The Opta index is the place to go if you want a detailed breakdown of a player’s stats in order to compare them to others in a similar position and is used by statisticians, commentators, managers and journalists as the go-to font of knowledge.
The bods at Opta have compiled their data on all the Premier League players over 2022 and come up with their best eleven. To be eligible, players must have played in both seasons which span the year, so that rules out Erling Haaland from the off.
The BBC Website has published the team with a breakdown on each player, one of which wears the black and white stripes of Newcastle and typifies everything that has made Newcastle great again.
It is, of course, Kieran Trippier. The right-back signed in January from Athletico Madrid came into the club when we were at our worst, languishing in the relegation places without a win, but Trippier made the move in the belief that he could help turn the club around, and boy did he.
Trippier quickly established himself as a leader on and off the pitch and, along with Bruno Guimaraes who, somehow misses out on the Opta XI, grabbed the club by the scruff of the neck and pulled it up out of the relegation places and into 11th place, going on a tremendous run of form in January which has continued until today, the last day of 2022.
The BBC says about Trippier: “There were few signings made in 2022 that can rival Kieran Trippier for instant impact. The Newcastle captain has been an integral part of the team’s rise throughout the year; one which they began in 19th position and resumed in December in third spot.
Trippier (2.2) is one of only three full-backs to have averaged two or more chances created per 90 in the Premier League this year (min. 900 minutes played), along with Trent Alexander-Arnold (2.3) and Andy Robertson (2.2).”