Blackpool were promoted to the EFL Championship this season after winning the League One play-offs last season. They are currently comfortably sitting in the 13th position in the league table. One of the key cogs in the Blackpool machine this season has been the 23-year-old midfielder, Josh Bowler. So far, he is one of only two Blackpool players to have at least 10 goals and assists combined this season, the other being Jerry Yates. We will look at the performances of Josh Bowler this season.
Josh Bowler has scored seven goals for Blackpool this season as a midfielder. He ranks in the 91st percentile for goals scored per 90 with 0.23 to his name. He is also outperforming his xG per 90 output of 0.2 goals per 90, ranking him in the upper quintile. He takes around two shots per game and generates an xG per shot value of 0.1. Around three-tenths of his shots end up being on target. He has also been very good with the ball at his feet, attempting nine dribbles per game, completing two-thirds of it.
Seen above is the shot map of Josh Bowler this season. He has scored three of his seven goals this season from outside the box for Blackpool, but he has also missed quite a few big goalscoring opportunities this season that had an xG value of 0.35 or greater. Bowler has taken 59 shots till now. This means he has scored a goal every 8.43 attempts on goal.
In the above chart, you can see the pass sonar, xT timeline, and xT map of Josh Bowler. Bowler regularly creates threats for Blackpool’s opponents. For most of the game, he has generated an xT value of 0.5 or greater quite comfortably, with his highest being just over 1.5 just before the half-hour mark. Most of his threat generation comes from the right wing in the final third. His dribbling into the penalty box also creates big threats to the opponents. Bowler’s sideways passes into the opposition’s penalty area create as much threat as his forward passes.
Josh Bowler has been instrumental in Blackpool’s comfortable mid-table position in the EFL Championship this season. The Blackpool fans already chant his name regularly in their home stadium. Bowler will hope to finish the season strongly for himself and his team. He has three assists to his name, which is the joint second-highest for his team.
