Tray Tables Up! How Culture and Systems Make a Difference

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Miguel Crespo

This is the first piece of the “the Treasures of Turkish Süper Lig” series.

Portuguese coach Vitor Pereira’s 171-day Fenerbahce adventure, although not successful in terms of results, was quite successful in terms of scouting. He saw the wing-back light in wingers like Ferdi Kadıoğlu and Bright Osayi Samuel who could not reveal their potential. He allowed 16-year-old Arda Güler to play. He was the one who wanted to transfer Kim Min Jae, who is currently performing very well for Napoli.

And he was the one who wanted Miguel Crespo, whom no one had even heard of, and who played in Estoril, one of the Portuguese 2nd division teams.

The 26-year-old player is in his second year in the Turkish League. Fans love him very much because the Portuguese player gives 110% in every match.

Now let’s focus on the player’s data.

Crespo, playing in the DMC (& MC) positions, stands out with his defensive side. He often attempts to break up opposition moves by tackling or fouling.

Passing ability is not his strength. He attempted 41.3 passes per 90 minutes in the league matches last season, which is an average figure when compared to other midfielders who played more than 1350 minutes.

Another quality that describes his playing style is his dribbling skill according to SmarterScout.

Ball retention ability, which is very important for a midfielder, is very weak. So this means that after Crespo’s action with the ball, he is less likely to keep possession.

Crespo gives people a Kante vibe. I know this is a very assertive word. However, the Portuguese player acts as if his energy is not running low throughout the match.

Last year, he was the defensive face of his team between midfielders. He went to the duel to disrupt the opponent’s play in almost the entire mid-third. He was second best in the league in terms of successful tackles.

There is an important point here. Fenerbahçe used the 3–4–3 formation in the first half of the 2021–22 season. Due to the nature of this formation, the 2 midfielders have the backbreaking responsibility of controlling the center of the pitch very well. Such tactical mentalities make the performance of energetic players more visible. Kante’s adventure in Leicester and Chelsea (under Conte) was similar.

Rather than just explaining Crespo’s tackling ability with raw data, it’s worth taking a look at SmarterScout’s duel metrics. To explain briefly, winning a duel against high-skilled players is more valuable, while vice versa is less valuable.

We see that the energetic midfielder is a great threat even against stronger opponents. His ball-winning ability is at the forefront this season as well.

When world-famous manager Jorge Jesus signed for Fenerbahçe, it was a bit of a mystery how the squad would take shape. Crespo wasn’t exactly the defensive midfielder he had in mind. His former player, Willian Arao, who is a ball-playing type DMC, joined the team. İsmail Yüksek, whose name has not even been heard by the fans, took regular time in the friendly matches. As if there was no position for Crespo.

However, the Portuguese player managed to shine again.

A big credit here goes to the player himself because he was always ready, but on the other hand, Jesus’ tactic accelerated the inevitable result.

Fenerbahçe is 3rd in the league according to the PPDA metric showing the high press intensity. They were able to dictate their own game to the opponent in almost every match by far. They defeated Alanyaspor 5–0 just a few days ago, which is in first place in terms of PPDA.

That match was a match that showed what Crespo was capable of. Fenerbahce was the side that pressed for almost 90 minutes. His recovery 3 seconds before the first goal was the most important part of it.

He performed very effectively against an opponent that wanted to build up from the back. His contribution to the 4th goal in the 70th minute was also valuable.

Yes, Crespo is a defensively skilled player, but today football is not just a simple game. It no longer demands players to be good at one thing. Especially midfielders need to be more all-round.

He likes to run with the ball rather than a pass if he can find space. This is his way of progressing the ball.

According to last season’s data, he is an above-average carrier by Süper Lig standards, but not at the elite level.

This season his midfielder partner now looks like Arao, at least Jesus gives them chances together. Arao prefers to progress the ball via passes, and he mostly stays back to recycle the possession and cover the space. That’s why Crespo has more freedom. We are watching Crespo who supports the attack as much as he can.

Those who watch Fenerbahçe’s matches can often see his dribbling actions just like the above.

I had some observations of some situations that Crespo faced during these actions. One of them was that the energetic player was fouled a lot.

Compared to other DMCs playing in the Turkish league (The last 4 seasons), he was disrupted by 2.4 fouls per 90 minutes. This is equivalent to the top 6% of the percentile. This has a direct connection with his playing style because he likes to be close to his opponents. Of course, again related to that, he also gets into a lot of 1vs1 duels when he has the ball.

Although he won 60% of these duels, it is a little hard to say that he is at the elite level in this regard. SmarterScout’s dribbling ability metric tells us that he isn’t all that good at getting past stronger opponents.

I think Crespo is a player capable of playing in the Top-5 European Leagues. He can minimize the numerical disadvantage of one player in the midfield with his endless energy, especially in formations such as 4–4–2 or 3–4–3. It would be a huge mistake to think of him as a classic number 6. He is not a player who will control the field from behind and command the team with his passes. Maybe his style can cause trouble in some tactics. In the 3 midfielders setup where he will play with the deep-lying playmaker & Regista, his offensive contribution may not be at the desired level. He has vertical runs towards the opponent’s penalty area. However, it is not yet sufficient in terms of direct contribution to the score. I would like to focus on one thing here. Overall, his pass data is below average, but above average for Key Passes. (This can be turned into a threat.)

He’s in the prime age range right now. He stepped a little late to the 1st league level, but he is a very hardworking player. When he first came to Turkey, he was criticized by almost all the fans and football media. However, every match has shown that he can do better and now he is playing comfortably as if he is a player of this level.

I think Crespo is a player who can adapt to every high level he goes to.

Tray Tables Up! How Culture and Systems Make a Difference

Miguel Crespo

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