By Mark Baber
November 4 – The CIES Football Observatory has released its latest rankings of players in the big-5 European leagues, bringing music to the ears of Arsenal fans who see their players performing particularly strongly – with Santi Cazorla leading in the defensive midfielder category and Mesut Ozil in attacking midfield.
At the head of the tables for the five field positions considered are Nicolas Otamendi (centre backs), Serge Aurier (full backs), Santi Cazorla (defensive midfielders), Mesut Özil (attacking midfielders) and Robert Lewandowski (forwards).
The rankings, which the CIES claims are based on “purely data-driven and objective methodology” developed by their team use key performance indicators to measure a player’s productivity in six areas of the game.
According to the CIES analysts, the first position enjoyed by Otamendi in the centre back table is mainly related to his outstanding skills in the area of rigour. At full back level, Aurier performed particularly well from a recovery perspective, Cazorla outranks all defensive midfielders mainly due to his strength in distribution and amongst attacking midfielders Özil is dominant in terms of chance creation. Unsurprisingly, shooting is the key strength of Lewandowski compared to other forwards.
The rankings cover the period since the start of this season and only include players who have been on the field of play for 60% of their team’s domestic league minutes.
The performance indicators are defined as below:
Rigour: ability to minimise goal opportunities for opponents through effective duelling.
Recovery: ability to minimise goal opportunities for opponents through proficient interception work.
Distribution: ability to keep a hold on the game through efficient passing.
Take on: ability to create dangerous situations by successfully challenging opponents.
Chance creation: ability to put teammates in a favourable position to strike.
Shooting: ability to take advantage of goal opportunities through accurate shooting.
Top 3 in each position:
Centre backs
1. Nicolas Otamendi, Man City
2. = Laurent Koscielni, Arsenal
= Mamadou Sakho, Liverpool
Full Backs
1. Serge Aurier, PSG
2.Filipe Luis, Atletico
3. Rafinha, Bayern Munich
Defensive Midfielders
1. Santi Cazorla, Arsenal
2. Marco Verrati, PSG
3. Miralem Pjanic, Roma
Attacking Midfielders
1. Mesut Ozil, Arsenal
2. Wahbi Khazri, Bordeaux
3. Kevin de Bruyn, Manchester City
Forwards
1. Robert Lewandowski, Bayern Munich
2. Riyad Mahrez, Leicester City
3. Neymar, Barcelona
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