WhoScored.com's final episode of our feature focussing on the world's top crossers and dribblers of the ball, compiling the best 5 players from each of the top 5 divisions, concludes in Spain with La Liga.
All players to have played fewer than 20 games from the wing were filtered out in order to prove who had repeated strong performances and wide-man relevant statistics on a consistent basis. The top 5 were analysed in terms of their threat from wide with regards to crossing and dribbling statistics, key passes, assists and chance conversion rates to give a detailed overview of just why the respective performers are so effective.
The results show that despite Atletico Madrid being the highest placed side represented on the list in 5th, the exploits of Real Sociedad's wingers top the pile, with 2 players heading our leader board from the 15th placed side. 9th placed Osasuna and Levante, 13th, are the other two clubs to have players in our top 5.
Xabi Prieto
Real Sociedad's 5-man midfield set up, with 3 attacking influences in front of two defensive midfielders, allowed their wide man to wreak havoc with both Antoine Griezmann and list-leader Xabi Prieto finishing as the club's top scorers with 7 each. Both were crucial to Sociedad's survival but it was Prieto who caught the eye with some magnificent attacking displays. Of the 12 categories analysed the Spaniard came out on top in 7 with a number of excellent statistics. He led the way with 181 crosses attempted as well as his tally of 7 goals coming from just 0.6 shots per game, giving him a quite exceptional strike rate of a goal every 3 shots. His 2.2 key passes a game led to another leading figure of 11 assists as well as having been successful with more dribbles than any of the other contenders with 44%.
In an attacking sense there were really no weaknesses to the 27-year-old's wide play having ranked second for crosses per game (5.17), cross accuracy (25%) and dribbles attempted (87). The only thing one could suggest Prieto should do to improve his figures is to shoot more often due to his phenomenal chance conversion rate!
Antoine Griezmann
With Prieto on the right, Sociedad lined up with Frenchman Griezmann on the left for much of the campaign, starting 32 games on the wing to Prieto's 35. Griezmann looks set to follow in Prieto's footsteps with some fantastic standout figures at the age of just 20. His impressive tally of 7 goals came from far more shots than Prieto, making his chance conversion rate of 1 in 6.86 shots weaker but still commendable. A facet in which the youngster already has the upper hand on his teammate lays in his crossing having attempted a list-high of 5.22 deliveries per game with another list-high of 27% reaching their target- an outstanding figure for a man of his age.
Griezmann needs to play catch-up to his colleague when it comes to dribbling however, attempting 2.34 per game but beating his opponent on a lesser 30% of those occasions. Having made an average of 1.41 key passes per game, the wide man deserved a greater assist tally having picked up just 1, though room for improvement is inevitable having only come out of his teens earlier in the year.
Javier Camuñas
Experienced Osasuna winger Javier Camuñas ranks third in our leader board due to some brilliant all-round figures. Despite failing to lead the way in any category, high scores in terms of cross accuracy (24%), dribble success (43%) and key passes per game (1.6) see him worthy of a place in our top 3 having started 20 of his 30 league appearances from the left wing last season.
The 31-year-old's main downfall in his figures here come from his goal contribution having scored just twice and assisted another 2 from wide positions. A strike rate of a goal every 8 shots having attempted just 0.8 efforts at goal per game sees him rank fourth in this regard, though the figure does not highlight any real significant weakness.
Juanfran
26-year-old Spaniard Juanfran made 22 starts from the right wing last season for Atletico Madrid, showing plenty of adventure in the process. Having attempted 89 dribbles last season, he tried significantly more per game than any other player on the list with 4.05. Contributing 4 assists and 2 goals from wide was also a decent achievement, while his strike rate of a goal every 5.5 shots saw him place second, indicating that he should be more confident in his finishing.
Having attempted the third most crosses per game of any winger in the league to play over 20 games, Juanfran hit his target with a list low of 16%. He also fared poorly in terms of dribble success having beaten his opponent with just 17% of his high number of runs with the ball attempted, suggesting that he may be more inclined to look to pass rather than hold onto the ball himself. His score of 1.05 key passes per game is not poor but also ranks bottom of our leading 5 players.
Juanlu
Levante winger Juanlu made 27 starts from wide in the league last season and proved his worth to the side by providing 5 assists in those appearances- the second highest tally on our leader board. His other standout figure came through a 37% success rate when it came to taking on opponents having attempted the second highest number of dribbles per game of our 5 with 2.7.
Like Juanfran ahead of him, Juanlu's cross accuracy was below the standards of our top 3 but not disappointing on 19%. His main weakness comes from his tendency to shoot when it is perhaps not advisable. Having attempted 1.4 shots per game last season, the 31-year-old Spaniard found the net just twice, giving him a pretty appalling strike rate of 1 goal every 19 shots attempted. Wasteful is not the word!
