Goals
Graham 12 (0.38 per game, or 1 every 237 minutes)
Sinclair 8 (0.29 per game, or 1 every 390 minutes)
Sigurdsson 7 (0.41 per game, or 1 every 214 minutes)
Looking at this list, one fact stands out - the Swans have to sign Sigurdsson. There has been disconcerting talk in the press about Rodgers' hi-jacking the Swans nearly complete deal for Sigurdsson, but we should know sometime in the coming week whether Siggy will be wearing Swansea whites next season. These figures say it would be a great thing for the club if that happens.
It stands to reason that sole striker Danny Graham ought to top the goals scored list, and Scott Sinclair chipped in with a sturdy eight. In fairness, a repeat of the twenty odd he scored in the championship was never likely, and he still fared a lot better this season than did QPR's Adel Taarabt, the player who pipped Sinclair to the post in best Championship player voting that season.
However, Sigurdsson almost caught up with Sinclair whilst only playing half as many games, and his goals-per-game clip of 0.41 would be impressive for an out-and-out striker, let alone an attacking midfielder. Bear in mind also that Sinclair is the Swans penalty taker, and although Sigurdsson does take the free kicks, they don't quite present the same scoring opportunity (although that point is debatable where the Icelander is involved).
Of course, you don't score goals without taking shots. A look at that stat might shed some light on Sigurdsson's impressive figures so far.
Shots
Sinclair 99 (2.8 per game)
Sigurdsson 71 (4.2 per game)
Graham 70 (2.2 per game)
Sinclair's status at the top of this list might suggest he either shoots too much or doesn't hit the target often enough, because he took roughly 25% more shots than Graham but scored 25% fewer goals. Sigurdsson meanwhile takes almost twice the shots of the other leading shooters. Small wonder he scores so often. Granted, he takes most of the direct free kicks, but on balance, that probably only accounts for 0.8 shots per game (that one's a guess). Regardless, when he does take free kicks, he usually gets them on target, so that simply further illustrates his attacking value to the team.
More important that shots are shots on target :
Shots On Target (20 or more shots)
Graham 53%
Dyer 41%
Sigurdsson 32%
Again, we can see that Sigurdsson doesn't waste too many of his shots on goal - 32% is good for third on the team in the accuracy stakes. It is comforting to see Graham with a deadly 53% (for some context, Robin van Persie reached 37% this season), and the big surprise is Nathan Dyer, who once upon a time couldn't put the ball in the ocean, much less on target. As Swansea's second most accurate shooter, Dyer should look at shooting a little more often. As it stands, Dyer actually is fourth on the list for shots taken with 44 - but that's a far cry from third place Graham's 70.
Next I want to take a look at shots-per-goal - in other words, how many shots a player takes between scoring goals.
Shots Per Goal (20 shots minimum)
Graham 5.83
Dyer 8.80
Sigurdsson 10.14
Graham tops the list. A little armchair extrapolation tells us that if Danny Graham could find a way to up his shots per game from 2.2 to 3, then he ought to score every other game at least, which would have increased his goals total this season from 12 to nearly 20. Food for thought.
Finally, I want to look at what I will describe as shooting efficacy - once a player has put a shot on target, how often it results in a goal :
Shooting Efficacy (20 shots minimum)
Graham 32.43%
Sinclair 32%
Allen 30.77%
I must admit to cheating ever so slightly. Ash Williams actually had 50% efficacy after taking exactly the minimum 20 shots required for consideration (shots include headers on goal). However, he only put two of them on target, scoring his only goal of the season from one. This hardly seems useful for the purposes of our examination, so, discounting Williams, Danny Graham once again tops the table. I think it is safe to say at this point that Graham has justified his large transfer fee.
What is interesting is Scott Sinclair's nearly identical figure. This means that whilst Scott misses a lot of his shots (three quarters actually), when he does get them on target, they are quite dangerous, which backs up a point I made earlier in the season - that one of the reasons Sinclair misses a lot is because he is always aiming for the corners and edges of the goal, away from the keeper. When it works, there are goals. When it doesn't... there are questionable looking stats.
Joe Allen's inclusion on this list suggests he could do with shooting a little more often, too. He is fifth with 41 total shots, 32% of which he puts on target.
We'll finish up with a bit of fun :
Woodwork
Sigurdsson 4
Graham, Sinclair 3
Caulker 2
Steven Caulker was really unlucky not to score with a header from a set-piece this season. Some of Siggy's shots off the frame came from free kicks, whilst we can see more evidence of Sinclair's shooting strategy of trying to keep the ball away from the keeper. And what about Danny Graham? That's another three goals he might have had there...
Crosses
Sigurdsson 137
Gower 95
Taylor 82
It is encouraging to see full back Neil Taylor on this list after watching him develop his forward runs towards the end of last season. However, Sigurdsson appears to surpass the nearest competition easily, although it is more than worth noting that Mark Gower played far fewer minutes than did Sigurdsson.
Gower's minutes-per-cross figure is 11.8, which isn't far off Sigurdsson's superior 10.9, proving that Mark Gower likes to get the ball forward, and not just sideways or backwards, contrary to both popular belief and visual evidence of actually watching him play. Gower tops the cross completion list.
Chances
Sigurdsson 47
Allen 44
Dyer 41
Gower's absence from the list is ironically down to the addition of Sigurdsson during the January window, which saw Gower drop to the bench. Sigurdsson's own figures are outstanding, especially given he played half the games of Allen and Dyer, who again assert themselves as Swansea's elite players.
Mark Gower actually made 31 chances this season, which is good for fourth on the list and equates to one chance every 36 minutes played, whereas Sigurdsson created one chance for every 32 minutes. To put that in context, David Silva, one of the Premier League's most dangerous playmakers, creates one chance every 27 minutes, playing on a well-stocked Man City side which can routinely out-match most opponents man-for-man and therefore expect to dominate most games. Siggy's not so far off that figure, especially given the patient play built-in to the Swansea game plan.
Goal-line Clearances
Caulker 2
Sigurdsson 1
