Jackson Martínez: Goal Scoring Analysis

(Disclaimer: This is a very long post, about a player who we possibly may never sign. If you have something more important to do with your life, do it now. If you want to find out more about potential LFC target Jackson Martínez, please read on.)

This, ladies and gentlemen, is Jaguares de Chiapas striker Jackson Martínez. A current Colombian international, captain of his Mexican Primera División side, and the second highest goal scorer in Jaguares’ history, Martínez’ stock is rising in world football, thanks mainly for his ability to score goals.

It is not the number of goals as much as it is the manner of scoring that I find particularly impressive – although he has scored an incredible number of goals, both with Jaguares and Colombian club side Deportiva Independiente Medellín, with whom he won a title in 2009.

And on top of his abundantly evident goal threat, Martínez carries something of an interest in LFC. Twice in the last 6 months he has publicly commented that Liverpool is an interesting option for him, but pausing to add earlier this month that there’s “still nothing concrete”. The mere fact he’s talking about us suggests he’s open to a move, but is he good enough for Liverpool? Would he improve our stuttering form in front of goal that has cost us so dearly in our current league campaign?

South American football expert Tim Vickery recently commented on Martínez, describing him as an “out-and-out goalscorer, a front-to-goal centre-forward who can finish off both feet, and with excellent spring that makes him a threat in the air.”

While Vickery noted concerns about Martínez’ touch, in the current technical context of Kuyt and Carroll, Martínez comes off looking like Messi, and he offers far more with the ball at his feet than our current crop of forwards can muster – obviously excepting Luis Suarez’ creative genius.

Some Basic Statistics:
This year (2011/12 Apertura and Clausura) Martínez has been shooting at around 57.4%, more accurately than any of the top strikers in the Premier League. And his shots-to-goals ratio is also comparable to some of the Premier League’s best forwards, with Martínez taking 5 shots for each goal scored, making him as efficient in front of goal as Wayne Rooney and Sergio Aguero. Red-hot forward Robin Van Persie is scoring once in every 4 shots – only marginally better than our big Colombian friend.

Indeed, as Liverpool fan and info-hobbyist Dan Kennett suggested in a recent article on Luis Suarez, our Uruguayan playmaker needed an average of 8 shots to score even in the comparatively “easy” Eredivisie, his best season only seeing his conversion rate hit 1:6.

Even Robin Van Persie has a lifetime ratio at Arsenal of a goal from every 6.5 shots, while Rooney has historically taken 7.5 shots for every goal (again from Dan’s Suarez masterpiece). This means that within his context, Martínez is scoring like a top, top striker.

Martínez takes 3.6 shots per game, slightly more than Sergio Aguero or Demba Ba. His current scoring ratio is 0.73 goals per game, far better than the magic 1 in 2 benchmark used to judge strikers. If that form successfully translated to the Premier League, he’d only be trailing Van Persie and Rooney in the goal-scoring charts, and projected over 38 league games, he could potentially score 28 goals – a phenomenal amount.

But the Mexican Primera is not the English Premier League – any comparisons need to be treated with caution. Not only is the style of football different, they exist on different stratospheres of the footballing universe, the Mexican league considered a creditable 12th strongest domestic competition in world football, but the PL arguably the best or second best, depending on what your views on La Liga are. It is clear Martínez would need to step his game up if he was to join Liverpool and become the antidote to our finishing woes.

A few key measurements I’ve collected, suggest he very well could.

I have painstakingly watched every video I can find of Jackson Martínez doing what he does best: scoring goals. I have analysed each finish, documenting the foot he scores with (except for headers, obviously) the shooting technique he employs, his distance from goal on shooting and what parts of the goal he shoots into. I have only documented 61 goals (he’s scored around 90 professional goals between Mexico and Columbia), but feel the sample size is big enough to make reasonable assumptions from. Certainly there were common patterns that emerged in terms of types of finishes and where he places the ball into the goals.

So let’s start there, with finishing zones.

Martínez’ Finishing Zones:

Immediately I find myself impressed with the zones of maximum scoring. Hard and low shots into the bottom corners are difficult for goalkeepers to save, and roughly a third of Martínez’ goals have gone into these two zones alone. This suggests to me intelligent shot placement. 45.2% of all of his scoring shots enter the goal in the lowest segment.

Equally noticeable is a clear trend towards the right hand side of the goal, with 43.5% of Martínez’ goals coming inside the right-hand post. This is explained by the fact that Martínez is predominantly right-footed, although we’ll see further down that he’s far from being a one-foot-wonder.

16.1% of the goals I saw arced, spun, powered or looped into the top right hand corner – this is no fluke. Clearly Martínez knows how to hit a ball and where he is most likely to score, hence the placement into areas goalies hate – both bottom corners, and the “postage stamp” in the top right corner. The ones that makes you feel all tingly, like in this video from mid-February:

Words can’t begin to describe how beautiful I think that goal is.

Shooting Range:

Jackson Martínez: Fox in the Box?
While these numbers have been loosely rounded, the general pattern is that “Big Jacko” scores from medium range, somewhere between 6 and 18 yards from goal. While not an earth-shattering, revelatory statistic, I would argue that this suggests Martínez is a good fit for Liverpool: He’s regularly getting into the box and scoring!

We have enough players who shoot pointlessly from range and more than enough who don’t shoot at all. What we need is someone who finds or makes space to shoot on goal from within the penalty area. Martínez has this routine down, he knows how to get into scoring range and he evidently knows where to put the ball when he’s in it.

Finishing Trends:
Looking at how Martínez finishes his goals, it’s clear he has plenty of ways to find the net.

21% of his goals were finished with his head – interestingly the vast majority of his headed goals were in Colombia, with his current teammates at Jaguares usually opting to play the ball low into feet. His aerial success lies with his ability to meet the ball at pace, generating plenty of power off the head. He also has that extraordinary “hangtime” quality that players like Tim Cahill exhibit, enabling him to outleap defenders.

As I mentioned before, he’s no one-foot-wonder, with around a quarter of all of his goals coming from his non-preferred left foot. Even some of his long-range efforts are hit from his theoretically “weaker” foot, his characteristic power and accuracy available from both sides of his body.

Martínez is naturally right-footed, and has scored the majority of his goals (55%) this way.

In terms of types of finishing, Martínez has the full repertoire of shots.

The majority of Martínez goals are sidefooted finishes, with his placement past the keeper when 1-on-1 a regular feature. He also regularly gets into the position where he is finishing into an open goal, the keeper having been eliminated through clever movement on his behalf.

He often scores with powerful drives a la Gerrard and is confident to line up a shot from outside the penalty area when he gets space. He also has excellent volleying technique and can finish first time with either foot confidently.

14.3% of Martínez’ goals have been penalties. He is a confident penalty taker and usually tucks his pens powerfully into a bottom corner. More than once though he has used a chipped finish that has lollipopped over the stranded goalkeeper – not something I personally want to see away at Old Trafford at 0-0 in the last minute of play.

General Characteristics:
Besides the statistical analysis, Martínez has plenty of physical characteristics that lend themselves well to the physicality of the Premier League. He’s a big unit at 1.88m tall and 82kg, and he’s strong.

He has explosive acceleration, a powerful step that allows him to create his own shooting opportunities despite tight marking. Martínez prefers to do most of his sprinting off the ball, however he can carry the ball at speed and has a functional stepover – one that actually helps him beat his man.

While Vickery questions his technique, he does have good touch for a powerful forward. While he may not have the dribbling ability of Seydou Doumbia, a comparable talent, his first touch is much stickier and he thinks quickly around the box, either shooting or moving the ball on to a teammate.

Tall, fast and strong, Martínez could dovetail well with Suarez as an explosive, high-energy forward partnership. He also has the speed and intelligence to run the channels for Andy Carroll’s headed flicks. More than anything, he has an accurate, powerful, low shot that regularly threatens the goal, and he has the know-how to frequently find shooting positions.

For the rumoured price, (£8-10 million) Martínez would represent far less of a gamble than Carroll himself did. The Colombian is a captain, an international and a matured, well-rounded player. The only question is how long would it take him to adjust to the intensity and relentlessness of Premier League football? If he does, he could bring the one missing ingredient to our early season dominance, the currency that defines success in football: goals.

Verdict:
I’d personally like to see him at Liverpool. While rumours have him choosing between us and Porto, he would fit well with our style of play and contribute pace and incisiveness up front that we are currently lacking. If the budget is restricted to around £25m as is being frequently rumoured, then dropping £10m on Martínez seems a fantastic idea.

There are very few players in Europe with his kind of scoring record at that kind of price.

I hope you enjoyed this in-depth player analysis of Jackson Martínez. It took ages to research and write. Please share it via Twitter, Facebook or your preferred social Network. Cheers.
Grubb

29 thoughts on “Jackson Martínez: Goal Scoring Analysis

  • March 28, 2012 at 12:34 pm
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    Great Analysis. One of the Best i have ever read. You’ve backed up your opinion with facts. 

    You should get your own site and make more of these kinds of articles for other players.

    Fantastic.

  • March 28, 2012 at 12:39 pm
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    Great stats read but one must put it into context i.e. comparing apples with apples (surely playing in the English Premier League is far harder than playing in the Mexican league? All the strikers compared ply their trade in EPL so its not a fair comparison)

  • March 28, 2012 at 12:51 pm
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    Good stuff. In-depth analysis which I hope the Liverpool staff could take into consideration. Wouldn’t hurt to sign him in my opinion. He should adapt in quite easily into the squad. Very well documented research, two thumbs up.

  • March 28, 2012 at 1:13 pm
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    As I noted in the article!

    Unfortunately there’s no way of telling whether a player can make the transition. All you can go on is what you can measure. His numbers and intangibles are both good, it depends on his mentality and determination to adapt.

    If he comes!

  • March 28, 2012 at 2:29 pm
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    It’s def worth noting the only other example of a striker coming from the Mexican league to the prem : Javier Hernandez to see how that league might be similar to the prem

  • March 28, 2012 at 11:17 pm
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     I’ll try and do it more often, for sure. But I won’t be moving sites until they kick me off the team for being lazy. Which could be any time now =)

  • March 29, 2012 at 1:59 am
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    I’ve never seen this guy play, but it’s interesting to see the comparison to Doumbia, who I believe could do a great job for Liverpool. There’s no guarantee that a players form will translate from league to league, but likewise there’s no guarantee that a player won’t step up. 

    Liverpool don’t have the money to bring in “sure things”, so gambling on high risk high reward players would surely be a better bet than playing it safe again with the likes of Downing…

  • March 29, 2012 at 2:57 pm
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    could see him playing beside Suarez .. Luis creates & Jackson scores…
    has a nice ring to it.

  • March 31, 2012 at 10:41 am
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    Welcome to Besiktas !!!

  • April 24, 2012 at 1:33 pm
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    Those stats are great, however you must also compare the opposition, huge difference in the standard of the league he plays in. I have no doubt he will be a hit but I wouldn’t look to far in to comparisons.

  • April 24, 2012 at 1:40 pm
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    Fair play some great analysis and time put into this!

  • April 24, 2012 at 3:06 pm
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    Fantastic analysis. Stunning.

  • April 24, 2012 at 4:04 pm
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    the best

  • April 24, 2012 at 11:26 pm
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    Absolutely BEAUTIFULLY written and arranged article. Thank you for this insight. I’m excited to know he is now 9/10ths of becoming a Liverpool player.

    Would you be able to link me to some of the videos you referred to during your statistical analysis?

    Thank you!

  • April 25, 2012 at 4:15 am
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    Great stuff. What I have also noticed from the available videos is; that he takes his shots quickly.

    He commonly takes one to two touches before shooting, sometimes he even has a go first time. That could be another thing to look at here “how many touches he takes before his goal/shot. Suarez has been commonly criticized for trying to do to much and it seems Jacko does the opposite. 

  • April 25, 2012 at 10:23 am
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    this was a quality read mate thank you for the time and effort you clearly put into this 🙂 in my opinion id love him at our club, whilst looking at potential strikers from other leagues abroad when looking at these players i always prefer to look at the quality of finishing, the movement of the player and the areas they get into more often. after all in all the leagues the goals are the same size and they have a keeper to beat in them, the difference i try looking at is how much the player can score without the keepers in their leagues getting near the finish as doesnt matter how good the keeper is if the finish is good enough they just wont be able to save them.

    in my opinion what we have been lacking and what big carroll really needs to add to his game is clever movement in the box. far to many times ive watched us get into great possesion in wide areas the ball comes in and nobody attacking the ball in front of the defenders, big carroll is either at the back post or standing static far to deep to get on the end of the ball across the goal. i really feel this is why downing has struggled more than often as his strengths are getting down the line putting early crosses for strikers to go and attack them. because of the poor possitioning of carroll its really hard for players finding and knowing where he is going to be most times my opinion is he is far to deep when if he was to be busting a gut to go attack crosses near the 6 yard line or near post he would of been well into double figures this season.

    as for jackson watching videos of him he has real inteligent movement in the box thats what defenders hate, its far easier to pick up someone and defend against how carroll is playing because he doesnt really move so defenders just stand near him and jump into him. jackson runs acrross or peels off defenders and attacks the ball that is in my opinion what he would bring to our team a striker thats a menace in the box that cleary knows how to finish and take chances. we have played some decent stuff this season the thing i think thats been the problem is when playing carrol and suarez they both play like second strikers that come deep we need a striker to get in behind defences and gets into the box and attacks the ball.

    if it was up to me id like to see us go for this guy and maybe affeley from barca or if we have enough funds mathias suarez and play with l.suarez and affeley/m.suarez either side of jackson up top. l.suarez is far more of a threat picking the ball out wide and cutting in than being a central striker. so another similar type player on the right with an out and out striker in the middle of them would be a nightmare for teams to try and defend against in my opinion. YNWA <3

  • April 25, 2012 at 11:08 am
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    Cracking piece. Thanks for taking the time to put it all together.

  • May 29, 2012 at 11:38 pm
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    This is very analytic…. i like how you do such!! can you rate Aqua/ j.cole/ Adam Im scared about next season!!

  • June 1, 2012 at 7:04 pm
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    Very good article mate – hopefully Brendan Rodgers comes across it.

  • July 8, 2012 at 1:57 am
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    He signed for FC PORTO!

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