British journalist backs Nakamba, tips midfielder to do even better next season

British journalist James Rushton believes Marvelous Nakamba is important for Aston Villa and the Zimbabwean will have a better campaign in the 2020/21 season.

The 26-year-old’s debut season after moving from Club Brugge was met with divided opinions; with some saying he was below expectations while while others insisted he fared well given the challenges associated with adapting to Premier League football.

Rushton, believes Nakamba’s role is to win the ball and play it out, not to make headlines and he did well in that regard.

“‘It’s a job he did very well – the former part – according to this collection of defensive data by Breaking The Lines which ranks Nakamba in the top-five ball winning defensive midfielders in the Premier League (who have played at least 1500 minutes) behind Declan Rice, Phillip Billing, N’Golo Kante and Wilfred Ndidi,” wrote Rushton in the Birmingham Mail.

“There isn’t a titanic difference between Nakamba and three comparable players in terms of passes completed either. Nakamba’s overall percentage of 84.5% pass completions compares well enough with Kante’s 85.5%, Ndid’s 85.9%.”

In terms of out-and-out midfield might, quite truthfully, there is nobody like Marvelous in this Villa midfield. True, he may not have set the world alight this year, and he likely won’t the next – but were defensive midfielders envisioned to do that anyway? There’s room for him at Villa, and he should enjoy a solid 20/21 season,” concluded Rushton.

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