This one is for all the visionaries. A paean for the puppet masters who pull the strings of the match, controlling the flow and manifesting opportunities.
NOTE: This article was drafted before the final match played on July 13th and player statistics do not reflect that game.
Hooligan’s Standouts
First, a note on our methodology. Creativity isn’t limited to position, so all of them are eligible. The core variables are assists and big chanced created, which when added together are called “creations.” For additional flavor, we added in passing accuracy %, duels won %, and number of fouls drawn.
Sorting all the results, I color-coded the top performers in each variable. The more intense and bright the color, the stronger the performance.
Arda Güler of Real Madrid and Rúben Neves of Al-Hilal were two “rainbow” players who not only notched high creations values, but were also exceptional in the other variables as well.
Interesting to note that after the Sunday final game, Cole Palmer would have shot up the rankings.
Creation Efficiency
Below is the top fifteen list that highlights the number of minutes played per creation. A player required at least 180 minutes of logged playing time to be eligible (to winnow outliers).
You get some new names once filtering through lens, such as LAFC’s Timothy Tillman, Atlético Madrid’s Rodrigo de Paul and Milan’s Carlos Augusto.
