Numbers suggest that Lamouchi has a tough call on his hands when the team returns – Opinion

Looks like Sabri Lamouchi has got a conundrum on his hands.

When Michael Dawson went down injured against Stoke City back in September, it left Lamouchi with a problem about who was going to fill that spot. In recent weeks that spot has been filled predominantly by Tobias Figueiredo. However before the international break, Lamouchi revealed that Dawson was back in contention for the first team.

With the extra week off to recover, logic would dictate that he’ll be front and centre to be in the running to make the starting eleven against Bristol City when the league campaign resumes.

However, if you take a look at their statistics, you can make the argument that things should be kept the way they are rather than bringing him back in (all stats from WhoScored).

Dawson is averaging 0.4 tackles, 0.8 interceptions, 0.9 blocks and 3 aerial duels won so far this season for Forest. Now if you compare those to Figueiredo, he is averaging 0.8 tackles, 0.8 interceptions, 1 block and 3.3 aerial figures won.

So on the face of it, it looks as if things would favour keeping things as they were against Derby County.

Now obviously this doesn’t just come down to the numbers, there are always some intangible things that go football that you can’t put as a number. For instance, as Paul Taylor wrote in The Athletic back in August, there seems to be a bit of an understanding brewing between Dawson and Joe Worrall as they developed together early in the season. And also factor into all this that Dawson is the club captain so what Figueiredo might bring in terms of ability, Dawson will be able to bring when it comes to leadership and organising the team.

That’s what makes the debate so fascinating. Are you someone that thinks football can be decided simply by the numbers or do you think that there is more to it than that? That will dictate what side of the debate you fall under.

And when we get back from the international break, where hopefully Dawson will be back and ready for selection, we’ll be able to find out which side of the debate Lamouchi falls on as well.