Norwich have endured a difficult season in the Premier League so far and are currently rooted to the bottom of the table after 25 games.
They only have 18 points and have won just four matches in the league, so it is natural for some players to come under fire for their performances when the team is not achieving their goals.
One player who has been criticised at times this season is midfielder Kenny McLean.
These Norwich fans have taken aim at McLean in recent weeks…
Twitter: Not first time Kenny has given ball away really sloppy #ncfc (@pcraske66)
Twitter: Some of Kenny’s passing so far 🙈 #ncfc (@kev_ncfc)
Twitter: Rate McLean but his form has dropped recently and he was poor against Newcastle. His passing lacked quality and he… https://t.co/SoKpFJy9oJ (@TheCanariescom)
Twitter: Can’t help but dislike the Tettey-McLean partnership. Slows down every attack, provides no drive or link between de… https://t.co/alIYl6Q0W1 (@_cxmdoran_)
However, the statistics suggest that McLean has been one of Norwich’s best performers in the Premier League this season. Despite being deployed out of position for nine games, as an attacking midfielder, McLean has averaged a WhoScored rating of 6.79.
Only Emi Buendia and Ondrej Duda rank higher than McLean in this category, with Duda having only played three matches. This means that McLean, joint with Sam Byram, has been Norwich’s third-best performer this campaign – second if you discount Duda due to his limited number of games.
McLean has won 3.1 aerial duels per-game on average this season, which is only bettered by Grant Hanley’s 3.5, whilst also completing one dribble per-game – more than any of Norwich’s other central midfielders. He also tops Norwich’s midfielders for passes-per-game of players to play more 10 or more Premier League games.
These stats suggest that McLean is underrated by some Norwich fans and that he is even outperforming fan-favourites like Teemu Pukki and Tim Krul in terms of his all-round displays in the Premier League.
