Today we take a look at the Bundesliga top ten Key Passers for last season and the stats again demonstrate how much more open the matches in Germany’s top division tend to be- whereas only three of Serie A’s top ten key passers made more than 1 Successful Dribble per match, as many as eight of our Bundesliga ten achieved the feat, allowing creative players scope to beat opponents with far more regularity.
There’s two players from Bayern here, perhaps not surprising given their 81 goals, but -rather unexpectedly- third-bottom Borussia MGladbach, who needed a play-ff to beat the drop, also have a couple of players in our list. Here’s the ten best creative talents from last season’s Bundesliga:
Nuri Sahin was the Bundesliga’s runaway winner when it came to Key Passes per game. Playing in the double pivot in Dortmund’s 4-2-3-1, Sahin saw more of the ball than any of his team mates, making 59.3 Passes per game although his team averaged just 52% possession. Dictating matters from deep, he played 5.5 Long Balls per game as he looked to start attacks quickly, with an overall average of 3.47 Key Passes per game for the champions.
A total of 104 Key Passes brought Sahin 8 Assists, an average of 1 Assist per 13 Key Passes. His 2.6 Crosses mainly came from corner and free-kick duties, which also contributed to his 1.6 Shots per game; Sahin had 48 Shots in total for Dortmund, finding the net 6 times. A summer move to Real Madrid means his creative talents will be sorely missed this upcoming season and Dortmund will need to invest wisely if they are to stand a chance of defending their title.
Christian Tiffert’s 17 Assists for Kaiserslautern last season was the most of any Bundesliga player, with the second best way back on 11. His side tended to switch between 4-4-2 and 4-1-4-1, with Tiffert’s central midfield role helped by set-piece duties as he managed 3.15 Key Passes per game. Similar to Sahin, he also made a total of 104 Key Passes but the 17 Assists meant he grabbed an Assists with every 6.11 Key Passes, an indication of his ability to deliver a killer ball with precision. Given his side only scored 48 goals, it’s clear just how vital his contribution was.
Like many of our top ten, Tiffert demonstrated his trickery in possession, with 1.8 Successful Dribbles per match the second best for his side, though a lowly 1 Shot per game suggest he’s happy to set team mates up rather than attempt to find the net himself; Tiffert scored just 2 Goals for the seventh-placed side last season from a total of 33 Shots.
Diego’s recent falling out with Wolfsburg looks to have sealed his exit from the club but his stats highlight exactly what they’ll miss upon the his departure. Wolfsburg missed out on the third-bottom play-ff spot by just two points, with a run of three wins and a draw in their last five games clinching fourth-bottom for the club. Having already lost Edin Dzeko to Man City in January, Wolfsburg will need to find top-quality replacements if they are to avoid a repeat of last season’s poor showing.
Playing in the hole behind a lone striker, Diego made 2.93 Key Passes per game, racking up a total of 88 over the course of the campaign. With 9 Assists, this works out at a rate of 1 Assist for every 9.77 Key Passes Diego made. Wolfsburg’s reliance on Diego’s trickery on the ball is highlighted by his Successful Dribbles (2.8), with the second best for the club, Grafite, on 1.4. He also averaged 1.6 Shots every game, grabbing 6 Goals. A move to the Premier League will be the Bundesliga’s loss.
Arjen Robben’s level of performance in his 14 games for Bayern Munich only serve as a reminder of what could have been for Bayern Munich if their star winger wasn’t sidelined with hamstring problems for so much of the season. The Dutchman was their main creative presence when fit, averaging 2.71 Key Passes per game and with 8 Assists, this means he picked up 1 Assist for every 4.75 Key Passes, the best ratio of our top ten.
Robben didn’t just rely on his passing to carve open defences, with 3.9 Successful Dribbles he tormented opposition back-fours time and again. From his position wide right in a 4-2-3-1, Robben slung in 2.3 Crosses per game, and achieved all this with just 29 Passes per match. He also grabbed 12 Goals in the league, and with an average of 3.4 Shots per match, was the most consistent goal threat of top-scorers Bayern and all of our featured top ten.
Playing wide right in a 4-2-3-1, Dortmund’s wonder kid Mario Götze established himself as a key component of the champions starting XI last season. Götze’s 6 Goals were the lowest of his side’s attack-minded players but with just 1 Shot per game, his tendency to set up a chance rather than take it on himself is abundantly clear, with 2.52 Key Passes per game highlighting his vision.
With Nuri Sahin taking most of the set-pieces, the vast majority of Götze’s Key Passes come from open play, making his creative output all the more impressive. Götze made just 33.3 Passes per game but his Pass Accuracy (80%) was the second best of our top ten. Götze was also top for Successful Dribbles (1.5) of all Dortmund’s players, yet another example of the 19 year-old’s precocious talents. With 11 Assists from 33 appearances, Götze picked up 1 Assist with every 7.54 Key Passes made.
Loaned out to Stuttgart by Dortmund at the end of the January transfer window, Tamás Hajnal grabbed 3 Goals and 4 Assist in just 11 appearances, helping the club to a twelfth-placed finish and subsequently sealing a permanent transfer to the club. The Hungarian was fielded in the hole behind Cacau as Stuttgart turned to a 4-2-3-1 as an alternative to their usual 4-4-2 formation and his performances were crucial to the second half of their season.
Hajnal’s 2.42 Key Passes were double that of any other Stuttgart player and his 1.8 Successful Dribbles combined with 1.3 Shots per game offered the side a much-needed threat going forward. A total of 29 Key Passes and 4 Assists saw Hajnal picked up 1 Assist for every 7.25 Key Passes and his inclusion from the start next season will strengthen Stuttgart’s chances for a better season next time round.
Marco Reus had a sensational season for Borussia MGladbach, with a call up to the German national squad the result of his stand-out Bundesliga exploits. While the rest of his side struggled for consistency on their way to a third-from-bottom finish, Reus grabbed 10 Goals and 8 Assists, starring both wide right and through the centre as MGladbach battled the drop. For MGladbach, he was top for Goals, Assists, Successful Dribbles (1.6) and Shots per game (2), with his 8 Assists from 72 Key Passes giving him 1 Assist per 9 Key Passes.
An ankle injury meant Franck Ribéry managed 25 appearances last season for Bayern Munich and like Arjen Robben, the Frenchman’s displays indicate just how crucial his absence proved to be. Ribéry’s 2.2 Key Passes per game from his left wing role saw him grab 11 Assists from 55 Key Passes, an average of 1 Assist per 5 Key Passes, the second best tally of our top ten, just behind team mate Robben.
Ribéry made 29.3 Passes per game, virtually identical to Robben’s 29, indicating Bayern’s equal threat down both flanks, and Ribéry managed 1.9 Crosses and a fantastic 3.7 Successful Dribbles, second again only to Robben here. With 2 Shots per game a further threat, Ribéry returned 7 Goals for Bayern last season.
Mehmet Ekici’s showings for Nurnberg are further indication of the depth of young German talent playing in the top division. The 21 year old played wide left or through the middle as his side alternated between 4-2-3-1 and 4-1-4-1. Ekici’s 2.19 Key Passes per game were rewarded with 9 Assists, giving him a ratio of 1 Assist for every 7.71 Key Passes
Ekici had the highest Pass Accuracy of our featured players, with 82%, though he made just 29 Passes per game. His distribution was varied, with 1.8 Crosses, and 3 Long Balls per game, and Ekici was also top for Successful Dribbles (2) for his side, too. His shooting was the only real downside of Ekici’s performances- he grabbed 3 Goals though, with 1.7 Shots per game, he had 54 Shots all season.
Currently starring for his native Venezuela in this month’s Copa America, MGladbach’s left winger Juan Arango is the final member of our top ten. With 2.16 Key Passes, Arango picked up 6 Assists, for an average of 1 Assist for every 9 Key Passes made. Arango was helped by his fair share of set-piece duties and although he managed 1.3 Crosses per game, his delivery was average, with just a 68% Pass Accuracy. Arango made just 0.7 Successful Dribbles per game, low for a winger, though with 1.4 Shots per game, found the net on 4 occasions.
