A recent analysis by the CIES Football Observatory presents us with the best midfielders in Europe, Brazil and Mexico, those who are best able to keep possession of the ball under pressure from the opponent.
Particularly pleasing: 4 players from the Credit Suisse Super League made it into the top 100 list: Ursan Bislimi (42nd), Amir Abrashi (55th), Anto Grgic (66th) and Ali Kabacalman (75th), thus showing that the Swiss league can compete with the best European leagues in terms of ball retention under pressure.
In addition to the 4 CSSL players, the list includes 4 other Swiss footballers who are active abroad: Petar Pusic (NK Osijek/CRO/31st), Granit Xhaka (Bayer Leverkusen/33rd), Ryan Fosso (Fortuna Sittard/PB/62nd) and Denis Zakaria (AS Monaco/87th). These 8 players prove that they are able to keep the ball even in tricky situations and they underline the degree of influence that Swiss players exert at international level.
International ranking: Joshua Kimmich in the lead
The CIES Football Observatory article cites Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich as the top player on the list. The data is based on SkillCorner (a leader in collecting sports data from video) analysis of midfielders from 18 major European leagues, as well as the Brazilian and Mexican leagues. Kimmich leads the players who have managed to retain possession of the ball in at least 60 high-intensity pressing situations this season.
The German international is followed by an Italian international, Samuele Ricci (Torino), and the Brazilian veteran Rafael Carioca (35 years old) from the Mexican club Tigres UANL. The emergence of young talents in the top 10 is also interesting: notably the Ivorian Mario Dorgeles (20 years old), the Dane Zidan Sertdemir (19), both from the Danish club Nordsjælland, as well as Warren Zaire-Emery (18 years old) from Paris St-Germain.
Click here to read the CIES Football Observatory article: SkillCorner: Kimmich the best under high pressure – CIES Football Observatory (football-observatory.com)
But what exactly does “retaining the ball in pressure situations” mean?
A player is considered to be under pressure when he has possession of the ball and at least one opposing player attempts to win the ball or limit the action of the player controlling the ball. For each situation, SkillCorner determines the intensity of the pressure the player is under, taking into account the speed of the players pressing, their distance from the player in possession of the ball and the angle of the movement.
You can find more information here: Pressure intensity (crunch.help)
With its findings, the CIES Football Observatory provides valuable insights into the abilities of the best ball carriers (i.e. especially the midfielders) – and at the same time shows that the Credit Suisse Super League, with players like Ursan Bislimi, Amir Abrashi, Anto Grgic and Ali Kabacalman, is on the way to establishing itself at international level.
The data covers the period from 2023 to 24/09/2024 and is based on SkillCorner’s analysis. More information is available on the SkillCorner website. CIES Football Observatory.
