Our All Star Team of the 2010/11 Season for Europe features players from only two of the top five leagues, with Serie A supplying four and La Liga a staggering seven. There’s an all-Brazilian back-four in our 4-4-2 formation, while a Spanish-based midfield are joined by a front pair from Italy’s top-flight.
First of all, a roll call for the All Star Team. Here’s the top performer for each of the key categories amongst our best XI:
Most Tackles- Marcelo 3.4 p/g
Most Interceptions- Lucio 4.9 p/g
Most Clearances- Thiago Silva 7.5 p/g
Highest Aerial Success- Thiago Silva 69%
Highest Pass Accuracy- Xavi 94%
Most Key Passes- Xavi 2.42 p/g
Most Assists- Lionel Messi 18
Most Successful Dribbles- Lionel Messi 5.6 p/g
Most Shots- Cristiano Ronaldo 5.6 p/g
Most Goals- Cristiano Ronaldo 40
Overall Player of the Year- Lionel Messi Rating: 8.78
We’ve already detailed each individual player stats in the respective league reviews early this week, so rather than go over old ground, we thought we’d analyse the stats further to identify the characteristics key to each outfield position in the season gone by.
All Action Full-Backs
Daniel Alves and Marcelo were the first-choice full-backs in our XI for their performances down the Barcelona right and Real Madrid left respectively. Combining the pair’s best stats would see Marcelo’s defensive work and trickery on the ball, allied with Alves’ distribution and vision, as the ultimate modern-day full-back.
Going a step further and taking the average of their stats gives us an “identikit full-back” for season 2010/11:
The eye for a killer through ball is essential, with 0.87 Key Passes per game resulting in 9.5 Assists. Distribution would have a 83% Pass Accuracy. The identikit full-back weighs in with 2.5 Goals over the course of a season and averages 0.7 Shots per game and . He has to be tricky, too, with 1.9 Successful Dribbles per game.
Defensively, an average of 3.2 Tackles, 2.9 Interceptions and 1.85 Clearances show how critical full-backs are in today’s game. Indeed, this position made more Tackles per game on average than centre-halves.
Ball Playing, Intelligent Centre Halves
While the full-backs are based in La Liga, both centre-halves play in Italy; Milan specifically. Lucio and compatriot Thiago Silva take their places in the heart of defence for their displays for Inter and AC Milan respectively. A combination of their best stats would be the combative nature and ability on the ball of Lucio together with Silva’s distribution, aerial prowess and reading of the game.
The “identikit centre-half” of 2010/11, therefore, would be clinical in the challenge with 2.5 Tackles and 3.55 Interceptions, read the game precisely with 6.85 Clearances per game, and win 64% of Aerial Duels. They would, in addition, also have the ability to carry the ball out of defence, with 0.75 Dribbles per game, and be both safe and precise in possession, with 89% Pass Accuracy.
Busy, Killer Creators
It’s little surprise to see Xavi and Andres Iniesta occupy the two central midfield berths. A combination of the Barcelona pair’s best stats would see Xavi’s outstanding vision and distribution paired with Iniesta’s trickery, eye for goal and work rate.
Our “identikit central midfielder” of 2010/11 would rarely give the ball away, with an incredible 92% Pass Accuracy, and create 2.02 Key Passes per game. They’d trouble defences with 1.9 Successful Dribbles per game (interestingly, the same as full-backs) and with a low average 0.95 Shots per game, would grab 5.5 Goals. Helping out defensively, their work rate would allow for 1.25 Tackles and 1.25 Interceptions per game.
Devastating Wide Men
Our two wide men are the two best players in the game today, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The fact that the pair are, far and away, our top-rated players indicates not just how crucial their positions are, but highlights their incredible talents. A look at their stats shows the ideal combination would be Ronaldo’s constant eye for goal and aerial presence combined with Messi’s trickery and vision.
With 3.9 Successful Dribbles on average, the ability of our “identikit wide man” will present chance after chance; he would subsequently average 35+ Goals per season, proving a goal threat throughout with 4.15 Shots per game, far superior to the forwards. His creativity is almost on a par with the central midfielders, averaging 1.97 Key Passes, with a Pass Accuracy of 81% bringing 14.5 Assists per game; this means he contributes to 50 Goals per season for his side.
Skilful and Deadly Forwards
In spite of Serie A’s reputation for fairly defensive football, our front two both play their trade in Italy, with Samuel Eto’o and Antonio Di Natale the highest rated forwards last season. Their best stats suggest the ideal front man would have Eto’o’s trickery and intelligence in possession combined with Di Natale’s clinical eye for goal.
The “identikit front man” shows that the eye for a killer pass is only slightly lower than wide men, with 1.91 Key Passes per game. Their trickery and ability to beat opponents is shown in the 1.5 Successful Dribbles per game. Distribution is less impressive, with 77.5% Pass Accuracy and it’s interesting to note that Eto’o and Di Natale had an average Aerial Duel success rate of just 22%, illustrating how the need for physical target men is long gone. An average of 2.87 Shots per game harvests 24.5 Goals in a season, with a further 8 Assists meaning he contributes to 32+ goals over the campaign.
