Decisive in a coherent, efficient team and in the race for the title, Mike Maignan is perhaps the best player in Lille this season, even if that does not necessarily please his coach. But do the performances of the 25-year-old keeper place him at the top of the basket on a European scale? Answer in numbers.
Christophe Galtier did not particularly appreciate the “compliment” from Frédéric Antonetti. While his counterpart in Metz estimated a week ago that
“If Lille finished champion of France, it should in part to Mike Maignan”, the Lille coach reacted harshly Thursday, without naming Antonetti but regretting that we put too much in front – according to him – the defensive qualities of his team.
“Let them watch their team play. Let them focus on their team, I rarely comment on our opponents, dropped the northerner technician.
Fortunately we have a guard who is there to make stops. Fortunately Mike made a decisive save in Monaco in the 95th minute. Of course. Do you think that the teams which are fighting at the top of the table, for the first place or a qualification in the Champions League, do not have a good goalkeeper? When you look at PSG-Bayern, there are two very great goalkeepers, it is essential. We cannot summarize the season on individuality, on Mike’s performance, which is excellent … “
Excellent, that’s the word. Because we should not minimize the impact of Maignan on the results of LOSC this season in the Championship. Last bulwark of the most impermeable defense in Ligue 1 (19 goals conceded after 32 days), the French international saw his statistics jump compared to the 2019-20 financial year. His average of goals conceded (from 0.96 to 0.59 per game), his percentage of saves (from 70.5 to 80.2%) and clean sheets (from 42.9 to 56.3%), like its “goals avoided” ratio (from +0.01 to +0.14 per game). Its progress is clear, concrete and remarkable. But does it allow the native of Cayenne to integrate the top of the basket on a European scale?
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We must start by specifying, already, that Mike Maignan is one of the best protected goalkeepers among the five major Championships. Of the 88 goalkeepers who have played at least 1,800 minutes this season, only seven face an average of fewer shots on target than the Lille. This does not prevent it from being particularly decisive. No one concedes fewer goals than him on average (0.59 per 90 minutes), and no one has such a high clean sheet ratio (56.3%). Maignan is only preceded by the Madrilenian Thibaut Courtois in the percentage of saves (80.2 against 80.5%), and despite being little exposed, the former Parisian is part of the European top 10 in terms of “goals avoided”, ie the difference between the presumed quality of the chances suffered and the goals finally conceded.
On the heels of Navas, in the same category as Courtois, Ter Stegen or Bounou
Moreover, by focusing a little more precisely on this last data, we see that Mike Maignan is really well protected (0.23 xG per shot on target, the second lowest average in Europe), and evolves well in the big leagues. With equal or comparable chances suffered, only Jan Oblak (Atlético Madrid) and Keylor Navas (PSG) are more intractable than him in the Championship this season. “MM” evolves in an elite group – those who suffer little but push back a lot – in the company, in particular, of Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid), Ederson (Manchester City), Marc André ter Stegen (FC Barcelona) or Yassine Bounou ( Sevilla FC).
Compared to his competitors in the France team, Maignan is the one who is the least involved, but only Alphonse Areola (Fulham) has been more decisive than him. The latter “avoided” a total of 5.4 goals for the Cottagers in the Premier League, against 4.4 for the Dogue in Ligue 1. Hugo Lloris (Tottenham, 3.7 “goals avoided”) and Ilan Meslier (Leeds, 3.2) follow, while Alban Lafont (Nantes, -1.7), Steve Mandanda (Marseille, -2.5), Benoît Costil (Bordeaux, -5.6) or Benjamin Lecomte (Monaco, -6, 4) show negative ratios in this category. The figures put forward therefore confirm the visual impression without difficulty: this season, Mike Maignan is traveling to Lille in first class, and has indeed made a place for himself in the European elite at his post.
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