Marco Tilio’s career was hindered by injuries following his record-breaking transfer to Celtic, but as the Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final approaches this weekend, the Melbourne City star is displaying alarming form. His recent statistics highlight the exceptional level he is currently performing at.
When asked about the Grand Final, Melbourne Victory legend Archie Thompson quickly pinpointed one player his old club should monitor closely in Saturday night’s clash.
“You’ve got to keep an eye on (Marco) Tilio,” he stated during an episode of A-Leagues Download. “His quality is evident.”
Once regarded as one of Australia’s brightest young prospects, Tilio made headlines with an Australian record transfer to Celtic in July 2023, rumoured to be worth $3 million.
However, his chances at the high-profile Scottish club were limited, prompting a loan back to City, where injuries had previously hindered the talented attacking midfielder from recapturing the form that initially earned him an overseas move.
Since rejoining City’s first team in mid-February, consistent playtime has allowed Tilio to shine, netting four goals and providing five assists over 13 matches.
As he heads into the Isuzu UTE A-League Grand Final, it’s fair to argue that the 23-year-old is playing the best football of his career, as his underlying statistics reflect a player excelling in multiple areas of the game.
Considering Tilio’s performances in his last four matches, he leads the Isuzu UTE A-League with a score of (3.29), closely followed by Western United’s captain Ben Garuccio at (3.26), underscoring his remarkable form.
Traits Insights, an analytics platform increasingly favoured by elite European clubs, offers a fresh lens to interpret data, assessing metrics pertinent to specific positions and producing ratings across four key aspects of football – scoring, creating, passing, and defending.
Throughout the season, Tilio (2.98) ranks as the 14th best player in the Isuzu UTE A-League among those who have played over 45 minutes across more than 10 appearances in a specific role, positioned between the young sensation Archie Goodwin (13th) and Noah Botic (15th). Tilio is also City’s highest-rated player.
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This data underscores the necessity for Melbourne Victory to devise a strategy aimed at neutralising City’s influential attacker, with Thompson suggesting that Australia U20 international Josh Inserra could be tasked with limiting Tilio’s impact in this pivotal match.
A closer examination of Tilio’s statistics during this purple patch reveals his significance to City, extending far beyond mere goal and assist tallies.
Explained: The Traits Insights Rating System
The Traits platform contextualises player data by comparing them against peers in their position and across the competition. Its unique method of talent analysis employs a multi-layered statistical framework that consolidates raw data into specific metrics, contributing to a series of ratings – please refer to the image below for a detailed breakdown.
A player’s performance data is benchmarked against the average competition and the variance in performances for their position.
All ratings (overall and for particular skills and metrics) are set on a consistent 0-5 scale; a rating above 3 is considered good, 2.5 represents the competition average, and anything below 2 is deemed subpar.
The weighting of each positional model reflects a player’s role within the team. Traits default to a robust 4-3-3 formation, though clubs can adapt it to align with their specific positional priorities.
Over the last eight matches, Tilio’s performance would place him second among attacking midfielders in the Isuzu UTE A-League for creativity, fifth for passing accuracy, and ninth for defending.
Diving deeper, Tilio would rank first for assists – a statistic that includes not only direct assists for goals but also secondary, third assists, and shot assists – and is second for passing intent. He also sits second for combination play, behind only Douglas Costa, and ranks second for off-ball defending, trailing only Perth Glory’s Nikola Mileusnic.
This season’s score of (2.98) aligns with Tilio’s highest historical performances in the Isuzu UTE A-League, comparable to his 2021 (2.93) and 2022 (2.99) seasons.
In terms of passing, he is achieving career-best metrics (2.93), while his other statistics have held up as his influence on City has increased.
One of the most compelling match-ups in this Saturday’s Grand Final will be the clash between the playmakers Tilio and Melbourne Victory’s Daniel Arzani.
The two players exhibit similar profiles, suggesting that whichever one can assert greater influence during the derby will likely tip the scales in their team’s favour.
Traits Insights also enables users to compare data for identifying comparable players within global football, assisting coaches, sporting directors, and executives in better understanding the profile of players they are evaluating.
In Tilio’s situation, the comparisons drawn are remarkably impressive.
Focusing on Europe’s top five leagues over the past five seasons, Tilio’s nearest technical profile matches for the current campaign include Angel Di Maria’s 2021-22 season at Paris Saint-Germain, Kingsley Coman’s 2022-23 season with Bayern Munich, and Phil Foden’s 2022-23 tenure at Manchester City, where he was awarded the Premier League Young Player of the Season.
With this context, it’s evident Tilio is back to his peak form, potentially eyeing another European opportunity. Whether this will be with Celtic or another club remains to be seen, but he certainly has unfinished business to address this weekend as he aims to complete a remarkable resurgence.
Compiled by SportArena.com.au.
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