Mirko Vucinic was the most regular starter of Antonio Conte’s pool of strikers in the 2012/13 Serie A campaign, making 31 appearances and featuring for a total of 2077 minutes.
The Montenegrin repaid the manager’s faith by contributing 10 strikes, an average of one every 207 minutes, to join Arturo Vidal at the top of the team’s Serie A scoring charts.
The statistics provide an indication as to why Conte chose to place consistent trust in Vucinic’s unquestionable talents. He was the player who recorded the most shots on goal, 77, seeing over half of these attempts, 39, hit the target.
As well as testing opposition goalkeepers thanks to his ability to produce the unexpected, Mirko is also a generous provider for his team-mates, with only midfielders Andrea Pirlo and Arturo Vidal racking up a higher number than his six assists.
Often dropping deep to contribute to the overall build-up play, the 29-year-old displayed his ability to embrace Conte’s free flowing football and link up effectively with his team-mates, completing 70.8% of his 778 attempted passes.
And even when he was unable to find a route to goal, Vucinic could still make his presence felt in the opposition penalty area, supported by the two penalty kicks he won over the course of the campaign.