How good is Stuart Holden?

Posted by Creaven on August 23, 2010 under Premier League, United States | 7 Comments to Read

I don’t want to brag or nothing (awwww, who am I kidding, I really want to brag about this), but since the Gold Cup last year I wrote time, and time and time again about how good Stuart Holden is.

In January, I wrote he was significantly better than Ricardo Clark; In March, I said if there was a draft and I had to choose between Clint Dempsey and Holden — I would pick Holden; In June, I argued he should start against England in the World Cup. Holden ended up playing four minutes in the World Cup (enjoy Bob Bradley Aston Villa!!!) and though I easily could write 1,500 words just on that, for my own well being, and yours, I won’t.

But after watching Holden play 90 minutes in Bolton’s first two Premiership matches this season it’s worth trying to answer the question in the headline: How good is Stuart Holden? The former Houston Dynamo player (I still chuckle when I write Houston “Dynamo”) didn’t exactly look like a Xavi clone against Fulham and West Ham, but he did look like an above-average Premiership central midfielder. Is he?

Let’s first look at what we can quantify. Here is Holden’s passing chart against Fulham and West Ham:

by Guardian Chalkboards

And against West Ham:

by Guardian Chalkboards

Going 48 for 62 (77 percent) is good, but not great (Aston Villa’s Stiliyan Petrov, who is a similar player, completed 64 of 67 in his first two matches). What’s encouraging is when Holden missed a pass it usually was in position that didn’t put Bolton’s defense in a bad spot. Still, in a league that punishes turnovers, Holden missed a few too many easy passes and generated too few goal-scoring opportunities.

When it comes to shooting, Holden’s highlight of the first two matches was his strike from outside the box against Fulham. The low, hard shot beat David Stockdale on the near post, but hit the woodwork. He had a shot on target against West Ham, but it was an easy save for Robert Green (if there is such a thing).

Where Holden’s been really impressive is when Bolton doesn’t have the ball. He’s won 13 of 16 tackles (8 of 9 against Fulham), but Bolton fans will love him for his work ethic. He runs hard constantly and when he loses the ball he gets the “oh no you didn’t” look and works hard to win it back.

(Note: Why doesn’t anyone publish distance statistics for the Premiership? Actually, why does the EPL, which is probably the most popular league of any sport in the World, have a Web site that would have been outdated in 2004?)

The numbers might not be overwhelming, but Holden passed the “eye test” in both matches. He just looked like one of the best players on the field. His technical ability, and more specifically his ball striking skills, are at an elite level, even for the Premiership. I’ve called him a poor man’s David Beckham in the past and he really is that good on free kicks. Unfortunately, Martin Petrov is exceptional on corners and free kicks too, so it’s not clear yet how many dead ball opportunities Holden will get.

So is he an above-average Premiership central midfielder? Probably not, yet. Two matches is an extremely small sample size but Holden’s performances have been solid, if not spectacular, against probably a top 10 team (Fulham) and probably a bottom five team (West Ham). But the talent level is so high in the EPL, it would be a little ridiculous to call Holden one of the 20 best central midfielders in the league after two matches.

That said, as Holden continues to play regularly (which he hasn’t done in a year) and becomes more comfortable with his teammates, it seems more likely than not Holden will improve as the season continues. By January, he might be considered an above-average central midfielder and it might not even be much of a debate.

What is already clear, and should have been clear a year ago, is Holden is one of the best American footballers on the planet and a must starter for the United States national team. Can you imagine a Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, Holden central midfield in South Africa? The U.S. would have ran teams into the ground. Well, on the bright side, at least we got a large dosage of Clark and Robbie Findley. I’m completely over the World Cup, no, really, I am.

(Note: I just realized I wrote consecutive stories on Bolton. They are my Premier League sleeper, but no more Bolton articles in the foreseeable future. I think.)

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Jon said,

I remember watching Holden at Houston on the reserves, and seeing his first minutes on the team. He became the most exciting player and it was awesome to see him replace deRo as the main guy in the middle. And what is your “chuckle” for when you say Houston “Dynamo”?
philmatt24 said,

I totally agree. Ever since the ’08 Olympics, and very much more so after last year’s Gold Cup, he’s been my favorite US player, and looked like a guy who could contribute in a big way for them. I was on the verge of tears when DeJong broke Stu’s leg; until that moment I was confident Holden would prove himself a must-start for the US with a few months of solid performances at Bolton. Even though Holden was denied that chance, I was sure that Bradley would find ways to get him on the field in South Africa… alas, Bradley proved (to me, at least) that despite his successes (can’t complain about being in the Conf. Cup final and up 2-0 on Brazil, even if it didn’t end that way), he’s just not a very good coach. Holden getting 4 minutes all tournament while useless Findley and game-blowing Clark got back on the field for the Ghana game was a travesty. It’s pretty telling when a coach uses a sub before (or at) halftime in an elimination game that he’s made a lineup mistake; burning two out of three subs so early is just killer in a game that goes to extra time.
But we’re talking about Stu here… in two games thus far, he’s not necessarily been dominant, but certainly solid and shown signs of potential to do great things with Bolton this season once, as you point out, he gets fully back into the groove. I’m pretty thrilled that FSC has shown Bolton’s first two games, albeit tape-delayed, and that FSP is picking them up this Sunday. Love watching this kid.
I also agree that if I’m making the first draft pick for building a new team, I take Holden over Dempsey. Teams need guys like Deuce who are audacious enough to “just try $#!+” like his ridiculous goal vs. Juve. But as great as it is to have a mercurial player around for moments like that, Dempsey also fades from time to time, and has been accused of dogging it. Holden looks like a guy who never stops running no matter the situation or what point in the game; he’s solid with the ball and without, and hey, he’s only just turned 25 so he still can develop into a more dominant midfielder. Potentially, Holden could become the engine for a team (he played centrally at Houston and seems to be playing there for Bolton as well), or a great wing mid for the US. I loved your lineup for the England game – I think with that lineup against the same out-of-sorts Three Lions squad, the US might just have pulled out a win. Clark got burned on Gerrard’s goal, but isn’t on the pitch in your lineup so that goal might not happen, and maybe Dempsey’s goal doesn’t happen either but I think that lineup finds a way. In an alternate universe somewhere out there, I’m sure that’s how it went down.
dabes2 said,

I first saw Holden play vs Chicago back 2007 and he ripped the Fire apart. If I’m remembering right both Ching and DeRosario were so Fire fans were hopeful but Holden was amazing. Scored a goal and set up at least one other. You could see he was a special talent.
Dank said,

A little off topic, but the EPL is definitely not the most popular sports league in the world. That’s the NFL.
John said,

@Dank: Ethnocentrism much? Nobody cares about the NFL outside of USA. But the whole of Asia + Middle East + Europe care about the EPL.
LegendMatt25 said,

Hi I just came across this post when searching for my teams (Bolton) stats. And although aware Holden played in the U.S.A, it’s not until recently I’ve been trying to find old archives of him playing for Dynamo and his Country.
I have only found small clips here and there on sites like u-tube and his own site Stu Holden. com. And would be very grateful if anyone knew of where to find any old footage.
Thx in advance.
Son Lidtke said,

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