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A thread on creative passers and what sets the best apart from the rest.
In this thread I’ll be looking into different aspects involved in identifying Europe’s best creators with the help of @fbref stats.
In this thread I’ll be looking into different aspects involved in identifying Europe’s best creators with the help of @fbref stats.
As the name suggests, a creator has to create goals. The most basic way to check this is by using assists and expected assists numbers.
Like with most other things, the likes of De Bruyne, Muller and Messi stand-out.
Like with most other things, the likes of De Bruyne, Muller and Messi stand-out.
Looking a bit deeper, let’s see how many passes into the box and key passes players make.
Key passes reflect how many shots a player creates. Passes into penalty box is a self-explanatory metric and is perhaps a better reflection of consistent passing threat.
Key passes reflect how many shots a player creates. Passes into penalty box is a self-explanatory metric and is perhaps a better reflection of consistent passing threat.
Many, if not all, creative passers aren’t just responsible for assists, they’re involved in moving the play forward too. This is reflected in the progressive passes metric.
On the y – axis, I’ve used through balls to see which players are the best at threading balls through.
On the y – axis, I’ve used through balls to see which players are the best at threading balls through.
The number of shots and goals created by open play passing is another reflection of players’ involvement in attacking play. The metrics take into account both assists and pre-assists.
The pass before the assist is sometimes just as important as the assist.
The pass before the assist is sometimes just as important as the assist.
Having seen all this, let’s try to rank the best creators in the top 5 leagues as a little exercise. I’ve gone about it in a rather simple way.
I’ve taken 10 metrics (the 8 explained above plus 2 more) and allotted them each 10 points. Then, I gave each player points out of 10 for each category depending on their rank.
Each player has been rated out of 100 in total.
Each player has been rated out of 100 in total.
These are the top 25 (or rather 26 because the last 2 tied) in the top 5 leagues based on their creative passing scores.
De Bruyne, Neymar and Di Maria are the best creators in this study, followed by Mahrez and Messi. Atalanta have 3 players in the top 25!
De Bruyne, Neymar and Di Maria are the best creators in this study, followed by Mahrez and Messi. Atalanta have 3 players in the top 25!
Personally, I would say any score more than 60 is pretty good. A score of 75 or more means the player in question is an exceptional creative talent. Here is a graph of every player to have scored more than 60 in this study.
Here is a comparison of the top 4 teams in England and their (potential) creative talents. Both the Manchester clubs appear to be stacked. City have two of the world’s best while United might have three incredible players.
Chelsea and Liverpool look good too.
Chelsea and Liverpool look good too.
Obviously, there is more to creativity than what we’ve just seen in this thread but this should hopefully act as a semi-comprehensive guide at assessing creative players.
This study isn’t all-encompassing. That goes without saying.
Thanks for reading. Please kind enough to RT.
This study isn’t all-encompassing. That goes without saying.
Thanks for reading. Please kind enough to RT.
