Thin sample this season. Tom Cairney has played 2 matches (34 min) so far, so sections that need a bigger sample to say anything reliable are not shown here — they are missing on purpose, not broken. See all seasons combined →
01
What Patterns Define Him?
His repeatable signature. A step only appears if its reliability score (sample size × match coverage) reaches at least Medium confidence — pattern mining, not anecdotes.
RECEIVE
Left Half-Space, Middle third — mostly in the middle third (65% of his 31 passes)
90% completion · 31× in 2/2 matches
↓
PROGRESS
drive or pass into the final third
10.6 prog/90 · 4× in 1/2 matches
Signature: Receive → Progress — the only steps proven repeatable this season (2 of 4 in the full pattern). Not enough evidence yet for the rest of the chain below.
Not a pattern: arrive — 0× (insufficient confidence, hidden — not enough evidence yet); create / finish — 1× (insufficient confidence, hidden — not enough evidence yet) — omitted from the signature rather than presented as one.
In possession
In possession
What he does with the ball: build-up, progression, creation, carrying and finishing.
0 key passes (0.00/90), 0 of them assists — where his chance creation specifically comes from, 18 zones (6×3), showing his share of key passes originating there.
Chance creation — key pass origin zone share
Filter:
chance creation (0)assist (0)% of the selected group's key passes originating in each zone
Team
Team context
How much of the team runs through him, and what changes without him.
Fulham's output per match with Tom Cairney (2 matches) versus without him (6 matches). Insufficient evidence — the without-sample is only 6 matches; treat every Δ below as noise until more games exist. A proper on-off model needs many more minutes.
WITH (2)
WITHOUT (6)
Δ
goals for /match
1.00
1.00
+0.00
xG for /match
0.99
0.00
+0.99
goals against /match
0.00
1.67
-1.67
points /match
3.00
0.33
+2.67
04
His Share of the Team
Of everything Fulham produced this season, the categories where the biggest share ran through Tom Cairney specifically — his share of the team total, not a per-90 rate.
category
share
him / team
zone-14 entries
6%
14 / 251
shots
4%
18 / 418
final-third entries
4%
76 / 1809
Recruitment
Style and verdict
Style profile, closest comparables, and the summary.
Not raw event counts — football style scores: weighted models scored 0–100 against the 383 central mids in the pool (min 450 min). This is what separates players who post similar numbers but play differently. Proxy dimensions are inferred from on-ball data; true off-ball running / under-pressure context is not measured.
Tempo controller87%Deep-lying playmaker86%Advanced playmaker (8)73%Transition runner66%
Why Tempo controller 87%: a weighted blend of retention 92 (weight 35%) + build-up 95 (weight 30%) + press resistance 70 (weight 20%) + progression 73 (weight 15%). The score reflects how distinctively his profile SHAPE matches this archetype vs his peers.
defensive aggression, ball-winning, through-balls, territory (wide vs central)
Unknown
aerial ability, marking, off-ball running — not in event data
Build-up
95
Retention
92
Carrying
87
Receiving zones
86
Final-third threat
79
Transition ~proxy
77
Progression
73
Press resistance ~proxy
70
Box threat
68
Crossing
66
Line-breaking
62
Creativity
61
Passing directness
61
Dribbling
49
Defensive aggression
32
Ball-winning
23
Through-balls ~proxy
15
Territory (wide vs central)
8
06
Similar Players — in style space
Closest comparables measured on the style scores above, within the same position family — so it separates how players are alike, not just how much they touch the ball. Each line explains the shared strength and the divergent mechanism. A light physical-profile term (height / weight; this player: 185 cm / 84 kg) is included at a quarter of one style axis's weight — enough to break ties between stylistic twins, not to override style.Scope: pooled across the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Ligue 1 and Serie A, percentiled within each player's own league before comparing — a match from another league is marked with its league name.
Style, not quality:a high match here means two players tend to produce the ball in similar ways — it is not a ranking, a scouting recommendation, or a claim that they are equally good.
Ardon Jashari AC Milan · Serie A · 181 cm / 80 kg
89%
Driven by: build-up (21%), retention (11%), carrying (10%). Different mechanism — Jashari more via ball-winning, creativity.
Piotr Zielinski Inter · Serie A · 180 cm / 76 kg
86%
Driven by: retention (13%), build-up (11%), transition (11%). Different mechanism — Zielinski more via through-balls, passing directness.
Mario Pasalic Atalanta · Serie A · 188 cm / 77 kg
83%
Driven by: build-up (18%), transition (12%), territory (wide vs central) (11%). Different mechanism — Cairney more via crossing, dribbling; Pasalic more via passing directness, through-balls.
Nikola Moro Bologna · Serie A · 183 cm / 77 kg
75%
Driven by: build-up (15%), transition (12%), carrying (12%). Different mechanism — Cairney more via receiving zones, box threat; Moro more via through-balls, passing directness.
Aleksandar Pavlovic Bayern · Bundesliga · 188 cm / 78 kg
74%
Driven by: retention (15%), receiving zones (13%), transition (12%). Different mechanism — Cairney more via build-up, box threat; Pavlovic more via ball-winning, defensive aggression.
Florian Neuhaus Borussia Monchengladbach · Bundesliga · 185 cm / 74 kg
72%
Driven by: territory (wide vs central) (16%), build-up (15%), transition (15%). Different mechanism — Cairney more via retention, crossing; Neuhaus more via passing directness, through-balls.
07
Summary
Tom Cairney is a tempo controller / deep-lying playmaker: 10.6 progressive passes, 0.00 key passes /90, 0 box entries, 0 goals from 0.07 xG. A box-to-box contributor across every phase.
Based on 2 matches (34 minutes) — an early read, treat with caution until more minutes are logged. He profiles as a tempo controller / deep-lying playmaker — best used in a system built around that identity.
His biggest room for growth is press resistance — even a modest improvement there would meaningfully lift his overall tempo controller profile.
✨ This report is interactive
Click any stat card to filter its map, hover a dot for the exact match, and use the dropdowns to slice passes zone-to-zone. Nothing here is static.
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