Tammy Abraham – the 19-year-old superstar?

Teenager Tammy Abraham lit up the Championship last season, becoming the division’s joint-2nd top scorer at Bristol City. Will he get a Premier League move next season? Is he ready for the top flight? And does he even have a future at champions Chelsea? Jake Askham from SR Analysis shares his insight.

No one had really heard of Abraham last summer. Another product of a Premier League academy then loaned to a Championship club and eventually he’d end up playing football in either League One or League Two. Fast forward 12 months and that narrative isn’t playing out. 23 goals in 41 games has earned Abraham plaudits around the country. The statistic is more impressive when you consider he’s only 19 years old and even more impressive because he scored all those goals in a very average Bristol City side who finished the season in 17th place.

Abraham joined Chelsea’s setup at the U8 level and was a part of the Chelsea youth side that won back-to-back UEFA Youth League and FA Youth Cups in 15/16. In the 2016 UEFA Youth League, Abraham scored eight goals in nine games and crowned his the second highest scorer at the tournament. During the 14/15 and 15/16 seasons, Abraham scored an incredible 74 goals in 98 matches. His performances impressed interim manager Guus Hiddink, who handed Abraham his debut in a 1-1 draw with Liverpool at Anfield.

Abraham joined Bristol City on the 5th August 2016 and made his debut the following day as a substitute the following day in a 2-1 victory over Wigan Athletic. He then went from strength to strength. In January 2017, Abraham scored his 16th league goal and in doing so, he broke Moussa Dembele’s record for most goal scored by a teenager in a single season. Abraham ended the season with 23 league goals and came second to Chris Wood’s 29 goals for Leeds United.

Style of Play

Abraham is a very tall and mobile striker. His 6ft 4” figure allows him to look down on the defenders around him and his speed allows him to move around the pitch with ease. His ability to play on the shoulder of the last defender and run in behind to exploit the space means he’s a constant threat.

Most of the goals he scores are with his right foot. Only two of his 23 goals are from a header despite his height advantage. All 23 of Abraham’s goals have come from inside the box with 10 of those being score inside the 6-yard-box. With just nine of his 111 shots last season coming from outside the 18-yard area, it is of little surprise that he has not scored from that range.

16/17 Performances

One of his best performances of the season coincided with Bristol City’s biggest victory of the season, a surprising 4-0 victory over Huddersfield Town in March. Lee Tomlin gave Bristol City the lead and Abraham was on hand to make it 2-0 in the 13th minute of first half extra time, after Jonathan Hogg’s lengthy injury. Two more goals followed in the second half to give Lee Johnson’s Bristol a thumping 4-0 victory. Despite just getting the 1 goal, Abraham caused Huddersfield problems throughout the game with his direct running, ability to hold up the ball and is threat in front of goal.

2016/2017 Statistical Comparison

For the comparison, I’m going to compare him with other strikers from the English Championship.

Goals per 90 Shots per 90 Successful Dribbles per 90 Key Passes per 90 Shot Accuracy

 

  Tammy Abraham 0.62 2.9 0.65 1.03 45.38% Dwight Gayle 0.93

  3.67 0.13 0.97 68.76%

  Glenn Murray 0.51 2.57 0.51 0.71 47.42% Chris Wood 0.66 2.62 0.25 0.82 52.21%

 

We can see that Abraham more than competes with the other top strikers in the Championship. His goals per 90 record is similar to Chris Wood’s despite scoring six fewer goals throughout the year. He takes a good number of shots per 90, plays more key passes and has more successful dribbles per 90 than the other three players.

There’s nothing to really make Tammy Abraham stand out but the data paints a picture of a well-rounded footballer. He doesn’t rely on set pieces to get his goals nor does he rely on quality players around him, Abraham’s gift is his understanding of the game and his overall physical abilities that allow him to move quickly.

Conclusion

His performances last season may not have earned him a place in Chelsea’s title winning squad next season but it looks like the youngster will be playing Premier League football. According to The Telegraph, Newcastle United and Brighton have been given permission to approach Abraham with a contract. Rather than another youngster with unfulfilled potential, we might be witnessing the rise of a Premier League great.