Fans love to scour football's premier database in hopes of finding their next great signing, but numbers like tackles and interceptions aren't actually what makes a good defensive midfielder
Great article as always. Would have been nice to get your opinion on the best players in that position today and the ones with potential to take up that position.
There are other stats on FBref than just the usual tackles, interceptions etc.
I don't buy the implied premise that all DM statistics are useless.
Elite DMs like Rodri for example may not be a leader in the tackling and interception categories, but you can see (through the stats) that he rarely gets dribbled past or dispossessed in that DM role.
You can see how well he links the defense and forward lines by his amount of touches in each area of the pitch, and how highly he ranks in progressive dribbles and passing.
You can clearly see in the FBref statistics that most aerial balls near Rodri are going to be won by him.
There are very many statistical areas that you can point to when a DM is an elite footballer. It's not really comparable at all to a CB (Revis) that just doesn't have any defensive stats to point to when the opponents are too afraid to throw in that direction.
It feels like you started with a conclusion and then only looked for an argument to support that conclusion, instead of doing the research in the right order.
Great article as always. Would have been nice to get your opinion on the best players in that position today and the ones with potential to take up that position.
Thanks.
Brian M.
There are other stats on FBref than just the usual tackles, interceptions etc.
I don't buy the implied premise that all DM statistics are useless.
Elite DMs like Rodri for example may not be a leader in the tackling and interception categories, but you can see (through the stats) that he rarely gets dribbled past or dispossessed in that DM role.
You can see how well he links the defense and forward lines by his amount of touches in each area of the pitch, and how highly he ranks in progressive dribbles and passing.
You can clearly see in the FBref statistics that most aerial balls near Rodri are going to be won by him.
There are very many statistical areas that you can point to when a DM is an elite footballer. It's not really comparable at all to a CB (Revis) that just doesn't have any defensive stats to point to when the opponents are too afraid to throw in that direction.
It feels like you started with a conclusion and then only looked for an argument to support that conclusion, instead of doing the research in the right order.
Very interesting
Great article as always!