Issue number 105 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post presents the rankings of the best performing players since January 1st. The analysis includes only footballers who played for at least two thirds of championship minutes. Messi tops the table for forwards, while Cristiano Ronaldo ranks only 29th.
Our exclusive rankings take into account the statistics in six complementary areas of the game (see below). The weight of each domain varies according to player position. For example, the index for forwards includes the performance in the areas of shooting, chance creation and take on, while that for centre backs is based on the statistics in the domains of rigour, recovery and distribution.
At the head of the tables per position are Emir Spahi? (Bayer Leverkusen) for centre backs, Gaël Clichy (Manchester City) for full backs, Nuri Sahin (Borussia Dortmund) for defensive midfielders, Eden Hazard (Chelsea) for attacking midfielders and Lionel Messi (Barcelona) for forwards.
Cristiano Ronaldo ranks only 29th in the ranking for forwards, while his teammates Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema are in the 35th and respectively 37th position. This data reflects the difficulties faced by Real Madrid after the winning of the FIFA Club World Cup in December.
Our rankings also highlight the top performances of relatively unknown players such as Sebastian Langkamp (Hertha Berlin), Adama Traoré (Lille), Wendell Nascimento (Bayer Leverkusen), Abdul Baba (Augsburg), Pablo de Blasis (Mainz) or Christophe Mandanne (Guingamp).
CIES Football Observatory Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
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