Wycombe's midfield conundrum
BY OPTA

The performance of Wycombe's Dannie Bulman in the game with Bristol City last Saturday was highly impressive, and further fuelled debate at Adams Park about the state of the Wanderers' midfield.
There is a mixture of experienced campaigners and fresh-faced rookies in the Chairboys' engine room, with seasoned campaigners such as Dave Carroll, Keith Ryan and Steve Brown all having distinguished Wycombe careers under their belt.
There has been clamour for players such as Matt Brady and Maurice Harkin to be picked, while a lot of criticism has been directed at pivotal playmaker Michael Simpson.
Well, what do the stats say? Opta's completely objective analysis can reveal a number of the midfield traits, and many of them seem to show that the maligned Simpson is unfairly treated.
Firstly, he is the most accurate passer in the whole team, considerably more accurate than men such as Ryan and Brown, who have played the same amount of time as the former Notts County schemer. Secondly, his cross completion rate is very good, with 36 per cent of his deliveries finding a fellow Wanderer. Brady, Harkin, Lee Holsgrove and Ryan have a higher rate but they have delivered far fewer balls.
Dannie Bulman certainly seems to be a good prospect, wand if he can add to the goal he scored versus Chesterfield at Adams Park earlier in the season he could cement a regular first-team place. His willingness to run with the ball and play a searching pass, allied with his strength can be contrasted with Wycombe's Northern Ireland under-21 international Mo Harkin, who often flatters to deceive.
And while Lawrie Sanchez may decide to add to his squad during the summer, he does have enough players who are good enough for Division Two. If Bulman, Harkin, Brady and Holsgrove can all progress further, he will have the makings of a young but talented midfield quartet.

Duncan Alexander

	Brady	Brown	Bulman	Carroll	Harkin	Holsgrove	Ryan	Simpson
Goal Attempts
Goals	2	2	1	2	0	0	3	0
Shots On Target (inc goals)	5	10	5	7	2	0	16	12
Shots Off Target	0	15	3	9	1	5	18	14
Blocked Shots	0	4	5	8	0	0	15	9
Passing
Goal Assists	0	2	3	4	1	0	3	2
Total Passes	89	1,030	274	1,108	111	157	975	1,205
Pass Completion %	60%	50%	62%	60%	62%	48%	58%	66%
Crossing
Total Crosses	8	67	11	158	10	7	16	107
Cross Completion %	38%	31%	36%	30%	38%	43%	44%	36%
Dribbling
Dribbles & Runs	10	68	21	66	7	4	40	38
Dribble Completion %	80%	87%	67%	85%	71%	50%	85%	80%
Defending
Tackles Made	2	85	26	55	5	19	68	78
Tackles Won %	50%	43%	52%	62%	40%	37%	54%	50%
Blocks	0	27	4	23	0	8	39	19
Clearances	0	88	13	82	4	26	123	53
Interceptions	0	14	1	12	1	2	22	23
Discipline
Fouls	2	51	9	20	4	12	46	52
Offside	0	4	1	4	0	1	0	2
Yellow Cards	0	4	1	0	0	0	4	6
Red Cards	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1