Melbourne City announced last night that they have secured the signing of former Go Ahead Eagles and RKC Waalwijk playmaker Richard van der Venne on a two-year deal.
The 30-year-old midfielder joined the A-League Premiers on a free transfer following his departure from Waalwijk where he spent the last two and a half years.
But who exactly is Richard van der Venne and how will he fit into the City starting XI? We are going to dive into the Oss-born player’s stats and answer these questions below.
Who is he?
Van der Venne came through the ranks at his hometown club TOP Oss and after a couple of low-profile moves across the Netherlands, he made his name with Go Ahead Eagles in the Eerste Divisie.
The attacking-minded midfielder played 63 times for ‘The pride of the IJssel
Kowet‘ scored 20 goals and provided 12 assists. His strong performances in the second tier earned him a move to RKC Waalwijk in the Eredivisie.
Across three seasons with Waalwijk, Richard played 61 games, scored nine goals, and added seven assists. Life in the top flight wasn’t easy at first but he grew with time and his performances improved.
Van der Venne is left-footed and his best position on the pitch is as a #10 or an advanced #8, depending on the setup of his team.
During the 21/22 Eredivisie campaign Waalwijk’s coach, Joseph Oosting, switched formations quite a lot. He started the first few rounds with a passive 4-3-3, before switching to a 3-4-3 and later 3-5-2 due to his squad’s defensive struggles.
This shows that Van der Venne is also versatile and capable of adapting to new formations, which will definitely help him once he joins Kisnorbo’s side.
Melbourne City usually deploy an aggressive 4-3-3 and with the recent departure of Socceroo Connor Metcalfe, Van der Venne seems like a natural replacement on the left side of their midfield.
Stat Attack
What makes this signing so interesting are Van der Venne’s underlying numbers. Fans will look at his 21/22 stats and say that he had a solid season with eight G/A contributions, but if you dig deeper, you will see that the former #10 was actually one of his team’s best creators.
Despite missing a total of 12 games due to a serious knee injury, he still finished the season with the third-most goals and third-most assists in the squad, while also accumulating the third-highest xG total (3.7).
The 30-year-old also ended the campaign as the silver medalist when it comes to chances created (21), coming behind only Jens Odgaard who was arguably Waalwijk’s best player.
The per 90 stats from last season make for a fine read as well. Van der Venne created 1.17 scoring chances per 90 minutes, while also averaging 1.34 key passes per 90.
For example, Connor Metcalfe, the player he’s supposed to replace, averaged just 0.54 chances created and 1.09 key passes per 90, despite playing in a team that dominated possession more often.
These are certainly some encouraging signs but Melbourne City fans should be patient. Sometimes it’s easy to forget how tough the transition from one country to another can be, especially when your family is on the other side of the world.
People should just look at Florin Berenguer for example. The Frenchman was called a flow in his first two seasons in the A-League, but after he settled in and managed to overcome the initial difficulties, he became one of City’s best performers.
