The 435th weekly post of the CIES football observatory ranked the top-100 midfield distributors in the world from a field of those who’ve played at least 450 league minutes in the current campaign.
As explained in the post, this ranking was based on Wyscout data relating to successful passes per match, the percentage of successful passes, the ratio of passes compared to teammates, and a weight was given to the level of matches played.
The type of player highlighted in this post was the type who is regularly involved in their team’s possession play, constantly receiving and relaying the ball off to other teammates as they seek opportunities for progression.
This player’s ability to find space and reliability on the ball makes them a crucial component of the build-up and progression phases.
Three of the top-100 came from France’s Ligue 1 — Angel Gomes of Lille, Pedro Chirivella of Nantes and Jordan Ferri of Montpellier; this tactical analysis and scout report will go into detail on exactly why these three have had a light shone on them as France’s top-three ball distributors.
Our analysis will delve into the details of these players’ roles within their respective teams’ tactics and pinpoint the key qualities that enable them to perform at such a high level in their designated roles.
Angel Gomes, 23 years old, Lille
We’ll kick off our analysis by looking at Lille’s Angel Gomes (168cm/5’6”, 56kg/123lbs).
The Manchester United academy product has enjoyed a few years of growth since departing Old Trafford on a European adventure, initially being sent out on loan to Boavista after making his move to Decathlon Arena Stade Pierre Mauroy back in 2020 before enjoying his first full season in Ligue 1 in 2021/22 and establishing himself as a starter last season.
The major change in Angel Gomes’ game throughout his time in France has been the way in which he’s been occupying deeper zones of the pitch more frequently.
The above heatmaps indicate how he’s moved from primarily occupying the left half-space area in and around the final third to primarily occupying the central area just in front of the centre-backs.
It’s t
