"It's magic you know, you'll never get past Claudio"
Claudio Yacob has already earned himself a song amongst the Albion faithful following a hugely impressive start to the season. I thought it was only fair that, like the Albion fans, I honour Yacob's contribution to our start with a blog about him.
Yacob has started every league game this season for the Baggies, and he has played 90 minutes in every one of them as well. And in all but one of those games, Yacob has been fantastic for us. It was not long into the Liverpool game that it became clear that Dan Ashworth and his scouting team had found the club a real gem - and not only that but a gem in a role that we needed. He is the type of player Albion fans were desperate for us to recruit, and to bring him in for free is looking very shrewd business indeed.
The process was a bit extended - there were reports that, having signed a pre-contract with the Baggies, Yacob was beginning to have second thoughts and also that his head had been turned by a money-spinning offer from Botafogo in Brazil. Although there may have been some truth about him having second thoughts, which is completely understandable moving to a new country, the offer from Botafogo didn't affect Yacob and he signed for us. And I am sure the fans are delighted with that!
Steve Clarke describes Yacob as a traditional Argentinian No. 5, and this role essentially means he is the pivot. He breaks up play, he takes the ball out from the defence and looks to either instigate attacks with his longer passing range or to keep the ball moving with short passes. I've seen it myself in person but the stats also back up Clarke's description.
After six games this season, Yacob has played 275 passes. He has misplaced 27. That is a pass completion rate of 90%. Similar rates were seen for most of Swansea's midfielders last year, but this is slightly different - Yacob does not just pass the ball five yards forwards, backwards or sideways but is capable of perfect a through-ball or a raking crossfield pass.
It is not just this you have to consider when examining the impact Yacob has had on our start to the season. Bringing him in has allowed Youssouf Mulumbu to return to a more box-to-box role that suits him far more than the disciplined defensive midfield role that Yacob plays. Mulumbu doesn't have the range of passing to do that, but what he does bring is drive and energy. This means Albion have more bodies in attack but know that Yacob will be mopping up behind them.
Yacob also provides a physical side to the game that is similar to what Paul Scharner offered. Yacob is not the same size or type of player, but he wins a lot of headers in front of the back four and is also a fantastic tackler. It makes a change to see an Albion player who can actually make a good tackle, though he does on occasion get on the wrong side of the player, which is when problems occur.
Of course it is very early on in the season still and Yacob needs to keep up this type of form for the rest of the season to be considered a truly fantastic signing, but at the moment he is certainly looking to be something of a coup for the Baggies.