Following on from the piece where I look at whether Rashica will replace Buendia, this will look at the arrival of Billy Gilmour and whether he is the replacement for Oliver Skipp.
On paper, Gilmour for Skipp does seem like for like replacement. Both 20-year-old (although Gilmour is 9 months Skipp’s younger), defensive midfielders coming in on loan from ‘Big 6’ clubs with a large reputation among their fans. Norwich supporters quickly saw the almost cult status Skipp has at Tottenham with man of the match polls flooded with Spurs fans making sure their man got the award. Gilmour arrives with more fanfare and a higher reputation than Skipp, who was probably largely unknown to Norwich fans prior his loan last season. Gilmour’s man of the match performance for Scotland against England and the following hype has propelled his reputation onto another level.
Previous to that Gilmour had shown flashes of his ability in a handful of league appearances for Chelsea. To date he has 450 minutes of Premier League football under his belt across two season and would have probably added to this if it wasn’t for a couple of injuries he picked up in 2020/2021, this is about 200 more minutes than Skipp currently has for Tottenham.
With so few minutes it is hard to really assess in detail what Gilmour brings to a team with great confidence, especially at a young age where he is still developing both his game and physically. Although, a quick look through the numbers does show an accurate, although potentially conservative passer. For Chelsea in the Premier League 23% Gilmour’s passes are forward compared to 30% of Skipp’s and 37% of McLean’s were for Norwich last season.
Gilmour’s passing map for Chelsea in the 2–1 win over Manchester City and the 1–0 defeat to Arsenal (above) show his propensity to lateral passes. As Chelsea were more on the front foot against Arsenal, Gilmour’s actions were higher up the pitch but he still moved the ball sideways, rather than breaking the lines of the Arsenal defence.
What Gilmour has shown that is despite his young age he isn’t afraid to demand the ball and wants to be constantly involved. Against Man City only the defenders Rudiger and Azpilicueta made more touches and Gilmour can be seen constantly calling for the ball even directing more experienced team mates where to pass or move to. He also displays good awareness of his surroundings, keeping himself in space and constantly scanning to know where teammates and opponents are.
In defence Skipp and Gilmour both have a rate of winning about half of their duels, both winning exactly 57.1% (based on Skipp’s season with Norwich and every Premier League appearance for Gilmour). Gilmour was involved in slightly more duels per game but given the small sample size it is hard to draw much from these numbers. Positionally Gilmour is good in his defensive work, his small stature however does mean he can struggle in physical duels with opponents.
He will often move quickly to close down an opponent, but can get rolled by stronger players — in the game for Scotland against England Gilmour won only 4 or his 14 duels (above) as he struggled to contain the running of Mount and Sterling in the central areas. While he did not necessarily win many of the duels, he would often be able to slow England’s attacks and allow teammates to take their defensive shape. Gilmour’s 14 duels was 5 more than any other Scottish player was involved in (despite Gilmour being withdrawn after 75 mins) showing he gets into good defensive positions, even if he doesn’t always win the tackle.
There are question marks over whether Gilmour can do the Skipp role for Norwich’s midfield. A lack of stature and the mobility that Skipp showed covering large areas of pitch is a concern with Gilmour, more recent performances have shown some improving in these areas compared to his first few appearances for Chelsea. The all action display versus England an example of this but being withdrawn after 75 minutes maybe shows there are issues around his ability to perform this way for 90 minutes regularly. There is also the fact he has never played in a 4–2–3–1 in the Premier League, usually being deployed in Lampard’s 4–3–3 or Tuchel’s 3–4–3, the additional players around Gilmour in these systems potentially helping to mitigate his weaknesses.
Teams being able to easily transitional through Norwich’s midfield was a key weakness in the relegation season of 19/20 and Stuart Webber and Kieran Scott have both spoken clearly of the need for greater physicality. On the face of it, Gilmour does not seem to provide this.
It may be the arrival of Gilmour hints at Norwich adopting a more structured 4–3–3, with Gilmour operating behind two other midfielders to provide the fulcrum around which Norwich base their possession. Gilmour could also play in the ‘8' position with a more defensively minded player behind — someone like a certain Oliver Skipp should the stars align. At the time of writing Philip Billing of Bournemouth is reported to be a midfielder Norwich would be interested in signing. He is certainly someone who could add physicality and energy into Norwich’s midfield to help mitigate a slighter Gilmour.
Gilmour is a player in the style of someone that Norwich haven’t had in the team for a while who has most regularly played a role that Norwich don’t use. Due to this, earlier in the summer before the loan deal had been first rumoured I was sceptical that Norwich would be interested in him or a similar type of player. After watching several of his more recent performances for this piece I am more assured that he can fit into Farke’s system. I can also see having someone who can dictate the tempo, keep the ball moving while always providing an option for a pass, could be vital in adding an element of control that Norwich lacked in their last Premier League season.
So while Gilmour is not a like for like replacement for Skipp, he is clearly a player of huge quality. If he can prove he can step up to the physical challenges then Norwich may have acquired someone who not only can step into the Skipp shaped hole in the midfield, he may also be able to replace someone else who has left Norwich this summer. Another midfielder who has also been an unused sub in the Champions League final and someone who could dictate the tempo and possession of a game; Mortiz Leitner.
