Cutting through lines and gliding past markers: Europe's most piercing midfielders

With the focus on compact defending, draconian discipline in line positioning, it's harder than ever to send the ball forward in the game of football. That's why the players who take the ball and move it vertically, towards the opponent goal that is, are some of the most valued ones next to those who bag the goals. Europe’s most piercing midfielders, those who penetrate the bunkers and enter the parked buses through the windows if they have to. Without paying a fare.

While in the modern game all players, including the keeper and the centre-backs, are tasked with this, it is and will remain the primary duty of the midfielders.

A Twitter user Kees van Hemmen has made a great graph depicting important metrics for measuring the success rate for midfielders. On the y axis is the progressive distance carried per 90 minutes, or how many metres did the player dribble the ball forward.

While the x-axis shows how many forward passes the player makes in a game on average. Only midfielders with more than five full games have been included in the depiction with the Spanish, English, and German leagues examined on the graph. While our dive depicts them midfielders from all top five leagues.

Europe's most piercing midfielders 

The uncrowned king of dribbling the ball forward is Barcelona's Frenkie de Jong, unsurprisingly, with 265.9 meters per game. With the way the ball glues to his feet and the Ajax forged technique, it's not at all surprising even though De Jong doesn't have blitzing speed. He also sends 5.7 forward passes per game.

Today's #scatteroftheday explores ball progression amongst midfielders in some of Europe's most competitive leagues pic.twitter.com/T4hi7tcoEr

— Kees van Hemmen (@HemmenKees) November 26, 2020

Dominating the x-axis is Bayern Munich's Joshua Kimmich with 9.61 passes toward the opponent's goal per game on average. Kimmich also knows how to dribble past opponents with his carry stat standing at 226.1 meters.

Bettering De Jong on forward passes with 8.25 and besting Kimmich at ball dribbling with 248.9 metres is Kevin de Bruyne. Also unsurprisingly.

One of the few surprising inclusions high up on the list is Jordan Henderson, as the Liverpool's captain is more viewed as a limited player but a good leader and a thankful midfielder. Yet he has 9.23 forward passes per game and 196.7 metres carrying the ball. That’s more forward passes than the Premier League’s assist king KDB.

Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes also does more than just scoring penalties, with 9.59 passes toward more attacking players in his team, and 163.2 metres of forward dribbling progression.

While Fulham is deeply struggling, one of the few players that has been a speck of light was Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa as the midfielder carried out the ball in the Premier League 210.4 metres on average per 90 minutes. With a 5.48 pass average, with him aiming for the target man Aleksandar Mitrovic helping his cause.

Midfielders with the most forward passes and most forward dribbles 

Including the leagues which are not included on the graph, we see the domination of Serie A players. Luis Alberto in the passing department with 10.3 forward passes and 281.9 metres of dribbling even though Lazio and he aren't on the level they were last year. Nicolo Barella under Antonio Conte has 11.4 forward passes per game!

While Rodrigo de Paul of Udinese crosses 300.9 meters per game with the ball at his feet, with a respectable ratio of 8.38 passes forward too. While in France, Renato Sanches is finally justifying his hype with 239.4 metres passed by dribbling per game with 9.24 forward passes.

While he doesn't have a place in his Fiorentina, the winger Riccardo Sottil is doing wonders for Cagliari on loan. Obviously, as a winger, his job is focused on dribbling more than it is on passing so the 21-year-old passes 280 metres with the ball at his feet while only sending out 2.26 forward passes per game.

Marco Verratti has been struggling with fitness this season so Paris Saint-Germain's main facilitator is Idrissa Gana Gueye. Offering quite the stats in both fields - 258.3 in the attacking dribbling department and 7.55 passes towards the danger zone too.

Another Ligue 1 player, Angers' Sada Thioub, is close in terms of the distance with 241.2 metres with a solid 5 passes per game.

When it comes to players who don't beat their men that often but send the balls front, Koke is the standout. The Atletico Madrid man passes only 122.1 metres per game with the ball in front of him, but 9.09 of his forward passes get completed per game. Enabling Atleti's counter-attacking style and unleashing the dangerous forward line.

While it was different when he was in his prime, David Silva is recording similar numbers with 121.5 metres crossed by dribbling. A number that surely was higher during his time at Manchester City. Now, the 34-year-old is focused mostly on sending out the penetrative passes with 7.84 of them finding their targets per match.

On the other hand, the 20-year-old Maxence Caqueret of Lyon is having even smaller dribbling numbers at 98.7 metres with the forward passes coming at 7.5. But the newest Lyon's wonderkid definitely has the skillset for both and then some.

Luca Cigarini of Crotone is managing similar numbers - 98.2 metres and 7.4 passes, all at the age of 34 and at a very small-reputation side. A peculiar case is that of Junior Messias, a Brazilian Crotone player who spent most of his career in low-level Italian teams like Casale, Chieri, and Gozzano but is outperforming many big names in distance covered by progressive dribbling with 234.6. With a passing average of 2.75, the 29-year-old is ahead of his reputation.

Even though many are claiming he is past it, Luka Modric is doing great numbers in both fields. With the veteran gliding past defenders for 156.3 metres per game and sending out 7.29 successful forward passes per game.

Another veteran is showing he is still class and versatile - Arturo Vidal. The combative Chilean is showing the agility, technique, and strength to go pass those who dare take the ball of him - making rounds around them for 145.6 metres per game. While Conte's style allows him to make 7.27 passes to the front. Having a big and strong target as Romelu Lukaku certainly helps both him and Barella in this metric.

Painted as football's most entertaining and attacking side, it's not surprising that Atalanta also has two players who are faring great in both metrics. Papu Gomez and Mario Pasalic both stand neck in neck when it comes to forward passes with the latter having 7.07 and the captain having 7.05. While also beating the younger colleague in metres won by dribbling 244.9 to 181.9.

Their teammate Marten de Roon isn't far off when it comes to passing at 6.47 per game, which is a clear indication to why La Dea is gifting its fans with often goal downpours. De Roon also records solid 96.9 metres won, which doesn't make him the best running-back but certainly a solid contributor to Gian Pierre Gasperini's total football.

While stats are not the essence of football and will never be the sheer metric scouts or fans rely on, the metres crossed by dribbling ahead and forward passes to tell a significant part of the story. Backing Europe’s top midfielders with cold numbers to rely on if anyone is doubting the eye test. Which in the case of players like Kimmich, Bruno, and De Jong, is blasphemy.

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