Jonathan dos Santos among the best midfielders in the world

The CIES Football Observatory published a report in which it analyzed the game intelligence data produced by SkillCorner, revealing the 100 midfielders with the best ball retention statistics under high pressure in 28 leagues around the world. The participants must have notched at least 1,000 minutes played in domestic leagues during the current or last completed season, up until 31 January 2024.

Deal with pressure in possession

Club América’s Jonathan dos Santos stood out with a ball retention percentage under high pressure of 90.4%, placing him in seventh place in the global ranking.

Possession-based football

Many players from teams that tend to use a possession-based style of play, such as América, are among the best ranked, underscoring that individual ability to retain the ball is also influenced by tactical solutions provided by teammates, the report notes.

The best absolute percentage was recorded by Darlington Nagbe - the Columbus Crew player scored an impressive 93.4%. Among the top five, behind Nagbe, are renowned midfielders such as Manchester City’s Rodri Hernández (92.1%), Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong (91.8%), Real Madrid’s Toni Kroos (also 91.8%) and Bayer Leverkusen’s Granit Xhaka (91.6%).

To explain how the percentages are determined, the study points out that a player is considered under pressure when he is in possession of the ball and at least one opposing player close to him is trying to recover the ball or limit his options. For each situation, SkillCorner determines the intensity of the pressure considering the speed of the players applying it, their distance from the player in possession and the angle of their movement.