Goalscorers receive most of the credit in football, but the players who provide strikers with the opportunity to score are equally important.
Increasingly, however, the playmaker is becoming more and more difficult to pin to a position. Some play in the number 10 role, others out wide, while many sit deep, making things happen from further back.
All playmakers share one attribute, though: the ability to create chances. Among the Premier League’s ‘big six’ clubs are a number of creative players who make their sides what they are.
We’ve had a look at the primary playmaker – or the player who creates the most chances – at every top six team and ranked them by chances created per 90 minutes.
On top of that, we’ve looked into what each primary playmakers reveals about his side’s playing style.
6. Man United: Paul Pogba
Chances created per 90 minutes: 1.57
One of the main reasons behind Jose Mourinho’s sacking was Manchester United’s inability to create as many chances as the rest of the top six. Mourinho’s troubled relationship with Paul Pogba meant the team lacked an in-form playmaker and the Portuguese coach ultimately paid for it with his job.
Anthony Martial – a striker or inside forward by trade – had created more chances than any other United player until very recently. But the influence of caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solksjaer on Pogba is already beginning to bear fruit.
The fact Martial had been United’s creator-in-chief is indicative of the team’s previous lack of imagination in midfield. That has changed under Solksjaer, who has overseen eight goals in his first two matches in charge – Pogba has had a hand in four of them, scoring two and assisting two.
Pogba has overtaken his countryman Martial in the creative charts over the last two games. United’s midfielders have been given more freedom by Solksjaer, and Pogba is set to benefit from that more than any other player.
5. Arsenal: Mesut Ozil
Chances created per 90 minutes: 2.11
Ozil’s role under Unai Emery has been difficult to pin down. So far this season the German has struggled with a back injury, been left out of important games and captained the Gunners, leaving many confused as to how highly he is rated by his manager.
Rumours of an exit have surfaced but Emery has quickly shut them down, claiming Ozil is an important part of his squad. But the Spaniard’s decision to take Ozil off at half-time against Brighton – a move that back-fired as Arsenal managed only one shot after the break – has seen some uncertainty re-emerge.
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Regardless of his status at the club, Ozil remains Arsenal’s most creative player. When he’s at his best, as he has been in home matches against Leicester City and Burnley this term, he is irresistible and vital to the free-flowing, attacking football Arsenal are capable of.
That said, the fluctuating use of Ozil suggests Emery doesn’t believe his style is totally reliant on the 30-year-old’s influence. Ozil was left out of this month’s EFL Cup north London derby for tactical reasons, the same rationale Emery applied to hooking Ozil at Brighton.
When Ozil is out of the team, Arsenal have found most of their creativity in the wide areas with over-lapping full-backs fashioning chances for the central attackers. Ozil, then, doesn’t define the Gunners’ style. Rather, he provides added creativity when Emery believes it’s needed.
4. Tottenham: Christian Eriksen
Chances created per 90 minutes: 2.29
Christian Eriksen seems to get better every season, which is both a good thing and a bad thing for Tottenham. His performances are helping the team have a very good season, but Mauricio Pochettino has admitted the Dane’s future is “dynamic” as he enters the final 18 months of his contract.
However, Spurs’s style of play is less dependent on Eriksen than it used to be. At times last season, the Londoners looked completely lost creatively if he was out of team. This term, as a result of countless injuries and the subsequent rotation, Eriksen has been rested more than usual.
As a result, Tottenham have found alternate ways to generate opportunities. Harry Kane has dropped slightly deeper to collect the ball and feed quicker attackers like Lucas Moura and Son Heung-min, even when Eriksen has started games; the 26-year-old has mostly played on the left of a midfield diamond.
Clearly, though, Spurs are a better team for having Eriksen. He creates more chances than anyone else, strikes the ball like no other player in the squad – see his stunning hit against Everton – and, this term, has attained a propensity to score important late goals.
Like his future, Eriksen’s role at Tottenham is dynamic, but his importance rarely wavers.
3. Liverpool: Mohamed Salah
Chances created per 90 minutes: 2.34
Similar to Manchester United under Mourinho, Liverpool lack an established playmaker. Philippe Coutinho was the closest to that label before he left for Barcelona, and Jurgen Klopp would have replaced him with Lyon captain Nabil Fekir in the summer if not for a failed medial.
But unlike the Red Devils, Liverpool have found a way to create a plethora of chances without a creative midfielder. Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold push high up the pitch and constantly get balls into the box, while Roberto Firmino’s role as a centre-forward is more supportive than goal-orientated.
Last season, Firmino was the central fulcrum of Liverpool’s front three. This term, however, Mohamed Salah has sometimes been used centrally – alongside Firmino – rather than on the right. It’s a switch that has paid off in that Salah has continued to find the net while also being Liverpool’s key creative force.
After a slow start to the campaign in terms of goals, the Egyptian is now very much in the race for a second successive Premier League Golden Boot having scored 12 times so far.
Salah is by some distance the most clinical goalscorer on our list, and his chance creation stats prove he is just about the complete package. His contribution coupled with Liverpool’s dynamic midfield means a Coutinho, or a Fekir, isn’t necessary.
2. Man City: David Silva
Chances created per 90 minutes: 2.95
David Silva has been one of the most consistent players in the Premier League over the last few years and his influence at Manchester City hasn’t yet begun to wane despite him entering his 30s. The 32-year-old is often the key behind a City goal, playing the pass that unlocks even the most resolute defence.
Pep Guardiola likes his wide players – particularly Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane – to be on the move constantly, which is ideal for a player like Silva, who has the ability to pick out teammates’ runs before they even happen.
What’s more, Silva likes to make overlapping runs into wide areas himself. From there he is able to get into a shooting position or cut the ball back to Sterling, Sane or Sergio Aguero. City’s embarrassment of riches in attack certainly makes Silva’s job easier.
The champions’ capacity to dominate possession also helps in that regard. Silva has the ball at his feet so often that his talent is permitted to shine through in every game.
1. Chelsea: Eden Hazard
Chances created per 90 minutes: 3.2
The lack of a clinical striker at Chelsea this season has put extra pressure on Eden Hazard to both find the net and create opportunities for his teammates. Such is the Belgian’s quality and drive, he has jumped at the chance to take on more responsibility.
Hazard has scored 10 goals and provided nine assists in 18 Premier League appearances so far this term. Those are some very impressive numbers, and it’s no surprise given the positions his dribbling ability allows him to get into.
Over the festive period, Hazard has been playing centrally in a forward three, tucked in between Willian and Pedro. The Belgian struggled through the middle under Antonio Conte last season, but Maurizio Sarri appears to have the balance right, despite Chelsea’s 1-o home defeat to Leicester.
Hazard’s positional switch is similar to that of his countryman Dries Mertens at Napoli, another change Sarri is responsible for. In Sarri’s possession-based system, Hazard can play either off the left or as a dynamic centre-forward.
Wherever he plays, the 27-year-old manufactures goalscoring opportunities for himself and his teammates, making him not only Chelsea’s but the Premier League’s primary playmaker right now.
The post Ranked: The primary playmakers of the Premier League ‘big six’ appeared first on Squawka News.
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