Best dribblers: Hazard ahead of Neymar and Messi

Issue number 216 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post uses OptaPro data to analyse the dribbling skills of big-5 league players. The dribbling index is calculated by multiplying the average number of dribbles achieved per 90 minutes with the percentage of successful ones. This allows us to take into account both the quantity and quality of dribbles. Three players clearly distinguish themselves in this area: Eden Hazard, Neymar and Lionel Messi.

While Neymar">Hazard achieved a greater percentage of dribbles attempted: 75% compared to 62%. Messi’s">Mousa Dembélé,

Mario">, Julian Draxler, etc. This finding reflects the more defensive location of their dribbles.

Players trained in France are over-represented at the top of the table: nine in the first 15 positions. This reveals the excellence of the French tr

aining system and its ability to promote skilful players. The best ranked footballers trained in the other countries hosting the five major European leagues are Zaha and Loftus-Cheek">D’Alessandro (38th). The technical profile of all big-5 league players is available here.