Creative midfielders in Denmark

On OptaPro's blog, Paul Carr uses TruMedia's ProVision product (developed in conjunction with Opta) to find Danish Superliga creative midfielders who could be recruitment targets.

"ProVision allows for several stat views other than totals, which may emphasise quantity over quality. Looking at the same numbers on a per-90-minute basis, Mukhtar isn’t quite as dominant, still leading in big chances created and expected assists, while sliding to third in chances created behind Jensen and Besar Halimi, who played seven fewer games.

The type of creativity matters, since a central midfielder and a winger would fit differently into a line-up. Looking at types of passes attempted, Mukhtar ranks second with 13 through balls and 32nd with 22 crosses, indicating he plays primarily in a central role.

Filtering down to the central third of the field shows that 12 of his 13 through balls come from there, as do 58 of his 60 chances created, profiling Mukhtar as a number 10."

Full article: OptaPro (by Paul Carr, Director of Content Development)