Xavi makes his mark with 'Player of the Month' award

(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Al Sadd pro Xavi Hernandez has been declared the Qatar Stars League's September Player of the Month for September.
The ex-Barca man became the first player to pick up the accolade this season. In the month of September the "puppet master" scored once and assisted three times in the three rounds of QSL that have been played so far.
Stats
At the age of 35, the diminutive Spaniard is still a master at letting the ball do the talking. His Prozone radar graph clearly shows he is economical when it comes to his overall physical exertion. Despite not running much without the ball and having a relatively low total distance covered, he still manages to have a big impact on his team and therefore the game.
Technical analysis
Xavi plays as a midfielder for Al Sadd but there are very few like him in the modern game. He can be passed the ball in the most crowded areas of the pitch, yet still he somehow finds a way to move the ball forward. Xavi has boosted Al Sadd's passing average by about 100 passes extra this season according to Prozone, the QSL's stats and analysis partner.
Often playing as much with his back to goal as facing it, he crucially links up with the majority of Sadd's players as can be seen on the radar graph by the incredibly high number of passes. More importantly, his assists ratio is extremely high as he is well known for his defence-splitting passes that lead to goals.
As Al Ahli's Head Coach Zlatko Kranjcar put it at the QSL's Round 4 pre-match press conference: "Al Sadd have become a stronger team this season with the signing of Xavi. The player is a football master and although Sadd were a good passing team before, now they are even better."
This is perhaps the most important aspect of Xavi's arrival at Al Sadd; the Catalan midfielder has instilled in his colleagues the need to keep the ball and to play a high pressing game. It seems as though the little midfielder has managed to bring some of that Barca magic to Al Sadd's play after all!
Meanwhile, Jorge Fossati claimed his first QSL Coach of the Month award after overseeing a faultless start to the Qatar Stars League season for Al Rayyan. All three of Rayyan's league encounters in September were won with only two goals conceded and an impressive 9 goals scored.
Al Rayyan also created 17 chances and against all three of their opponents managed to beat the QSL benchmark for possession.
With regards to their attacking prowess this month, the Lions smashed the QSL benchmark for penalty area entries which stand at 33. Rayyan on average passed the ball into the penalty area an average of 40 times per game.
Al Rayyan have now been top of the league for three weeks and impressively this is Rayyan's first season back in the QSL since winning promotion from the Qatar Gas League.
Also in contention for the Best Coach award were Lekhwiya's Djamel Belmadi, Al Arabi's Gianfranco Zola and Hussein Ammota of Al Sadd.