By The Numbers: Middlesbrough need to unleash Adama Traore

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Middlesbrough are currently in the middle of a rough patch, and Adama Traoré is the man to power them out of that. This is why:

Adama Traoré is, objectively, a failure. There’s no getting around that fact. A player born in sight of the Camp Nou and raised through La Masia, possessing some of the most supernaturally raw skill seen in years, should not end up at Middlesbrough.

Traoré has fallen this far because of his own bad decisions, like choosing to join Aston Villa because they offered him an incredible salary. But after leaving Villa he found himself at Middlesbrough, which was a better environment for him.

He took the Premier League by storm under Aitor Karanka, and was one of the most dynamic dribblers in a division that contained Eden Hazard and Wilfred Zaha. If Middlesbrough had supported him better, or had more attacking options to support his incredible skill, they may well have stayed up.

Anyway, now he’s in the Championship one would have expected him to be even more dominant and to help lift Middlesbrough back into the Premier League. But Boro simply aren’t playing him.

After 22 games played, Traore has featured just 12 times for a paltry 444 minutes. Alright there’s a three match suspension in there, but that is simply ridiculous given his talent level. Despite his limited minutes he’s completed a league-high 65 dribbles (at an incredible 79% success rate).

The next highest is Brentford’s Ollie Watkins who has 62 dribbles (61% success) and has played 1353 more minutes than Boro’s winger. That is beyond belief.

And you can’t even chalk that up to playing lesser opposition either (although that is obviously a factor) because if you look at the Premier League completed dribbles since the start of 2016/17, Traoré places fourth with 136 (75% success). That’s despite playing around 2000 fewer minutes than literally everyone else around him.

Yes, Traoré obviously has issues with his final pass. He can be wasteful at times. But the sheer frequency with which he beats an opponent and gets open leaves a coach with so much potential to work with.

It’s absolutely maddening that Garry Monk won’t use his most devastating attacking force, won’t try and cultivate a partnership between Traoré and Britt Assombalonga that could fire Middlesbrough back up the Championship table and into the Premier League.

Objectively Traoré may be a failure, but he’s still just 21 years-old. There is so much room for him to grow into the player he was always destined to be, and Middlesbrough could help him do that if they would only, you know, play him!