Cluster 11- Creative Mids
Where We Left Off:
Creative Mids: What makes them different?
Cluster 11 players, creative mids, boast very impressive attacking numbers across the board. On the field, they are all midfielders that play a more creative role for their perspective teams. They don’t have quite the freedom or advanced position that creators do, but their creation and impact are nearly as robust. They have top 5 cluster output in progressive passes, shot-creating action, xA, key passes, progressive carries, players dribbled past, npxG, and npG per 90. As they play a more solidified midfield role than creators do, creative mids also have more tackles won per 90, though their defensive contributions are not as significant as their other midfield counterparts.
Disclaimer
All the statistics used (and their description) can be found on fbref. Keep in mind that specific players’ key stats and age may have changed slightly since the writing (not publishing) of this article. If you are subscribed to the newsletter and the email isn’t reaching your inbox, you may want to add my substack email (davidsajdak@substack.com) as a contact to prevent it from going to spam or promotions.
Strengths:
progressive passes per 90 (3)
shot-creating actions per 90 (2)
xA per 90 (2)
key passes per 90 (2)
progressive carries per 90 (4)
players dribbled past per 90 (4)
npxG per 90 (5)
npG per 90 (5)
Weaknesses:
passes completed per 90 (10)
tackles won per 90 (8)
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Notable Cluster 11 Players
Ilkay Gundogan
Team: Manchester City FC
FBREF Position: CM-DM (Midfielder)
Key Stats:
Leon Goretzka
Team: Bayern Munich
FBREF Position: AM-CM-DM (Midfielder)
Key Stats:
Paul Pogba
Team: Manchester United FC
FBREF Position: CM-DM (Midfielder)
Key Stats:
Notable Young Talents (u23)
Jude Bellingham
Team: Borussia Dortmund
FBREF Position: MF (Midfielder)
Age: 18
Key Stats:
Mason Mount
Team: Chelsea FC
FBREF Position: AM-CM (Attacking Mid/Winger)
Age: 22
Key Stats:
Pedri
Team: FC Barcelona
FBREF Position: MF (Midfielder)
Age: 18
Key Stats: