What makes Sheaf a better player than Grimes? Well aside from the fact his team has finished above Grimes’ over the last 3 seasons (would have been 4 if Grimes didn’t jump) let’s take a look.
We’ll start with what I consider to be Sheaf’s most underrated attributes. His defensive work. Sheaf is a lot more mobile than Grimes for a start. He will be involved in duels all over the pitch and is excellent in forcing turnovers. He has the mobility to prevent counter attacks wherever he finds himself on the pitch. Grimes at Swansea out of possession would generally hold position and not involve himself in the press. In possession he would remain in the back 3 much to the dismay of Swansea fans. I don’t feel he’s of much use there personally.
Grimes’ defensive work here is something I’m very interested in. He’s perfectly competent in the sense that he’ll tackle someone if they engage in a duel with him, but he’s very passive and won’t actively look to turnover the ball like Sheaf would.
In terms of offensive attributes, Grimes’ best asset is his ability to dictate tempo. An ability that cannot be quantified. He is very risk averse but very controlled and I hope, will not have that stupid pass in him that Sheaf tends to. He can expertly manipulate the opposition press and gain his team access into the opposition half with ease but not necessarily at pace.
Sheaf however whilst he has often been used to pick up the ball from the defenders, will also seek to join in attacks. Often he can play line breaking passes and will often use turns or quick feet to take a defender out of the game. You’ll regularly see him play one two’s and seek to progress into advanced positions which Grimes rarely did for Swansea.
I feel this graph shows perfectly how Sheaf can impact our attacking game compared to Grimes.
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Another point would be Sheaf’s ability to play in different roles. Grimes has always played a very specific role for a team that plays a very specific way. Sheaf however, we have seen him play all manner of different roles next to very different types of players. From Kelly to Hamer to Allen. He’s performed fantastically as our deepest midfielder, as a box to box player, basically in any midfield role we’ve needed him to do. I don’t feel we have ever set up in a way that best suits him for a sustained period, certainly not to the extent Swansea did for Grimes. Grimes will have to show he can adapt to a different philosophy unless we plan on being Swansea 2.0 like we were in Lampard’s first game.
The criticisms of Sheaf are mostly his availability. He is definitely injured too often that is for certain. However his current injury was a result of being overplayed and not allowed to recover from his previous injury. He played every minute over the Christmas period and broke down. It was obvious to everyone except Lampard it was going to happen. He should’ve been treated better. If Allen continues playing the minutes he has, it will happen to him too.
Another criticism is his leadership. Well Grimes is certainly not a leader. He’s captained a side in total regression over the last 5 years and any Swansea fan will tell you he isn’t captain material. Jumping from a sinking ship halfway though a season to make a sideways move pretty much tells you all you need to know about his ‘leadership’. I see Grimes as a similar leader to Sheaf, not vocal but can lead by example by their consistency on the pitch and in training. Not as a captain.
Lastly ‘Sheaf slows the game down’. Wait until those that say that see Grimes! I feel (this isn’t aimed at you) a lot of our fans have decided Grimes is one of the best midfielders in the division yet they don’t seem to understand why. He has a very specific skill set, he is nowhere near Sheaf defensively and offers little in the attacking third. He offers ball retention in deep areas and an ability to beat a press. How much that will help us remains to be seen. Our best runs of form have always came when we haven’t even attempted to beat a press!
You say you ‘don’t mind Sheaf’ but you’ve posted about him 16 times in 6 days. He’s not even playing!
All of my observations above are based on seeing Sheaf play every single game he has played in a Coventry shirt in person. My observations of Grimes have came in person whenever he has featured against us, or a few occasions I have watched Swansea on tv. However I have obtained a quick graph which you can interpret however you want:
View attachment 41282
All the raw data is on FBRef if you wish to look for yourself. I feel the data there shows Sheaf as the better defensive midfielder and the bigger contributor offensively. I’m excited to see Grimes’ positive attributes used in our favour.
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