Opta churned out the numbers to find out who featured in the unwanted list of slowest outfield players in the Premier League this season.
Following up on the number-crunching that revealed us the fastest players in this edition’s Premier League, Sports data company Opta have now compiled a list of players who belong to the other side of the spectrum in terms of their pace.
The methodology remains the same as it was for the fastest player’s list – the highest speed achieved by any player at any point of time in a Premier League match this season is taken into account and then accordingly ranked from top to bottom, with the players featuring towards the wrong end considered to be among the slowest players in the league.
For obvious reasons, goalkeepers are excluded from the compiled list while the minimum criteria for the outfield player is to have appeared at least thrice in the 2016/17 Premier League season, in order to achieve a higher level of accuracy and consistency in the data.
Without looking at the numbers if one was asked to guess who would probably be the slowest player in the league, there would be plenty of shouts for the likes for John Terry, Per Mertesacker, Peter Crouch, Lucas Leiva and Gareth Barry among others, as usually these are players we don’t really associate with pace.
Not surprisingly, most of the above mentioned players make it to the list, though Per Mertesacker doesn’t feature as he hasn’t played in the league this season and thus can’t be quantified. However, one would be surprised to know Chelsea’s 35-year-old captain John Terry hasn’t been named in the list of 20 slowest players, as per the methodology of Opta.
There are also some very surprising inclusions in the list, with Manchester United winger Memphis Depay featuring at the 18th spot. Manchester City’s new signing Ilkay Gundogan is also on the list at the 20th place, though one could argue he has recently returned from a long-term injury and hence might not be there in terms of speed just yet.
Arsenal’s midfield duo of Mohammed Elneny and Santi Cazorla are ranked among the slowest 15 players in the compilation, featuring at the 11th and 13th spot respectively, while Merseyside midfielders Lucas Leiva (6th) and Gareth Barry (7th) are named among the slowest 8 players.
Another Arsenal player made it to the list, with striker Olivier Giroud featuring in the top 5. Chelsea’s Cesc Fabregas has been ranked as the third slowest while Stoke City’s Peter Crouch and Charlie Adam completed the top two, at second and first place respectively.
Some of the prominent names featuring in the top 20 slowest players with their corresponding ranks and top speeds –
1. Charlie Adam: 26.72 km/h
2. Peter Crouch: 28.58 km/h
3. Cesc Fabregas: 28.73 km/h
5. Olivier Giroud: 29.19 km/h
6. Lucas Leiva: 29.37 km/h
7. Gareth Barry: 29.40 km/h
11. Mohamed Elneny: 29.86 km/h
13. Santi Cazorla: 29.9 km/h
18. Memphis Depay: 30.12 km/h
20. Ilkay Gundogan: 30.15 km/h