes per 90. Compared to Argyle’s squad this year, that’s a figure only topped by goalkeepers Conor Hazard (6.25) and Dan Grimshaw (5.86). The most impressive aspect, however, has been the quality of Talovierov’s long passing. He’s completed them at a success rate of 64% which, despite the significantly larger sample size, beats any player to have played for Argyle this season.
Player | Long Passes Attempted | Long Passes Completed | Success Rate |
Maksym Talovierov* | 206 | 131 | 64% |
Rami Al Hajj | 15 | 9 | 60% |
Darko Gyabi | 44 | 26 | 59% |
Michael Obafemi | 7 | 4 | 57% |
Adam Forshaw | 29 | 16 | 55% |
Ibrahim Cissoko | 11 | 6 | 55% |
Before we even start to discuss his defensive abilities, those numbers demonstrate what an asset Talovierov can be in possession. Sure, he may not be able to hit those exact heights in the Championship; I suspect he’ll have less time on the ball, and it’ll be tougher to find the forwards with stronger defenders on the other side. But it’s clearly an aspect of the game he likes, and I’m keen to see him spraying more passes across the field.
Doing the basics well
Talovierov’s ability on the ball has impressed me, but I ultimately expect Argyle will spend more time out of possession for the remainder of the season. His passing will be eye-catching, but his defensive work will determine whether he’s regarded as a successful signing.
Now, it can sometimes be the case that a defender is strong with the ball, but falls short against attackers in the heat of battle. I’d perhaps suggest this is something that applied to Julio Pleguezuelo in his first season at Argyle, although I’d absolutely accept he’s improved the defensive side of his game in recent weeks. Fortunately, I’ve seen enough in Talovierov’s data to suggest he won’t take quite as long to get up to speed.
His basic numbers for defensive actions have been more than acceptable. 4.50 clearances per 90, 0.32 blocks per 90, 1.91 interceptions per 90 and 1.74 tackles per 90 are all solid figures, and would rank reasonably across Argyle’s squad this season. Talovierov’s average of 8.47 defensive actions per 90 would rank 9th at Argyle this term. That isn’t groundbreaking, but it’s important to remember he’s been playing for LASK and qualifying for European competitions, not rock-bottom Plymouth Argyle. Of course you’d expect the Pilgrims’ defenders to be busier.
Generally, when Talovierov needs to defend, he does so successfully. Take his aerial duels as another example. Across the last two seasons, he’s been involved in 126 aerial duels, winning 87. That gives him a success rate of a nice 69%, which beats any of Argyle’s options at centre back this season. It gives me plenty of confidence that he’ll be a physical match for any forwards Argyle may face during the rest of the campaign.
Player | Aerial Duels Contested | Aerial Duels Won | Success Rate |
Maksym Talovierov* | 126 | 87 | 69% |
Lewis Gibson | 57 | 37 | 65% |
Victor Palsson | 41 | 24 | 59% |
Julio Pleguezuelo | 63 | 33 | 52% |
Brendan Galloway | 46 | 22 | 48% |
Kornel Szucs | 70 | 33 | 47% |
The caveats outlined in the previous section also apply here. Talovierov is likely to face stronger forwards than he did in Austria, and it’s not impossible that his aerial duel success will suffer as a result. However, you much rather have things this way around. Talovierov is working from an incredibly strong base and, given what we saw against West Brom, he’ll be relishing the challenge of the Championship.
Potential overcommitment?
Talovierov loves a tackle. He made two at the weekend, and celebrated both as if he’d scored the winning goal. Indeed, cult hero status is already close to being acquired.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed those moments on Saturday, and I suspect we’ll see plenty more in the coming weeks. However, it hasn’t always been perfect for Talovierov. If I were to pick out one flaw in his numbers, it’s that he hasn’t always tackled well, and he has a tendency to overcommit that can put his team under pressure.
In total, Talovierov has made a total of 43 tackles across the last two seasons. Meanwhile, he’s been dribbled past on 22 occasions, giving him an implied tackle success rate of 66%. In short, that isn’t brilliant. By means of comparison, Lewis Gibson posted a figure of 84% during his spell at Argyle this season, with Pleguezuelo currently sitting on 88% and Brendan Galloway on 89%. Given it doesn’t account for fouls, this isn’t a perfect way of calculating tackling proficiency, but the stark difference is a cause for concern.
I’d also note that mistakes do have a way of creeping into Talovierov’s game. Across the last two campaigns, he’s made two errors leading directly to shots, and one leading directly to a goal. He also signed off for LASK by scoring an own goal in his final league game. Four notable mistakes isn’t a gargantuan number by any stretch, particularly when you consider the sample size, but zero would be preferable; given the strictness of Opta’s approach when dealing with major defensive errors, even Victor Palsson is sitting on zero for the season at present.
There are some caveats here, and many of the more deficient numbers Talovierov has posted reflect his style of play rather than his ability. He’s a front-footed defender, and loves to break up opposition moves before they become dangerous. In general, that’s something Argyle fans are going to love, and I include myself in that conversation. But it does just mean he may be caught out of position more than most.
It’s just something Muslic will need to consider. Talovierov’s numbers are encouraging in the main and, when it comes to the impact he’ll have on Argyle’s side, the positives should clearly outweigh the negatives. If Argyle’s head coach can integrate his record signing into a coherent press, he may get even more out of him than others have in the past.
A long-term view
I want to end this piece by discussing the slightly longer-term considerations of Talovierov’s arrival. Of course, the pressing matter for Argyle is maintaining their Championship status. Whether they’re successful or not, I suspect Talovierov will have a significant impact between now and the end of the season. But what then?
Given the player has signed a three-and-a-half-year deal at Home Park, the natural reaction will be that he’ll remain at the club whatever happens between now and the summer. However, I can’t help but notice what occurred before the transfer was completed. Remember, the Eerdhuijzen deal collapsed because the player had reservations about his contract, namely a significant reduction in his wage should Argyle be relegated. Before the conclusion of this deal, it was reliably rumoured that Talovierov had similar reservations.
Thankfully, Argyle made arrangements to ensure they got the deal over the line. But what could those arrangements be? Perhaps they ensured that the reduction in Talovierov’s wage in the event of relegation was much lower, making things easier to stomach for the player. Or maybe they included a relegation release clause in Talovierov’s contract, allowing him to leave the club for a similar fee (or small profit) should Argyle go down. The former clause would surely see the player stay, whilst the latter would undoubtedly raise questions.
Without being privy to the details of his contract, we simply cannot be sure of the agreements. However, given the fallout of the last month, I’d be very surprised if the player agreed to sign for Argyle without there being something in his contract to soften the blow of relegation. Given where Muslic’s side find themselves in the league, any agent worth their salt would ensure they get the best possible deal for their client’s future, and I have no doubt this is what Talovierov’s has done.
Should Argyle go down, it wouldn’t surprise me to hear of developments on Talovierov’s long-term future. Let’s hope we never have to find out.