Remarkably, in about 66 percent of the moments Messi won control of valuable space, he was walking. . Lionel Messi shots an average of 0.64 goals per game in club competitions. The overall penalty conversion rate for Messi Cuccittini is 77.68%. Therefore, around 130 NFL players will earn more base salary per game than Messi in 2021. That is kind of interesting, but it does not separate those who are shooting frequently because their team is dominant from those who are shooting frequently due to individual playing style. But put one check-mark in Ronaldos column, as he has scored on 93 percent of his penalty attempts. Just ask Patrice Evra or check out the video below. Born in 1987, Lionel Messi is regarded as one of the greatest players of the modern era. This sounds like a great strategy, but theres a reason it isnt employed universally: To make it work, a team has to be stocked with amazing passers, and it has to have strikers capable of creating chances against set defenses.10. By this point, it should be evident that Messi has at least a little bit of skill. Since the end of the 2010 World Cup, Messi has been responsible for 291 goals and assists in the 201 of his games in club and national team play tracked by the sports analytics company Opta. Lionel Hitchman scored 0.06 goals per game in his career. The genie is well and truly out of the bottle when it comes to data in football, but there is still plenty of scope to maximise its utility. Passes the ball to a player who takes a shot. This is an average metric based on the player's combination of assists and the number of games they have played. 80 touches. For example, Messis typical regular (non-set piece) shot comes from 14.9 yards out, while Ronaldos average shot comes from 20.1 yards out. Haaland clocked merely eight touches against the Cherries and currently averages at 13.2 touches per goal - which equates to scoring a goal in eight per cent of his overall actions on the ball. Plus he did it all without an assist. Of all forwards in our data set whove played 100-plus games, he takes on defenders the most, and hes the most successful at it. lionel messi average goals per game Hitchman Conacher Heinrich 0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.06 0.16 0.03 If we want to explore a players efficiency, we have to look into his touches more deeply. Even Ronaldo's great rival Lionel Messi, who is often highlighted for his lack of defensive work and for walking around the pitch, is averaging 5.3 miles per game. Extra Points Made per Game. Follow Mark on Twitter @MarkCarey93, genie is well and truly out of the bottle when it comes to data in football. Two Point Conversion Attempts per Game. At the aggregate level, defenders will look to cut off the areas that are most dangerous relative to where the ball is. Whether possession football much less the extreme form employed by Barca is even a good strategy at all is controversial. Naturally, a large portion of how much you run will be based on the team you play for and your role on that team. Messi, who incredibly duplicated both Maradonas maze run and his Hand of God, will do things in the coming years to further astound the soccer world. And its certainly not possible to do most of these things by insanely wide margins. In the 12 years since he became the youngest Argentine to score a World Cup goal, Lionel Messi has won more Ballon dOr trophies, awarded to the worlds best player, than anyone before him.1 He has scored more official goals in a calendar year than anyone in living memory. For example, if the player scored .02 goals above expectation per shot attempt, and the rest of his team scored -.01 goals less than expectation, that players value-added would be +.03 goals per shot (the value above replacement for that player on that team). If we want to compare Messi to all players with a remotely similar volume of production, were left with Ronaldo. - 20 goals in 24 games 0.81: Lionel Messi (Barcelona) - 114 goals in 141 games 0.77: Ruud van Nistelrooy (PSV Eindhoven . Best Goal per Game Ratio in the 21st Century 1 Lionel Messi - 0.87 goals per game (630 goals in 726 games) Top 5 leagues - all competitions 50/50 50 Michael Owen - 0.44 goals per game (167 goals in 379 games) 1/50 Altogether 28 players managed to break through the 0.5 goals per game ratio. Only the second of those is accounted for in shooting stats. Kylian Mbappe-Lottin has received 4 yellow cards and 0 red cards. Ronaldo isn't top 3, Pele, Messi and Maradona, he is way less influential in a game, just look at their average touches per game. He shoots slightly below average on (a limited number of) headers (10 percent vs. 13 percent). This is most true when looking at his movement. [Pressures by zones, #MUFC in all comps 21/22] - Like last season, Fred (mainly mid 3rd) followed by Bruno (mainly att 3rd) remain the highest pressers Behind him sat players from similarly high-possession sides, with Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (AC Milan), Kylian Mbappe (PSG) and Karim Benzema (Real Madrid) among the prolific cohort. per 90 minutes, per 100 touches, or per minute in possession cannot be underestimated as Dan Altman, creator of smarterscout, highlights. From this, we can tell whether a player has exceeded expectations for all of his shot attempts and chances created. I think this criticism is fair and I found it intriguing enough to look into the matter myself. Much in the same way that John Muller adjusted each players metric in The Athletics player roles analysis, we can look at the share of a players actions relative to the whole team when they are on the field. Having moved from Rosario in Argentina to . As the primary striker for such a juggernaut, it can be hard to detangle Messis goal-scoring prowess from Barcelonas general offensive dominance. Ive excluded other set-piece attempts because theyre very dependent on each players role on his team. There is no right or wrong number of touches that a forward should have, but having a standardised measure across all players highlights their tendency to perform a certain action when given an equal opportunity to do so. (Thats 1.2 goals per game overall.) tackles, blocks, interceptions) when their team doesnothave the ball. Messi, meanwhile, scores at a remarkable rate. Of the 866 players who qualified for that plot by playing in 50-plus games and averaging at least one shot attempt per game Messi is the ninth-most efficient shooter overall (Ronaldo is. The percentage of shots Messi makes from outside the penalty area is absolutely stunning. His touch and control dont vary whether the game is a friendly, a league match, a Champions League match or the World Cup. In contrast, Inter rarely ventured forward after the red card and completed just 11 passes into the attacking third in the second half, the second-fewest in a Serie A game this season. The England captain has the worst touches for any forward on the list. As a fully fledged member of the no-touch All-Stars, one name near the top of the list aligns with Altmans example perfectly. When it comes to scoring, these two arent just on top of the pile, theyre hang-gliding somewhere way above it. Its not possible to lead the worlds forwards both in taking on defenders and in dishing the ball to others. Cristiano Ronaldo (7). That World Cup team scored fewer goals per game than this years: only eight goals in seven games in 2010, while this years group-stage dropouts scored four goals in three. For shooting/assisting efficiency, he has scored .199 GAA per game for Argentina versus .262 for Barca. Its not possible to shoot more efficiently from outside the penalty area than many players shoot inside it. Touchdowns per Game. So I gathered and organized data, crunched it, re-crunched it, and gathered more data2 and crunched it some more. The PSG and Bayern forwards could not be separated in the creative standings as the club season reached its conclusion. For comparison, in the 2010-11 UEFA Champions League (the highest level of competition for European club soccer), Barcelona scored 30 goals in 13 games. And then in a snap, the ball is on his thigh and back at his feet nearly immediately. "per 90 minutes", "per 100 touches", or "per minute in possession" cannot be underestimated as Dan Altman, creator of smarterscou t, highlights.. And thats just the stuff that made it into this article. The fiel, Soccer Training Info - Theme by Grace Themes, 10 reasons to attend summer soccer camps by Coerver Coaching, 6 reasons to attend a Coerver Residential Camp, The SenseBall: Improve Your Soccer Skills, Mental Training Focus for Soccer Players, New Live Virtual Coerver Coaching Training Course, Klinsmann named head coach of South Korea, Man City with a convincing win following a crazy week, Chelsea signs Enzo Fernandez for $131 million. (He is also relatively more likely to set up a potential assist.). Do you like to eat green eggs and ham while youre juggle? It doesnt help if a player passes 60 yards to someone swarmed with defenders. Halfbacks peak at around 8.5 kms per game with forwards notching up about six. In 47 UEFA matches since 2010, Barcelona has scored 104 goals, or 1.08 goals per game more than a Spanish team comprised of a similar offensive core and using the same tiki-taka playing style, minus Lionel Messi. While Ronaldo currently has more goals overall, Messi has the edge in the scoring department, with a higher season average (37.9 to 35), having hit a high of 73 goals in 2011-12, though his. The only forward who takes on defenders nearly as aggressively as Messi is Luis Suarez, the Uruguayan striker for Liverpool who is perhaps too aggressive for his own good (ahem). About 12 percent of his shots have swerve on them (compared to 10 percent for all players); 31 percent of those swervy kicks score, for a huge .202 GAA (all players: 8 percent, .020 GAA). This is how Leo Messi trains. Messi scored .220 goals per shot attempt for .038 GAA per goal. Lionel Messi is 35-years-old, born on 24 June 1987, and is a left-footed professional football player from Argentina. Manchester United. Season. If a team has less possession, a player has moreopportunitiesto defend. Now lets plot that added value against each players13 total offensive participation (the percentage of team shots hes involved with): Finally, after however many charts, we see a diminishing return. And Messi scores a lot of them. Risking a turnover to increase your chances of scoring a goal even by a small amount can be worth it. He has a league-best nine goals on headers. Points per Play. You check out how all 11 strikers ranked below. The highest-volume shooter who is more efficient is Mario Gomez, the former Bayern Munich striker, who takes about two-thirds as many shots as Messi. Dungoyne vs. Carniny, League Game (30 minutes each way) Played in midfield for duration of game on wing. That means Messi makes on average $63.02 (58.19 or 44.33) per step he takes during a match. Lionel Messi's touch on the soccer ball is what makes him the greatest player to ever play the game. Lionel Messi has scored 12 goals in 20 matches so far in the Ligue 1 2022/2023 season. As a young player, if youre going to emulate someones control and touch, youve chosen no better player than Messi. Messi attempts almost twice as many of these passes as any other forward, and still manages to beat the trend. Will Mbappe and Messi be fit to face Bayern Munich? The 33-year-old has a lifelong sponsorship deal with Adidas. Throughout his career, Messi has been criticized for walking. Top goals per game averages in UEFA Champions League group . Midfielder Mauro Rosales has made sure Johnson has had plenty of quality crosses and corners to get his head onto this season. Messi is far more likely to try to advance the ball toward the goal, and far more likely to succeed: Messi makes more passes than the other forwards, with a higher percentage of those passes trying to advance the ball toward the goal, and a higher percentage of those passes finding their targets (typical Messi!). Other Finders: Touchdown Finder, Field Goal Finder, Game Play Finder, Drive Finder. Remainder of session based on possession game then a match. Last season, the average touches for a forward player (with at least 900 minutes played) in the Premier League was 42.2 touches per 90, but that ranged from 24.6 to 70.7 per 90. FC Barcelona - This is how Leo Messi trains / As entrena Messi Watch on 2014/2015, 2010/2011, 2008/2009, 2005/2006, 2018/2019, 2017/2018, 2015/2016, 2014/2015, 2012/2013, 2010/2011, 2009/2010, 2008/2009, 2005/2006, 2004/2005, 2019/2020, 2016/2017, 2013/2014, 2011/2012, 2006/2007, 2020/2021, 2017/2018, 2016/2017, 2015/2016, 2014/2015, 2011/2012, 2008/2009, 2018/2019, 2016/2017, 2013/2014, 2011/2012, 2010/2011, 2009/2010, 2006/2007, 2005/2006, 2020/2021, 2017/2018, 2015/2016, 2012/2013, FootyStats is your best resource for stats such as Goals, Over 2.5/Under 2.5, HT/FT, Dynamic In-Play Stats, and much more.