Finding a new right-back for Barcelona – data analysis

Ever since Dani Alves left the club, Barcelona were on a constant lookout for a potential heir to the Brazilian’s throne but their options were always deemed rather sub-par. From underwhelming acquisitions to failed academy prospects, the Catalans are still banging their heads against the wall when it comes to finding the right player for the role.

For that reason, this data analysis will use data and statistics in order to outline some of the best young performers in the right-back position and see who might be a good fit for Barcelona. The analysis will outline some of their best traits and suggest potential reinforcements for the future.

Initial data check

Before we delve further into the numbers and the metrics we’ll use, it’s important to note that we’ll only analyse right-backs under the age of 25 and players who have been deployed in that position multiple times in their respective leagues in the last calendar year.

When it comes to a Barcelona right-back, the Catalans will need someone with enough creativity and someone who’s confident and technical enough to be able to progress the ball up the pitch, either through his passing or piercing runs. With Lionel Messi still going strong on the right-wing and promptly cutting inside to his left foot, it will be the right-back’s role to keep the width and be able to overlap successfully.

For that reason, the two main metrics will be looking for in an ideal player for the role are ball progression and creativity, both of which will be explained more a bit later in this data analysis. But with Messi also not being the most avid of defenders, the right-back will have to be able to compensate for that lack of presence, both when pressing and winning duels.

Even though we won’t be taking the best defensive full-backs as potential targets, we will, however, try to find the ones that are efficient in attack and also offer adequate cover going the other way. After identifying the stand-out players across both metrics, we will then compare them to Barcelona’s two right-back choices – Nélson Semedo and Sergi Roberto.

The first graph deals with ball progression and to get the best performers in that area, we’ve combined progressive passes and progressive runs per 90 minutes with the accuracy of passes in the final third (%).

The role of a modern full-back is to progress the ball up the pitch effectively, either by running with it or by passing in the final third and beyond it. The ideal candidates are the players that excel in both areas; right-backs that have a high % of successful final third passes and also a high volume of progressive actions.

Right from the bat, Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold stands out as the player who progresses the ball the most as his progressive actions are off the charts (17.91). He is, however, not as accurate a final third passer as some of the other players with 57.58% accuracy, below the average of 66.24%.