Michael Cooper vs. James Beadle: The Numbers | OneFootball

With the Steel City derby just one more game away. It’s time to analyse the debate that has many a Sheffield-based comment section filled to the brim with opinions from both footballing sides of the City. Michael Cooper vs. James Beadle.

Now it’s going to be hard for me to disprove any bias after all this article does happen to be on a Sheffield United fan channel’s website. But whether you happen to be a Blade or an Owl reading this, I promise to keep this down to the numbers and leave my opinions at the door.

This article is based purely on statistics taken from and credited to FotMob.

Clean Sheets

Yes, it’s the most basic subheading to start with but stay with it because it will become more in-depth as we go.

Michael Cooper, the Blades new arrival this summer, has started the season with eight clean sheets in 11 Championship games.

Whereas, James Beadle who is beginning his second loan spell at Hillsborough has three clean sheets from 13 championship games.

Whilst, there are other factors than just the keeper when it comes to clean sheets. Cooper’s over twice as many clean sheets in two less games is a big part of why the Blades are positioned 3rd in the table.

1-0 Cooper.

Average Saves from Shots faced

(Photo by Lewis Storey/Getty Images)

As I mentioned above, the keeper isn’t the only factor when it comes to clean sheets. The team in front of the number one can have a huge impact on the likelihood of a clean sheet.

Michael Cooper’s shots faced (25) compared to Beadle’s shots faced (47) shows that the Wednesday keeper has had a lot more to do so far this season.

Cooper has conceded 4 goals from 25 shots making 21 saves, meaning he has saved 84% of the shots he’s faced.

Beadle has conceded 24 goals from 47 shots, meaning he has saved 48.9% of the shots he’s faced.

Based on their current save to goals conceded, Cooper would have conceded 7.52 goals in the amount of shots that Beadle has faced.

2-0 Cooper.

On the ball

It is important these days for goalkeepers to be impressive both between the sticks and with their feet. Distribution has become a staple of what makes a good goalkeeper.

This season Michael Cooper has proved his distribution to be impressive both when passing short or long. The Blades keeper has a pass accuracy of 74.8%. Plus, he has a long ball accuracy of 48.7% with 76 of his downfield passes reaching their target.

Meanwhile, Beadle’s passing accuracy is currently 67.5% and he has a long ball accuracy percentage of 32.3%. The Brighton loanee has also played 71 accurate long balls.

Cooper’s greater accuracy both in long balls and short passes makes it another category the Blades keeper is currently better in.

3-0 Cooper.

Discipline

This believe it or not is where the two are tied. Both Cooper and Beadle have received a yellow card already this season. An impressive feat as goalkeepers.

4-1 point to both.

Plymouth Argyle Cooper vs First Wednesday Season Beadle

(Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images)

In the interest of this being fair and as unbiased as possible. It is right to note the Owls have been hooting about Beadle from his time with the club last season. As both Cooper and Beadle both played in the Championship last season we can quickly compare the two again.

Interestingly, Cooper and Beadle both played 19 Championship games last season so the comparisons are quite easy.

Beadle’s Wednesday finished 20th on 53 points and Cooper’s Argyle finished 21st on 51 points. There aren’t many similar playing situations for goalkeepers than that.

Clean Sheets

Both goalkeepers conceded 24 goals last season, with Beadle collecting eight clean sheets, two more than Cooper who made six clean sheets.

Shots faced

Cooper faced 87 shots leading to the 24 goals he conceded meaning he saved roughly 72.4% of the shots he faced.

Whereas, Beadle faced 77 shots leading to the 24 goals he conceded meaning he saved roughly 67.5% of the shots he faced.

Distribution

Cooper’s distribution for Plymouth amounted to a pass accuracy of 58.3%. Whilst, his downfield play saw him make 102 accurate long balls and a long ball accuracy of 26.6%.

Beadle’s distribution for the Owls last season was a pass accuracy of 60.5%, 103 accurate long balls and a long ball accuracy of 28.9%.

Discipline

Beadle was much less of a risk discipline wise collecting just one yellow card compared to three collected by Cooper for Argyle.

Overview of Last Season

Last year’s stats are very similar and you could argue they both had equally good seasons.

In the interest of not sitting on the fence, Beadle had the slightly better numbers across the categories last season.

4-2 point to Beadle.

Final Score

4-2 now where have we seen that before regarding the Blades vs. the Owls? Something about bouncing?

Ultimately, both Michael Cooper and James Beadle are young keepers who have a lot of potential for the future. As such it will be interesting to see how far both of them are able to go in their careers. But for this season it seems the numbers show that Cooper has currently had the better season of the two.

It remains to be seen who will win the spoils on Sunday.

P.S. It would be unfair to not mention Adam Davies’ clean sheet for the Blades against Preston during the season opener.