Best dribblers in the big-5: Messi ahead of St-Maximin
Issue number 252 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post relies on OptaPro data to rank big-5 league footballers according to the number of domestic league minutes played per successful dribble over the last 365 days. Lionel Messi heads the rankings with a dribble achieved every 19.2 minutes, ahead of Allan Saint-Maximin (19.8) and Eden Hazard (21.0). The analysis only includes footballers who played at least 1,800 minutes (1,500 for current Bundesliga players). Five players who grew up in France are in the top 8 positions: Allan Saint-Maximin, Naïm Sliti, Ousmane Dembélé, Marcus Thuram and Jeff Reine-Adelaide. The young English prodigy Jadon Sancho is the best-ranked player of those currently playing in the Bundesliga ahead of Ihlas Bebou and teammate Achraf Hakimi. Paulo Dybala heads the rankings for Serie A footballers ahead of Rodrigo de Paul and Federico Chiesa. The Belgium and Chelsea striker Eden Hazard has the best success rate among players who attempted at least 100 dribbles during the period considered (73%). Three other players had a success rate of more than 70%: Naïm Sliti, Marcus Thuram and Éver Banega. At the opposite end of the table are Roberto Pereyra (43%), Fabián Orellana (44%) and Joshua King (also 44%). This unique tool exclusively developed by the CIES Football Observatory allows you to compare the technical profile of big-5 league footballers. About the CIES Football Observatory The CIES Football Observatory is a research group within the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES). Created in 2005 by Dr. Raffaele Poli and Dr. Loïc Ravenel, the CIES Football Observatory currently comprises a staff of four full-time permanent researchers who specialise in the statistical analysis of football. Click here for more information. About the CIES The International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) is an independent study centre located in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. It was created in 1995 as a joint venture between the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the University of Neuchâtel, the City and State of Neuchatel. Click here for more information. Click here for more information. CIES – Centre International d’Étude du Sport Avenue DuPeyrou 1, 2000 Neuchâtel Switzerland Phone +41 32 718 39 00 - Fax +41 32 718 39 01 Email:
