fantasy premier league Davy Klaassen – new player profile

Fantasy Premier League, New player profiles

Here’s our fantasy premier league Davy Klaassen new player profile article. Here we highlight the 24 year old 1.79m (5 foot 10 inch)  Dutch central/attacking midfielder who has signed for Everton from Ajax for £24m. We look at the player, assessing his stats and his fantasy prospects for Everton with particular emphasis on fantasy premier league. Obviously the player at this stage doesn’t have a price in FPL

 fantasy premier league Davy Klaassen – new player profile

There’s alot of stats, graphic and narrative so if that isn’t for you there’s a summary at the end.

STATISTICS




Here’s the stats for his last 3 years for Ajax  in the Eeredivisie and the 3 years in the Europa League/ Champions League.

The Eredivisie is generally regarded as a league with less depth so it’s hard to make an accurate comparison with the premier league but here goes.

League stats

 fantasy premier league davy klaassen

European Stats

  fantasy premier league davy klaassen

He’s played 14 times for the Dutch National team scoring 5 goals.

 Compared to the Everton midfield

 fantasy premier league davy klaassen

 Squawka underlying stats comparison

 fantasy premier league davy klaassen

 PROSPECTS

Style of play and position

He’s a very technical midfielder able to play in different positions.  He  also has alot of energy and is an effective presser of the ball.

Ajax generally played a 4-2-3-1 with Klaassen either playing as the CAM or one of the midfield 2. He played those roles a pretty even number each.  He was very much a box to box midfielder though in the CM role and able to score and create.  Klaasen was Ajax’s captain

Everton played a number of different formations.  Predominantly a 4-2-3-1 but also a 4-3-3 and a 4-1-4-1

I would be surprised if he played in the 2 of 4-2-3-1 as that would generally be Schniederlin and Gueye.  However, against one of the lower placed teams one of those could drop out.  I would expect to see him as either the CAM or RAM in the 3 of that formation.

I suspect in a 4-3-3 he would play in the midfield 3 although more advanced and with a licence to get further forward than Gueye or Schneiderlin.

Barkley leaving, which is still a possibility, opens up the CAM position.

One thing I’ve been unable to establish is his set piece involvement and how that will translate to the Everton team.  It will have to be a watchout for now.

Gametime and The Europa League factor

 Firstly, I would be surprised given the fee if he doesn’t come straight into the team .  However, Koeman can be a little unpredictable and the Europa League won’t help that.  One advantage is that we see Everton play 2 qualifying games before the season starts which will help us assess his positional and contribution prospects.

I think Koeman will be looking to advance as far as possible in the Europa League and Klaassen’s experience with the format may cause some rotation in the premier league especially as he adjusts to the pace and aggressiveness of it.  I don’t think Koeman has the squad size at the moment that Wenger does to have 2 separate teams for each competition.  This could be a negative factor.




His stats

It’s difficult to compare stats from the Dutch League to the English league and use that to assess a players prospects.  Both Janssen of Spurs and Depay of United had good stats but failed.  It is worth noting that his Ajax predecessor Christian Eriksen has been successful.

His actual stats are very good.  Especially considering his movement of positions between CM and AM.  The underlying stats aren’t as great and arguably behind those of Barkleys.  14 goals from 19 shots on target tends to say he’s either very deadly or overperforming the stats. Since August 2015, no player has a better conversion rate than the 25% of Klaassen in the Eredivisie.

The European competition stats aren’t anything like as good interestingly.

Everton’s opening fixtures

Everton v Stoke City
Manchester City v Everton
Chelsea v Everton
Everton v Tottenham Hotspur
Manchester United v Everton
Everton v Bournemouth

They couldn’t be much harder.  That does give an opportunity to put Klassen to one side to at least until the Bournemouth game to assess his position and prospects.

Some quotes

Klaassen:

“I’m an attacking midfielder player who likes to get in the box. I also like to be aggressive on the field and press all the time. I like to score and create goals and I like to win.

Koeman:

“He’s a player who is only 24 but has a lot of experience and is a leader on the pitch and has already captained Ajax for two seasons and that shows you the type of person he is.

“He is hardworking, likes to press and, of course, will give us more creativity and goals.”

How does he rate as a prospect?

The good news is that we should get alot more clarity in the 3rd qualifying round games that Everton play over Klaassen’s position, contribution and the team lineup.

The best scenario is that he plays as a CAM and gets set piece responsibilty to some extent.  That will in part depend on what happens with Barkley.

The worst scenario is he plays in the 2 of 4-2-3-1 and we rely on box to box returns.  I would be surprised at that.

The Europa League is always going to be an issue. Koeman will want to take it seriously and Klaassen’s experience may see him play a number of games prejudicing his premier league gametime.

He does have good stats albeit the goal conversion rate is a hard one to sustain.   The transition from Eredivisie to the premier league is a difficult one and has seen unpredictable results.

SUMMARY

 A 24 year old Dutch international who was captain of Ajax and can play CM or CAM

Strong technique and pressing ability.

Very good goal scoring stats in the Eredivisie if not in the European competitions.  His underlying stats aren’t as convincing and carry a risk of overperformance.  Good creating chances and assist stats.

Could play in the 3 of 4-2-3-1 or the 2 of that formation.  I think more likely the 3.  The pre-season and Europa League qualifying games will be helpful in assessing that and his potential contribution.

A tough set of initial fixtures will make it easier to put him into a watchlist to assess position and contribution.

The Europa League can cause rotation issues.  His experience in the competition may exacerbate that

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