Sunderland Transfers: 5 Reasons Poyet MUST Sign Michael Dawson
2. His Passing Is Exceptional
For a centre-half - a position traditionally associated with no-nonsense football and getting rid of the ball without fuss - Dawson is very good with the ball, with an 82% passing accuracy (which puts him somewhere in the middle of the rank) but more importantly with 1,232 successful passes, making him the 8th most prolific passing centre-half in the league. The crucial thing there is that Dawson attempted considerably more passes than a lot of his closest rivals in the stats ranking, and sides with the most impressive passing rates and most attractive football tend to have defenders with comparably high stats. Yes, his accuracy needs work, but passing centre-halves at Southampton and Swansea were the key to possession football, which Poyet clearly favours, and he would suit that system. And even more crucially, Dawson managed 250 more successful passes than John OShea, and twice as many Wes Brown.
