Di'Shon Bernard
What do we know, what the data says, and how might Bernard fit In Xisco's plans?
Sheffield Wednesday have won the race to sign Jamaican international defender Di’Shon Bernard. Bernard represents a coup for the Owls, who beat off domestic and international competitors to acquire the centre-back. The former Manchester United player, who made a solo first-team appearance for the Red Devils in the 2019 Europa League, joins Sheffield Wednesday ahead of their curtain-raiser this coming Friday.
We will take a look at Di’Shon Bernard and see what the data says about the Owl’s new boy. What his strengths and weaknesses are, and how Munoz might seek to use him.
Di’Shon Bernard: what the data says.
Bernard played just 10 times for Portsmouth last season, arriving on Deadline Day in January on loan from Manchester United. Whilst this gives a credible starting point for appraising Bernard, it would also be useful to include his 2021/22 season data from the Championship, where he made 26 league appearances for Hull City.
The table below is a defensively weighted analysis of Bernard from his time at Hull City vs all Championship CBs from that season.
These are impressive stats for a 20-year-old CB making his debut season in the championship. Total passing output can mostly be attributed to style and overall possession stats; the encouraging thing, from the data above, is Bernard’s pass accuracy, with all passing accuracy metrics (minus long passing) above the 60th percentile. It is also extra encouraging that the most accurate metric from Bernard is his forward passing, which is the hardest and most important.
You may be discouraged by the low % of aerial duels won. As I have said, Bernard was just 20 at the time and has no doubt matured and developed since this. This is somewhat reflected in his Portsmouth data from last season where he jumps significantly on the same metric. There will, of course, be a quality aspect, but the size of the jump can lead to the conclusion that Bernard has made improvements in that aspect of his game.
What does this look like?
The data above is a good guide, but it can be hard to discern just how this looks and the impacts this has. In this next section, we will give a little more context.
The infographics above show Bernard and his won and lost defensive duels, and more importantly, the ones that happen in his own defensive third; Bernard is, after all, a defender. The good news is that Bernard has much more white dots on the image of his won defensive duels. And is very dominant in Zone 14, which is the area immediately outside the penalty area and statistically the most dangerous position on the pitch, winning 16 and losing just 4. Bernard is a little too high on the losses in his own third/90 ranking, however, only a fraction of those are perceived to be “dangerous losses”.
The infographic above shows Bernard’s aerial duels in his own third. As mentioned from his time at Hull, aerial duels is an area Bernard has worked on and should continue to work on. That said, his games last season represent a huge improvement vs his Hull data. Bernard is outperforming most defenders on this metric, as referenced by the graph on the upper right. It is also pleasing to see Bernard winning such a high amount of aerial duels in Zone 14.
The most impressive aspect of Bernard is how often he recovers the ball and how many of those are in counter-press. A recovery is defined as any time the opponents lose the ball to an individual, and a counter-press recovery is a recovery that happens within 5 seconds of the opponent’s possession. These are represented by the yellows: a lot are in dangerous positions high up the pitch. This is an asset with Pol Valentin, who readers of the Pol Valentin deep dive will know Pol excels in counterattacks. Could we see that relationship pay dividends this season?
The two images above are Bernard’s possession and progressive metrics and where it happens on the pitch. First is pass accuracy and how it changes depending on the position across the back 4.
As I mentioned on Social Media when signing Bernard, despite being right-footed, Bernard has spent the majority of his career playing LCB, see heatmap below. Often, players are shoehorned into wrong-side positions out of necessity, that does not seem to be the case with Bernard, who plays LCB as he performs better there. This is not uncommon, former England skipper John Terry played a career at LCB as he preferred the passing angles inside the pitch on his favoured right foot: Bernard is much the same. The dials indicate the accuracy, length, and direction: you see Bernard is most accurate playing infield passes from LCB.
This does, however, require thought. Whilst common in the modern possession-based game, passing inside the pitch from CB is considered dangerous. Remember what I said about Zone 14? That is typically where a pass will be going if passed inside from LCB. We need a CM, or a 4, that can cope with that demand. Do we need new ones? Or do we have it in the squad? Let me know what you think.
How might Bernard fit in Munoz’s team?
It seems likely that Munoz will stick with the 4141 he has adopted throughout the preseason. And I would assume, given Bernard’s tendency to play on his left and the fact we have 2 other right-footed CBs, Bernard will play the left side.
The emergence of Famewo as a potential left-back may point to a relationship that could be formed with an auxiliary LCB. Bernard could be encouraged to burst forward with Famewo tucking into false CB and Windass moving inside from the left side, allowing Bannan to move into a left position where the skipper enjoys crossing opportunities.
Whether James or Famewo, it is likely that, given the attacking right backs we have signed, we may be focusing that overlapping threat down the right-hand side, and so a tucked-in left back, allowing Bannan and Windass creative freedom in front, may be of use.
If it is Famewo, who is likely to be dislodged at LCB, who moves to LB, this frees James up. Could James be an option to play 4? Shifting to a hybrid 343 in attack allowing the full-backs to get high and wide players coming in the pitch? This would suit Wilks and get players closer to the lone striker.
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Tom
Might be worthwhile posting a brief summary of data & conclusions to save those not wanting to wade through the comprehensive analysis.