Levi Colwill has the potential to become a world-class centre-back. But do Chelsea have the perfect partner for him?
https://www.scoutednotebook.com/p/levi-colwills-perfect-partner-a-jumbo
Levi Colwill completes a line-breaking, screen-stretching pass into Nicolas Jackson’s feet against West Ham United
Let’s revisit those three key pillars from earlier.
In terms of Progression, Colwill is already elite. He has covered more Progressive Passing Distance than any U23 player in the Premier League this season. The only outfield players that can better his 2,611 yards are Jan Paul van Hecke (2,934) and Virgil van Dijk (2,869).
When looking at Progressive Carrying Distance, Sávio (728), Ryan Gravenberch (756) and Jérémy Doku (866) are the only U23 players that can better Colwill’s 707 yards. When compared all Premier League centre-backs, Colwill ranks 8th in total this season.
In a potential partnership, Colwill could realistically tick both boxes for Progression. However, I would encourage him to index further into his passing. That means when scouting potential partners, we would need to look at ball-carrying.
Before I go any further, I appreciate team styles, possession adjustment and further considerations need to be taken into account before matching up two players on paper - Stephen again covers that expertly in another analytical epic - but for the purpose of Monday Night SCOUTED musings, this process represents the very first step: creating a shortlist for future interrogation.
When looking at duels, Colwill is again impressive in both areas. In his Premier League career, he has won 68.8% of his aerials and successfully tackled 66.7% of opposition dribblers. Based on my personal opinion, I would be looking to support Colwill’s ground game. During his loan spell at Brighton, his ground duel success rate dropped to 53% yet he maintained a 71% win rate in aerial duels. This season, despite the much smaller sample size, the same disparity has returned (47% ground success, 61% aerial success).
Finally, the most difficult section: Defending. This is where the aforementioned possession and style adjustments are needed the most. Colwill consistently blocks shots and makes clearances - an indicator of good positioning but not 100% evidence of it - and although his output and approach during his left-back minutes may paint him as a front-footed defender, I feel he would benefit from delegating the aggressive metrics to his partner.
Boiling this down to an over-simplified metric split, I would want to build the following. For Progression, Colwill will take charge of Progressive Passes and his partner can lean into Progressive Carries. For Duels, Colwill will patrol the skies and his other half will dominate on the floor. For Defending, Colwill would lead Clearances, Blocks and Recoveries while his partner would pick up the Tackles via the Ground Duel focus and add on Interceptions.
So far this season, Colwill has played alongside either Wesley Fofana or Tosin Adarabioyo. Here are each player’s per 90 output for the metrics we are looking for during the 2022/23 Premier League season.
Progressive Carries: Fofana (2.11), Tosin (0.69)
Ground Duel Success: Fofana (66%), Tosin (58%)
Tackles: Fofana (2.25), Tosin (1.3)
Interceptions: Fofana (1.9), Tosin (1.12)
So, on paper at least, it seems as if the answer is yes: Chelsea do have the perfect centre-back partner for Levil Colwill.
It remains to be see whether Fofana will return to his pre-injury levels - the early signs are promising - but I am excited to see how this partnership develops. As for Tosin, I feel like he provides better cover for Colwill’s skillset. But, as the game against West Ham showed, he can step-up as an accomplished partner when necessary.
