Since last February 26, Álvaro Valles took over the starting gloves of García Pimienta’s team. His debut in the starting eleven this year in the league was against Lugo and his first matches cannot be defined as arriving and kissing the saint. In his debut he would concede two goals, the next match would leave his first clean sheet but the team did not bring more than one point from Huesca and then the collapse of Girona would come.
However, it was against the Girona team that he brought out a wide range of saves that allowed the yellows to keep the game in the game, more than the chances of both teams could say. Something that the yellow technician applauded. “He has played a great game. The three games he has played he is performing at an excellent level”assessed García Pimienta after the meeting.
But since this is a team sport, the collective award would come just after Girona. Second clean sheet against Valladolid in Pucela and first victory that he celebrated as a starter. Then would come 17 points more than 21 possible. To reach twenty points in the last eight games.
A few weeks ago, the meta would say at a press conference: “I know that my teammates trust me and I trust them”. And it is not for less, the Sevillian is being, together with Jonathan Viera, the tip of the iceberg of the team in his last two victories. The captain, for scoring the goals that opened the scoring in both games. And the goalkeeper, for saving the points with a key save in each match, taking a header from close range to a corner in the last moments against Málaga and against Mirandés saving a penalty.
But beyond the punctual, Álvaro Valles confirms the sensations with data. There is one metric that can shed light on the individual performance of goalkeepers: goals prevented. To do this, the goals that are expected when a shot reaches the goal are based on the quality of the shots it has received.
Therefore, if that figure is compared with the number of goals that the goalkeeper has actually conceded, it is possible to calculate, theoretically, the total number of goals avoided by the goalkeeper.
Doing this exercise, according to the data that Opta provides to Diario As, it is observed that Álvaro Valles was expected to concede 14.45 goals. Nevertheless Valles, has received 12 points. 2.45 less than expected.
To contextualize, Second goalkeepers average in the total sum of games, 1.10 goals prevented. The one who stands out the most in this metric is Amir, the Ponferradina goalkeeper with 9.94 goals saved. They are followed by Fernando Martínez, Almería, with 7.55 and Juan Soriano, Tenerife, with 7.42.
On the opposite side of this classification is Raúl Fernandez who has received, according to data provided by Opta, 8.62 goals more than expected, followed by Mikel Saizar with 4.82 and Iván Villar with 4.62. In the case of Raúl Fernández, it should be noted that, with three goals, he is the one who has conceded the most own goals in the Second Division. Which partially distorts this calculation.
Even with those, with this turn in the goal, always according to the metric of goals prevented, Las Palmas has gone from conceding 8.62 goals more than expected to conceding 2.45 less than what the quality of the rivals’ shots said. Going from -0.3 goals prevented per game to +0.22 goals prevented. That is, an improvement of one goal every two games. This upgrade has the Valles seal.