What do football players do?

There is an endless list of answers to this question, but if we try to simplify the game into its components, there are six basic moves that make up most of what a football player does in any given game: they run, they pass, dribble, shoot, shoot, jump and defend. The good thing about this sport is that every great player is great because the combination of these inputs is different.

Someone like Arsenal's Bukayo Saka is above average in all these things. He may not be the best in the world, but he yes Elite players are because he is just good at running, passing, dribbling, shooting, jumping, and especially defense. Back in March, I announced that PSG's Ousmane Dembélé is the best player in the world for the time being, because he's doing all of this at the elite level, with his feet doing the elite level.

However, other players became world-class players and helped their team win many points while ignoring one of these six areas and even actively winning one point. Today, this is the one we are going to focus on.

Among a group of players who can start a Champions League winning club, who is notorious when passing? Who can't run? Who can't defend? Who shouldn't dribble? Who needs to ignore the crowd when they yell "shoot"? Who is useless in the air?

Introduction: The Worst Player in the World.

Can't run: Harry Kane, Bayern Munich

Somewhere near the 2018 World Cup football game, Harry Kane lost its explosiveness.

Prior to that, he defeated senior news collaborations with Tottenham under manager Mauricio Pochettino. He is electric on the counter, and he is so powerful that he can easily create his own photos around the free throw area. In the 2017-18 season, he tried to score 5.3 strokes per game and scored 7.6 improvement passes.

He hasn't been close to any number since then. This season with Bayern Munich, his shots dropped to 3.9 and 5.3 improvement passes. This is also a better team than the Spurs and more advantageous one.

We may still talk about how Kane completely reinvents his game to keep a world-class player. A lot of shooting and avalanche that hits space disappears, and he replaces all value by getting close to goals from close range and deeper shots teammate continue.

Now at 31, he has hardly run. Kane sprinted 14.34 times per 90 minutes in the Bundesliga for the 41st of 45 qualified center forwards, according to PFF FC. In the Champions League, he has 12.83 sprints per 90 sprints, which is 43 center forwards in at least 450 minutes.

Bayern Munich won the Bundesliga over the weekend, and maybe Kane could offer a lesson to anyone else who is troubled by his own particular curse: it won't end until you stop trying to escape.

Unable to jump: Kylian Mbappe, Real Madrid

Since the beginning of last season, 19 forwards have scored at least 30 goals in the top five European leagues. All of these players have won at least 15 aerial games and tried at least 41 games.

Except Kylian Mbappe. He won three headers and tried only 10 air matches. Despite not taking any significant damage and being the titular center forward of Real Madrid, these are all the shots he tried in 2024-24:

Now, he still has an amazing individual season – at least some metrics, which is the best season in Europe. And, “jumping” can easily become the minimum value or action of the six people we are talking about today.

But anything Mbappe is completely unable to challenge in the air represents a bigger problem with him as the highest level of winning player: his presence requires a certain tactic, and a specific profile of his teammates.

Not defending: Mohamed Salah, Liverpool

Mohamed Salah is truly one of the best seasons you'll see. He scored goals, assists, and of course all players in the five major leagues were ahead: goals and assists. The gap between Salah (46) and Kane (32) is the same as the gap between Kane and 13 people tied to No. 18.

Not only that, Salah also ranked third among all players, free throws and first in the free throws in the free throw area. He scored goals, created goals, ran out to find space in the box, and then finished the box. That's Lionel Messi's stuff, just not all the extra work.

We often talk about football’s tradeoff game at the team level: the more you attack, the more likely you are to acknowledge your goals. But this sometimes applies to the individual level. You stop contributing in one area - or you focus on training in one aspect of the game, because there are higher potential rewards elsewhere. Well, Salah had the best season of his career at the age of 32 because he stopped defending.

Don't take it from me, either. Take it from him: "You can see the numbers," Salah said last weekend after Liverpool's Premier League title against Tottenham Hotspur. "Now I don't have to defend too much. The strategy is completely different. I said, 'As long as you rest on defense, I'll provide it offensively,' so I'm glad (Liverpool manager Arn Slot) did a lot. He listened a lot and you can see the numbers."

It also shows the numbers on the defensive end. Among the attackers, at least 10 games in the Premier League this season, Salah has the least number of times per 90 minutes (3.82), and his team does not have it.

Can't dribble: Lautaro Martinez, Inter Milan

There is an interesting moment in the first stop of the tie between Liverpool and Inter Milan in the 16 rounds of the Champions League in 2021-22. Lautaro Martínez scored 45 yards from the goal - every Liverpool player was ahead of the way except Virgil van Dijk.

It's every forward's dream - a lot of space, a chance to beat the famous defender, and then lead the Guardians at 1V1 to fight against one of the best teams in the world. So Martinez made a few contacts with Van Dijk…and gave up. He dribbled away from the goal, slowed down, allowed his teammates to join the game, and then lost to the Liverpool midfielder who recovered.

At this moment, a lot of people make fun of it, but I think he is making a mathematical decision. Van Dijk is arguably the toughest defender in the sport and Martinez history, and while a great and super production attacker, he is not a good dribble.

Of all forwards who have played at least 900 minutes in the top five European leagues this season, Martinez ranked 200th in the championship value shown this season. This number is slightly negative, at minus 0.05, which means all Martinez's attempts this season are reduce Inter Milan has a chance to score goals.

Unable to shoot: Rafenha, Barcelona

Yes, well, I saw Raphinha hit a ball into the crossbar last week with a small air defense missile. No, I don't remember the last time I saw the shooting vibrate the goal frame. Of course, when the ball hits the bar, it sounds like someone has just driven the motorcycle into the chain fence.

But that's part of what makes Raphinha so special against Inter Milan: He scores more than he does. I'm not just that lens; all Lens.

At this point, everyone agrees that Raphinha has a world-class season. He has 19 goals and nine assists in Laliga, plus 12 and 8 in the Champions League. His operation is not just anyone in the world. He is one of the best pressing wingers of this generation. The only question? Compared to other stars in the sport, he can't shoot.

Since the 2022-23 season began, only 6 of the 36 players in the top five European leagues have scored at least 50 goals + assists than expected. Raphinha is the only player who has at least 33.4 expected speeds behind 33.4, away from his XG or expected goals of at least 3.4.

Not only did I take root in the past two seasons, I could also make him look bad. He fell 0.7 this year, 1.4 behind last season and 2.3 goals behind in his first season in Spain. In the four seasons before this, Leeds, Reins and Athletic Center Sports, he almost fully mastered the XG numbers, which is still below average, as most attackers ended at a higher speed than players in other positions.

But it's just in Laliga. In 13 Champions League games this season, Raphinha scored those 12 goals in just 5.7 xg. If he have Suddenly becoming an excellent terminator, then, he will be a favorite of Ballon d'Or in at least a few more years.

Unable to pass: Manchester City Erling Haaland

Manchester City has tried 2,000 more times in the Premier League this season than other teams. However, somehow, their starting center forward tried only 12.38 passes per game, his fewest player in the Premier League.

The city's two signings in January, Abdukodir Khusanov and Nico Gonzalez tried to get more passes than Erling Haaland. So is Nico O'Reilly this season.

In other words, Nottingham Forest has tried the fewest passes in the league this season - 10,000 less than the city. However, their center forward, the same clumsy and one note Chris Wood, tried 419 341 passes to Haaland. I need to see Haaland join the team coached by Nuno Espirito Santo. Can he score 30 goals in a season without trying 30 goals?

It's not just Hylander who doesn't pass the ball. When he does this, good things rarely happen. Although Hylander touched the ball within the ball about seven times in each game, he turned it into an expected goal worth 0.08 per game. Approximately three assists per season would be enough - if he plays every minute of each game.

He completed just over two-thirds of his passes, and among the center forwards who tried at least 250 passes this season, Haylan ranked third in the PFF FC level: 56.7 out of 100 points.

Frankly, the whole work could have been about Hailan. When he came to England, his game was a bit comprehensive, but everything else was stuck with a pursuit of the city’s goal scores. He can't beat anyone one-on-one, he has no defense, he won't win in the air, and despite being one of the fastest players in the world, he still only sprints like Harry Kane.

Haaland made a lot of shots and scored a lot of goals - that's it.