How important is G/A contribution from midfield?

FriedClams

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For this i am using the top 3 players with the most appearances with the club this season

PSG

Fabian Ruiz has 48 appearances this season with 4 goals and 8 assists
Vitinha has 47 appearances with 7 goals and 2 assists
Joao Neves has 46 appearances with 5 goals and 9 assists

141 appearances collectively, with 16 goals, and 19 assists = a G/A contribution every 4 games from that midfield 3. They score every 8.8 games and assist every 7.4 games.

BARCELONA

Pedri has 51 appearances with 6 goals and 7 assists
Frenkie De Jong has 39 appearances with 2 goals and 2 assists
Fermin Lopez has 39 appearances with 5 goals and 9 assists
(Dani Olmo 32 appearances but 10 goals and 6 assists, so he would skew the stats favourably versus the other 3)

129 appearances collectively, with 13 goals and 18 assists = a G/A contribution every 4.16 games from the most featured midfield 3. They score every 10 games and assist every 7.16 games
(With Dani Olmo, its G/A every 3.69 games, a goal every 6.7 games and an assist every 8.1 games

LIVERPOOL

Alexis Macallister has 47 appearances with 7 goals and 5 assists
Ryan Gravenberch has 46 appearances with 0 goals and 4 assists
Dominik Szoboszlai has 45 appearances with 7 goals and 6 assists

138 appearances collectively with 14 goals and 15 assists = a G/A contribution every 4.75 games. They score every 9.8 games and assist every 9.2 games.


I also did the stats for arguably the greatest midfield 3 of all time, Xavi iniesta and Busquets, and the average G/A contribution across their collective 2136 appearances, was 4.06.

So we have the best 3 teams of this season, and arguably the best of all time, getting a G/A contribution from their midfield 3's at somewhere around the every 4 games mark. Of course, these teams all played with attackers who score/assist at an other worldly level, but the importance these midfield units all have on their team can't be understated. I feel like the bias subconscious would probably want better numbers from a midfield trio, but maybe these stats paint the picture that you don't necessarily want to focus on G/A for the central part of your team.
 
All that matters is you score more than your opponent.

Midfield, Winger, Target man, as long as it does the job then the rest is moot.

Some teams uses their midfield as their main outlet, some uses target man as their vocal attack. It's only as important as how you set up your team.

A good midfield might chipped in some GA and it's always welcome but statistic wise how you set up your team will be the main shifter on those numbers.

In high level football most attacks are highly coordinated and well drilled to perfection. You dont get license to shoot and dribble your way even if you want to at times, not unless you're given the license to do so and you're that special player that can justify the risk of losing the ball. You put Bruno for example in Madrid team, he'll be told to cut down all those Hollywood hail mary play and play like a well oiled machine.

Bottom line is that midfield scores more in the grand scheme of things because they're designed to (bar a few worldie here and there)
 
What those midfields have in common is a great and extremely prolific forward line

And it's simply easier to build a genuinely great side around a midfield that focuses on acting as a force multiplier for the team, rather than one built to outright win matches - because for the latter to exist it requires your forwards to not be prolific
 
Klopp was very attacking but also very clear, I think, that the job of the midfielders was to get it to the proper footballers and let them do the good stuff. And they were mostly very good at getting it to the forwards with minimal fuss.

Slot is a bit different. While I think he's very happy with szoboszlai I think he also expected more goals and assists from him this season. And generally the midfielders seem like they have more encouragement to break the lines and get in and around the penalty area.

I personally like the latter approach to midfield better, but I don't think it's a given that one is better than the other. Maybe if slot had a forward line of similar quality he'd also tell the midfielders to stick to carrying water.
 
B20 said:
Klopp was very attacking but also very clear, I think, that the job of the midfielders was to get it to the proper footballers and let them do the good stuff. And they were mostly very good at getting it to the forwards with minimal fuss.

Slot is a bit different. While I think he's very happy with szoboszlai I think he also expected more goals and assists from him this season. And generally the midfielders seem like they have more encouragement to break the lines and get in and around the penalty area.

I personally like the latter approach to midfield better, but I don't think it's a given that one is better than the other. Maybe if slot had a forward line of similar quality he'd also tell the midfielders to stick to carrying water.
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I imagine he expected more goals from gravenberch. I was surprised to see he hasnt scored, and only has 4 assists but for me one of the better midfielders in the league this season
 
G/A , xG stats are just reference . They don't tell us the whole story.

The best Jose team that won the PL back in 2005/6 - how many G/A did they had?
 
FriedClams said:
I imagine he expected more goals from gravenberch. I was surprised to see he hasnt scored, and only has 4 assists but for me one of the better midfielders in the league this season
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Gravenberch has been playing a deeper role. Whilst Szobozlai been playing higher so would be expected to contribute more
 
FriedClams said:
I also did the stats for arguably the greatest midfield 3 of all time, Xavi iniesta and Busquets, and the average G/A contribution across their collective 2136 appearances, was 4.06.
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Had plenty season with over 20+ G/A
 
I think it’s incredibly important. The best teams in PL have always had midfielders contributing to both G and A.
Look at United’s best teams, Robson, Giggs, Scholes, Beckham, even Keane and Butt chipped in.
Look at City’s teams with KdB, Bernardo Silva, Gundogan etc
It helps having a fluid front line, it creates space for midfielders to use that space. But also, you gotta take the pressure off that it’s just the forwards scoring, what if they lose form or get injured? Goal scoring and assists needs to be a team responsibility
 
It's something I find we focus on far more than other countries. Midfielders have other far more important aspects we should focus on, which we don't.
 
There has definitely been a shift in the last few years, with the box to box midfielder going out of fashion. I think it's the result of more specification of roles - players who 'do everything' aren't seen as being good enough at any one thing any more - kind of like a jack of all trades. You very rarely see players like Gerrard, Lampard, Ballack, Ince.. at the highest level these days.

It's also down to the changing role of forwards. They basically have two roles in the modern game - to press and to score. You don't see attackers very often who will hold the ball up and lay it off to midfielders. Or who will win flick downs to runners in behind. Those kind of players are often not mobile enough for the modern game, but without them it's kind of difficult for a midfielder to score a lot. Imagine if Lampard had to play with Mbappe instead of Drogba, he would struggle to score half the goals that he did.
 
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