Daniel Muñoz has stood out for his lung-busting shows down Crystal Palace’s proper flank this season, although the extent of his athleticism will nonetheless be a shock to many.
Crystal Palace followers would have been forgiven for rolling their eyes and anticipating the worst.
Roy Hodgson, then Palace supervisor, addressed the media in January 2024 and was requested a few participant the membership had been closely linked with. To all intents and functions, it gave the impression of a deal was fairly near signal Daniel Muñoz from Belgian facet Genk.
However Hodgson stated: “I’ve solely seen a video of him, however on the video he seemed good.”
Though we extremely doubt Palace’s recruitment division merely punched “Daniel Muñoz targets and abilities” into YouTube and plonked Hodgson in entrance of a two-minute video, everyone knows the constraints of compilations when assessing participant capacity.
After all, Palace workers could have analysed the participant in nice element, and in hindsight there wasn’t something to fret about. However Hodgson’s openness about solely seeing “a video” of Muñoz could have made some followers uneasy due to prior horror tales.
There was the time then-Southampton supervisor Graeme Souness was duped into signing Ali Dia in in all probability probably the most notorious switch in Premier League historical past; and supposedly the primary and solely time Sir Alex Ferguson ever purchased a participant with out seeing him play, Manchester United plucked the little-known Bébé from obscurity on the recommendation of Carlos Queiroz in 2010. Though Bébé went on to take pleasure in a decent profession as a part of a fairly heartwarming rags-to-riches story, he was clearly properly beneath the extent required by United on the time.
Nevertheless, as a substitute of it being an embarrassing oversight by the previous England boss, the case of Palace signing Muñoz with out Hodgson watching him reside is extra a mirrored image of modern-day recruitment not being manager-led. It was only a uncommon instance of transparency on the subject of the interior workings of a membership’s recruitment course of.
In the end, Palace and Hodgson have been proper to belief that course of. Fifteen months on and Muñoz isn’t solely among the many first names on the teamsheet at Selhurst Park, however he’s additionally one of many Premier League’s greatest right-sided full-backs/wing-backs.
A bundle of vitality up and down the correct flank, Muñoz is an absolute freak of nature – within the kindest manner attainable.
In November 2023, Belgian publication Niewsblad offered a few of Muñoz’s monitoring information to a college professor and physiologist, highlighting he coated 11.9 kilometres in a single match and 1,724m of that was at “excessive depth”. The professor stated: “The 11.9 kilometres that Muñoz coated is a really good statistic, however not distinctive. His efforts at excessive depth are [exceptional]. You solely come throughout somebody who sprints almost 2km [in a match] very hardly ever in our Professional League.”
Though we will’t really confirm the actual numbers Niewsblad printed, it’s definitely honest to say Muñoz has introduced his supreme health and physicality to the Premier League, with the graphic beneath illustrating how he combines depth and endurance.
In Opta’s personal trove of monitoring information, now we have two metrics that recommend high-intensity motion. There’s ‘high-speed operating’ (transferring at 20-25km/h) and ‘sprinting’ (25+km/h); they’re the 2 highest-intensity actions in our monitoring information, and we will see how far every participant runs whereas at speeds that qualify for the 2 metrics. Then, should you add up these distances, you’ll be able to work out how a lot floor a participant coated whereas at excessive depth.
When distance coated at excessive depth in single matches this season, Muñoz accounts for 40% of the entries within the high 20 (8/20), whereas no different participant seems greater than 3 times.
That’s fairly startling, however we then needed to take a look at participant averages throughout the Premier League; who is aware of, there may’ve been just a few video games that introduced Muñoz’s customary down significantly.
Filtering out all appearances the place gamers featured for lower than 45 minutes nonetheless produced an inventory of 466 people, of which Muñoz got here out on high. In video games he’s featured for greater than 45 minutes this time period, he’s averaged 1,500.9 metres at excessive depth, over 55m greater than anybody else (Dominic Solanke – 1,445.7m). It’s additionally almost 250m greater than another full-back or wing-back, and even then Patrick Dorgu (1,261.8m) has performed significantly much less soccer over the total season than Muñoz has, which once more highlights the Colombian’s exceptional endurance.
Equally, Muñoz covers 10.8km on a per-90-minute foundation, which is the fifth most amongst full-backs to have performed at the least 1,000 minutes – although he’s performed an extra 995 minutes or greater than three of these above him.
Whereas his whole distance coated of 303km over the total season is barely sufficient to see him rank thirteenth within the Premier League, 13.9% of that has been travelled at “excessive depth”, which is the best proportion of all gamers to characteristic for at the least 90 minutes (although we’ve restricted that to 500+ minutes for readability in graphic beneath).
It’s additionally price highlighting that Muñoz’s 712 sprints this time period is second solely to Antonee Robinson (743), although the Palace wing-back has the season file for sprints in a single recreation (39).
Basically, then, Muñoz’s operating habits are phenomenal, and what makes them much more astonishing is the very fact he’s famend for being simply as intense in coaching.
“Each session he’s the man operating probably the most, sprinting probably the most,” Palace coach Oliver Glasner stated earlier this season. “Each recreation, he performs with probably the most depth. It’s the want of each supervisor to have such a participant.”
And on high of this, his travels again to South America throughout worldwide home windows don’t appear to inhibit him both.
Simply after the November worldwide break, Glasner remarked: “[Muñoz] had only one coaching session with us after twice enjoying 90 minutes for Colombia, with all of the travelling and the time distinction.”
In Palace’s first league recreation after that, a 2-2 draw at Aston Villa, Muñoz travelled 1,751.1m at excessive depth, which was his third furthest of the season and sixth furthest amongst all Premier League gamers this season.
“It reveals his [physical] situation, but additionally his coronary heart and character,” Glasner added. “He’s a incredible participant.”
After all, athleticism by itself doesn’t make Muñoz a “incredible participant”, however his bodily make-up undoubtedly has an impression on Palace, and it may be pinpointed to a level.
As an example, Palace have performed a higher proportion of this season with wing-backs versus full-backs than another group this season.
And although Tyrick Mitchell has really laid on extra alternatives to teammates than Muñoz, the latter’s bodily attributes permit him to occupy positions additional up the pitch extra actually because monitoring again in a hasty method isn’t an issue within the slightest for the correct wing-back.
In truth, because the graphic beneath reveals, Palace’s proper wing-back – nominally Muñoz – touches the ball larger up the pitch on common (58.1m) than the full-back/wing-back (from both flank) of another membership bar Manchester Metropolis (58.5m, left-back).
Palace are additionally one of many widest groups within the division, with 47.5m between their wing-backs on common; solely Everton (48.8m), Fulham, West Ham (each 48.5m) and Aston Villa (48.0m) play with higher width at full-back or wing-back.
Muñoz’s bodily talents in fact manifest in methods past merely encouraging individuals to level and say “that bloke runs loads”. They’re accompanied by an infectious positivity that sees him get into the opposition’s field fairly often.
As an example, solely Josko Gvardiol (29) has recorded extra photographs amongst defenders than Muñoz (28) this time period. It’s the same story for touches within the opposition’s field, with Gvardiol’s 88 placing him simply forward of the Colombian (84), although highlighting Muñoz’s attacking mentality all the identical.
His vitality ensures opposition full-backs have to stay on their toes to keep away from being caught out, so persistent are his surges – on or off the ball. In truth, it’s his off-ball runs that arguably make him a higher hazard than these in possession.
He’s recorded 335 off-ball runs into the ultimate third this season, which is the fifth most amongst all gamers, and 201 of these have been into the field. Whereas he slides down the rankings to ninth in that metric, 201 continues to be 59 greater than another nominal full-back or wing-back, which ought to additional emphasise simply how aggressively he performs the position.
He’s impactful, too, along with his eight purpose involvements bettered solely by Robinson (10) amongst Premier League defenders this time period. He’s nonetheless capable of be an efficient presence down the opposite finish as properly, with solely three full-backs/wing-backs recording greater than Muñoz’s 222 pressures in their very own defensive third, whereas his 3.5 tackles per 90 sees him rank second amongst defenders (min. 900 minutes performed).
When Muñoz was enjoying at Genk, his former coach Wouter Vrancken spoke of a broader shock throughout Belgium that it took so lengthy for a membership from a extra illustrious league to snap him up.
It’s now simple to see why he felt that manner. Given Muñoz turns 29 quickly, he’s definitely not a sizzling prospect, however he’s making up for what he may see as misplaced time.
With wing-backs rising in reputation and significance virtually by the month within the Premier League, Muñoz is positioning himself on the forefront of the position’s renaissance. If he maintains this degree, he may even be thought to be the fashionable benchmark.
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