You watch the game; you don’t see Busquets. You watch Busquets, you see the whole game”-these words by Vicente del Bosque on Busquets sum up what a CDM does for his team. CDMs are the engine of the team and provide a link between the defense and midfield. In modern football, CDMs are the originators of most of the attacks. With the ball, they pass, distribute and contribute to build-up play. Without the ball, they trackback, run and intercept to recover the ball and destroy the opponent’s attack. In Hero ISL 2020 also, the CDMs are playing a pivotal role in their team’s success.
With the help of the data collected from the official website of ISL (www.indiansuperleague.com) and www.sofascore.com, we are providing here a comparative analysis of the performance of the CDMs playing in different ISL teams.
Keeping in mind the position and their style of play, the following players have been included in our sample.
1. Ahmed Jahouh of Mumbai City FC
2. Carl McHugh of ATK Mohun Bagan
3. Aitor Monroy of Jamshedpur FC
4. Edu Bedia of FC Goa
5. Khassa Camara of NorthEast United FC
6. Deepak Tangri of Chennaiyin FC
7. Erik Paartalu of Bengaluru FC
8. Vicente Gomez of Kerala Blasters FC
9. Matti Steinmann of SC East Bengal
10. Gaurav Bora of Odisha FC
11. Joao Victor Hyderabad FC
Goals Scored
Our Matti Steinmann is leading the chart with 2 goals in his kitty. Erik Paartalu, Vicente Gomez and Joao Victor have scored 1 goal each. Other players in the list are yet to open their account.
Big Chance Created
Aitor Monroy (4) of Jamshedpur FC is leading the chart followed by Steinmann (3). Ahmed Jahouh, Erik Paartalu and Vicente Gomez have created 1 big chance each.
Passing Accuracy
This is calculated by dividing the total number of accurate passes made by the CDM by the total number of passes where he was involved (calculated in percentage term). Joao Victor of Hyderabad FC is leading the chart with 80.56% passing accuracy followed by Vicente Gomez of Kerala Blasters FC (80.13) and Ahmed Jahouh of Mumbai City FC (79.68). Edu Bedia of FC Goa (79.53%), Deepak Tangri of Chennaiyin FC (78.39%), Erik Paartalu of Bengaluru FC (76%) and Khassa Camara of NorthEast United FC (74.29%) are in 4th, 5th, 6th and 7thspot respectively. With 70% passing accuracy, Steinmann is in the 8th spot.
Contribution on Direct Goal Bound Movements
This indicator reflects the contribution of a CDM on direct goal-bound movements. To arrive at this indicator, firstly the number of goal-bound shots and crosses were added and then the addition was divided by the playing time of the player (calculated in percentage term). The more the value, the better the contribution of a player on the goal-bound movements. Edu Bedia of FC Goa (4.57) is the clear leader here followed by Erik Paartalu of Bengaluru FC (2.89) and Ahmed Jahouh of Mumbai City FC (2.64). Matti Steinmann (1.27) is 7th on the list.
Contribution on Defense
This indicator depicts the contribution of a CDM in negating opponent’s attack. To arrive at this indicator, firstly the number of tackles, inceptions, clearances and blocks were added and then the addition was divided by the playing time of the player (calculated in percentage term). Like the previous indicator, the more the value, the better the contribution of the player on defense.
Ahmed Jahouh of Mumbai City FC (16.23) is leading here followed by Carl McHugh of ATK Mohun Bagan (14.54) and Aitor Monroy of Jamshedpur FC (13.51). Gaurav Bora of Odisha FC (12.22), Khassa Camara of NorthEast United FC (11.28), Deepak Tangri of Chennaiyin FC (11.21), and Edu Bedia of FC Goa (10.88) are in 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th spot respectively. Steinmann (7.78) is 9th on the list.
Accuracy in Own Half
This indicator reflects how accurate a CDM is in his own half in terms of passing/tackles/interceptions etc. All the players in our sample have more than 87% accuracy in their own half. Edu Bedia of FC Goa (95%) is leading followed by Vicente Gomez of Kerala Blasters FC (93%) and Carl McHugh of ATK Mohun Bagan (92%). Steinmann has 88% passing accuracy in his own half.
Accuracy in the opposition’s Half
Vicente Gomez of Kerala Blasters FC (82%) is a clear leader here followed by Joao Victor Hyderabad FC (79%) and Edu Bedia of FC Goa (74%). Ahmed Jahouh of Mumbai City FC (71%) and Matti Steinmann (70%) are in the 4th and 5th spot in this regard.
