Top midfielders for ball retention under high pressure

[jambobas]

A rather long-winded title for this week's CIES Football Observatory post.

 

The post tries to rank the one hundred midfielders with the best statistics in terms of ball retention under high pressure in 28 leagues around the world.  A player is considered under pressure when he is in possession of the ball and at least one opponent player nearby him is trying to either recover the ball or limit his options. For each situation, SkillCorner determines the intensity of pressure by considering the speed of the players applying it, their distance to the player in possession and the angle of their movement.

 

To illustrate, the top 10 are listed below. There are 3 SPFL players in the 100 list. In at no. 50, is Beni Baningime, while Lundstram of Rangers and Celtic's McGregor are listed at nos. 61 and 67 respectively. When I saw the post title, I did wonder whether Beni would scrape into the list. I certainly didn't expect him to be so high up though.

 

 

 

 

[gorgierulesapply88]

Very under appreciated.

Hearts fans are fickle, the work both he does and Boyce brings(when fit) are parts of the game fans don't recognise.

 

Often find 95% of Hearts fans clueless, and with the knowledge you could write on a postage stamp.

[tiger Rudi]

5 minutes ago, jambobas said:

A rather long-winded title for this week's CIES Football Observatory post.

 

The post tries to rank the one hundred midfielders with the best statistics in terms of ball retention under high pressure in 28 leagues around the world.  A player is considered under pressure when he is in possession of the ball and at least one opponent player nearby him is trying to either recover the ball or limit his options. For each situation, SkillCorner determines the intensity of pressure by considering the speed of the players applying it, their distance to the player in possession and the angle of their movement.

 

To illustrate, the top 10 are listed below. There are 3 SPFL players in the 100 list. In at no. 50, is Beni Baningime, while Lundstram of Rangers and Celtic's McGregor are listed at nos. 61 and 67 respectively. When I saw the post title, I did wonder whether Beni would scrape into the list. I certainly didn't expect him to be so high up though.

 

 

 

 

Or alternatively, is this a list of players so one paced that they are quickly surrounded and resort to passing the ball backwards 90% of the time? 

That was said in jest BTW, before anybody jumps on me! 

[Batistuta87]

[jambo mark]

Can’t believe it’s beni we’ve chosen to have a go at now. 
 

some of our fans are roasters!

[davemclaren]

12 minutes ago, gorgierulesapply88 said:

Very under appreciated.

Hearts fans are fickle, the work both he does and Boyce brings(when fit) are parts of the game fans don't recognise.

 

Often find 95% of Hearts fans clueless, and with the knowledge you could write on a postage stamp.

I don't always ( often ) agree with you but I agree re Beni and Boyce. 😄

[Rampant]

Beni Busquets.

 

Would be class if we can sign him up beyond summer. 

[sac]

15 minutes ago, gorgierulesapply88 said:

Very under appreciated.

Hearts fans are fickle, the work both he does and Boyce brings(when fit) are parts of the game fans don't recognise.

 

Often find 95% of Hearts fans clueless, and with the knowledge you could write on a postage stamp.

So glad I’m one of the 5%. 

[RustyRightPeg]

Color me shocked. But he's too slow and doesn't score screamers from 30 yards.

[Bull's-eye]

19 minutes ago, gorgierulesapply88 said:

Very under appreciated.

Hearts fans are fickle, the work both he does and Boyce brings(when fit) are parts of the game fans don't recognise.

 

Often find 95% of Hearts fans clueless, and with the knowledge you could write on a postage stamp.

 

I socialise with a group of lads and lassies before and after games. We dont sit together so you'd imagine opinion after games to be quite varied using this place as a benchmark.

 

In general its not, i believe we all trust our own eyes and dont listen the general bluster and pish you sometimes hear at the game.

 

I'd suggest our group has a positive outlook though and doesn't go into games searching out a bad pass or a mistake. Therefore you take the good out of the game and look for good tackles and great pieces of play.

 

Thats why we all agree that Beni is a fantastic player and a major asset to the club.

 

 

Edited February 8 by Bull's-eye

[Yoda]

10 minutes ago, jambo mark said:

Can’t believe it’s beni we’ve chosen to have a go at now. 
 

some of our fans are roasters!

No one's having at go at Beni.  It's a positive thread.

[Taffin]

Beni is a class act at what he does.

 

How someone has shoehorned Boyce into this who I doubt is top 100 for anything is bonkers.

[BelgeJambo]

Impressive for Beni

Hard to imagine the two OF mugs being under much pressure very often 

[A_A wehatethehibs]

It’s laughable that some folk bizarrely think we should release him or be cautious about offering him a deal. The player holds the cards in this case. We would need to offer him a great deal to keep him. If a football forum user can pickup on this, just imagine the depth of analysis worldwide clubs have. The guy is absolutely excellent at keeping hold of the ball. I unfortunately do suspect that Beni may already have good offer from somewhere already as he would be a bargain on a free for someone, as he was for us. On a free, clubs won’t be as worried about the injury record, it’ll be worth a punt 

 

Actually think he would be really good in a continental league, could certainly see a move like that happening. 

[brux]

It's highly doubtful that we will see Beni playing in maroon past the summer, he will have many offer's to consider over the next few months 

[Mr Rabbit]

5 minutes ago, brux said:

It's highly doubtful that we will see Beni playing in maroon past the summer, he will have many offer's to consider over the next few months 

Depends if you listen to McKinlay or not who said he was close to signing a new deal.

[Lord Beni of Gorgie]

Only 87.9, Naisy will have him working on that reaching 90 before season is out 😉

[Lord Beni of Gorgie]

Rodri stat is amazing considering the league and style of football compared to anyone else on there

[karipidis]

6 minutes ago, Mr Rabbit said:

Depends if you listen to McKinlay or not who said he was close to signing a new deal.

Savage said the same about Ginnelly...

[JamboJoker98]

The Beni thread makes for grim reading. Some folk would call Messi crap for not being physical enough. Look at a players strengths and establish what you're removing if he goes, and this highlights perfectly what we'd miss and how good a player Beni actually is. Top player at our level, and beyond by the looks of this.

[Zerothehero]

It's no even being provocative or at the wind up, if folk can't see how special he is for us it's mental. He's levels above what we're used to. That statistic is wild, we're incredibly lucky if he chooses to stay a Hearts player for any length of time. 

[RustyRightPeg]

9 minutes ago, JamboJoker98 said:

The Beni thread makes for grim reading. Some folk would call Messi crap for not being physical enough. Look at a players strengths and establish what you're removing if he goes, and this highlights perfectly what we'd miss and how good a player Beni actually is. Top player at our level, and beyond by the looks of this.

 

The sad thing is they actually believe what they're saying too. 

[rudi must stay]

Good to see Frankie De Jong in the list, quality player. This decades Xavi you could say. As for Benj staying why not we have a good team he gets his game every week and Edinburgh is a fine city 

[Pans Jambo]

At Hearts, every player loses the ball. Every player has passes that go astray or directly to the opposition. 

 

Beni is no different. He just does it less, much less. 

 

He's the best midfielder we have. Yes, he's not rapid, yes he passes backwards a few times a game and sometimes loses possession, but the clear majority of the time, he breaks up play and his passes almost always hit their target.

 

I hope he signs an extension.

[Pete Elliott]

2 hours ago, Bull's-eye said:

 

I socialise with a group of lads and lassies before and after games. We dont sit together so you'd imagine opinion after games to be quite varied using this place as a benchmark.

 

In general its not, i believe we all trust our own eyes and dont listen the general bluster and pish you sometimes hear at the game.

 

I'd suggest our group has a positive outlook though and doesn't go into games searching out a bad pass or a mistake. Therefore you take the good out of the game and look for good tackles and great pieces of play.

 

Thats why we all agree that Beni is a fantastic player and a major asset to the club.

 

 

[boag1874]

I didn’t even have to open this, I knew Beni would be on there as soon as I saw the thread title. He’s so so good at holding his man off or using close control to get out of a tight situation before moving it to a teammate in space. The best at it I’ve ever seen at Hearts & I don’t think that’s recency bias playing tricks.

[GlasgoJambo]

It’s like he’s got eyes in the back of his head! Always aware of where the closest opposition player is. Watched him do it again and again last night against St J. Plus he has the skills to get out of tight situations. 
Because he doesn’t do the mega passes people don’t rate him BUT he makes all the opportunities for others.

Love having him with us. 

[Dallas Green]

Uh oh. That won't sit well with the roasters.

[lost in space]

There is no doubt that Beni is fantastic at receiving the ball, and retaining it in tight situations.

He has proven that he has recovered from injury - and nearly back to full match fitness.

Strange that before his injury - or even in the window just passed, that an English club didn't buy him.

Anybody explain why that is?

[AC Mallin_51]

Beni is an unbelievably talented player. If he didn’t get that injury a couple years back then he’d be long gone playing at a higher level 

[saxondale]

54 minutes ago, lost in space said:

There is no doubt that Beni is fantastic at receiving the ball, and retaining it in tight situations.

He has proven that he has recovered from injury - and nearly back to full match fitness.

Strange that before his injury - or even in the window just passed, that an English club didn't buy him.

Anybody explain why that is?

Probably because the 21/22 season it was his first proper season in top flight football where he played regularly until the big injury, missed the entire 22/23 season, and now has not even completed half a season of regular football (along with a couple injuries in between), so other teams may have thought it would be a fairly high risk signing? It’s just a guess mind…

[lost in space]

2 minutes ago, saxondale said:

Probably because the 21/22 season it was his first proper season in top flight football where he played regularly until the big injury, missed the entire 22/23 season, and now has not even completed half a season of regular football (along with a couple injuries in between), so other teams may have thought it would be a fairly high risk signing? It’s just a guess mind…

I did mention the injury. You must have missed that.

So before the injury - young and at his best. No team came in for him.

So since injury - and only 6 months till end of his contract - No team come in for him.

You would think a team would have taken a chance.

How strange.

[Arthur Morgan]

Best CM in the league outwith the OF imo.

[Bazzas right boot]

He's under appreciated.

 

Players that don't score goals, Thunder into tackles or run about daft get branded as shite by many.

Beni is a good midfielder,  he's the best outside the OF by a distance. 

 

 

The "He's too slow, cannae score, cannae head " brigade really have shown themselves up in terms of football knowledge and understanding. 

 

 

[Bazzas right boot]

42 minutes ago, lost in space said:

I did mention the injury. You must have missed that.

So before the injury - young and at his best. No team came in for him.

So since injury - and only 6 months till end of his contract - No team come in for him.

You would think a team would have taken a chance.

How strange.

 

Because no one else wants him he's shite?

Nobody wanted Gordon,  Kent, Shankland  etc - are they all shite as well.

 

It really is the last resort of the low bandwidth mob when appraising a Hearts player  -" naebody else wants him"

When that's your line of argument then you have no platform or basis and are beyond straw clutching.

 

 

[jamboinglasgow]

5 minutes ago, Bazzas right boot said:

 

Because no one else wants him he's shite?

Nobody wanted Gordon,  Kent, Shankland  etc - are they all shite as well.

 

It really is the last resort of the low bandwidth mob when appraising a Hearts player  -" naebody else wants him"

When that's your line of argument then you have no platform or basis and are beyond straw clutching.

 

 

 

Do fans of other clubs put down their best players as much as some on here?

 

[Rudiscoresagain]

I just don’t understand why some folk think that Beni isn’t a great player. From his first touch in his first game it was obvious that he was fantastic. 
He was poor for a few games after his injury but is now getting back to his best. 
Fingers crossed that he signs a new contract. 

[Bazzas right boot]

Just now, jamboinglasgow said:

 

Do fans of other clubs put down their best players as much as some on here?

 

 

Very doubtful. 

 

I think some are just trying to be edgy.

 

I have no reason why a fan would dig in and go to large lengths to slag one of our own.

I'm not a fan of the Hoff, but I wouldn't rip him to bits and dismiss his strengths. 

 

When folk slag footballers like Mckay and Beni it just shows them up for being utterly clueless about the game.

They should just give it up tbh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[damo]

2 minutes ago, Bazzas right boot said:

 

Very doubtful. 

 

I think some are just trying to be edgy.

 

I have no reason why a fan would dig in and go to large lengths to slag one of our own.

I'm not a fan of the Hoff, but I wouldn't rip him to bits and dismiss his strengths. 

 

When folk slag footballers like Mckay and Beni it just shows them up for being utterly clueless about the game.

They should just give it up tbh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Agree with that. When these guys are on their game, we are a joy to watch. They are a cut above most players in our league. 

[Getintaethem]

It’s no coincidence that our run in form has come since Beni got a few games under his belt.  People who don’t see his obvious talent and the role that he plays are best ignored.

[Mikey1874]

He's been a joy to watch.

 

If he can work out how to pass to a teammate we're going to be some team. 

[Waterboy]

Absolutely brilliant timing that being published, with the strange lack of appreciation for Beni by some posters on other threads this week. 

 

I'm assuming that their absence from this thread signifies their sudden realisation they are actually clueless after all. 

[Vit1874]

The man is class, has been since he first arrived. Agree with the sentiments above that if he hadn't had an horrific injury that he'd be away playing at a higher level and have made us a good amount of cash. I don't know how folk can think otherwise.

[HMFC01]

I'm satisfied with the way Beni is performing.   Still building fitness at a steady rate,  over 90 minutes currently.  Does his job.   We got to see something extra speacil v Hibs at Easter Road.   Some other games where he drives forward giving another option.   I wouldn't want him doing too much too soon.   

 

Will be interesting when he does something speacil again.   What game will it be.   Bit of excitement there.   The anticipation and the disappointment. 

Edited February 8 by HMFC01

[The Black Prince]

8 hours ago, JamboJoker98 said:

The Beni thread makes for grim reading. Some folk would call Messi crap for not being physical enough. Look at a players strengths and establish what you're removing if he goes, and this highlights perfectly what we'd miss and how good a player Beni actually is. Top player at our level, and beyond by the looks of this.

Messi?

 

Too short. Never a footballer there. 

[Debut 4]

Not midfielders but in recent years(ish) 3 of our best further up the park were Rudi, Suso and Walker.  
 

All could protect the ball in the hardest area of the park and still produce something effective.  

[Pete Elliott]

9 hours ago, lost in space said:

How strange.

You certainly are 👍🏻

[CMc]

16 hours ago, jambobas said:

A rather long-winded title for this week's CIES Football Observatory post.

 

The post tries to rank the one hundred midfielders with the best statistics in terms of ball retention under high pressure in 28 leagues around the world.  A player is considered under pressure when he is in possession of the ball and at least one opponent player nearby him is trying to either recover the ball or limit his options. For each situation, SkillCorner determines the intensity of pressure by considering the speed of the players applying it, their distance to the player in possession and the angle of their movement.

 

To illustrate, the top 10 are listed below. There are 3 SPFL players in the 100 list. In at no. 50, is Beni Baningime, while Lundstram of Rangers and Celtic's McGregor are listed at nos. 61 and 67 respectively. When I saw the post title, I did wonder whether Beni would scrape into the list. I certainly didn't expect him to be so high up though.

 

 

 

 

Great op. 
 

I think what gets missed by the frothers who want every ball pumped up the channels like the good old days is that, whilst it lags behind other leagues in lots of technical aspects, the Scottish league has really taken to pressing (or at least pressing has better organised the traditional running about trying to clatter people at 100mph). This combined with lots of our opponents sitting deep, with twin Herman Munster cbs, means that direct play (at least in first phase), plays right into their hands  

 

Beni is absolutely perfect for breaking a press. Draws all the pressure onto himself, then shifts it elsewhere, taking opponents out of the game. A 1-2 with a centre back further helps with this as it draws players first on to him, then past him, so when he receives it back and turns upfield, they are completely out of the game. If he tried a through ball first play instead, theses players would instead be packed in to the low-block rest defence shape.  The clip v Hibs is textbook for this (and hilarious).

Whilst he carries it forward and plays the through ball in this one, drawing players out the block and shifting it wide is an equally good option (esp when Barrie is fit). This further disrupts the opponent’s shape, first dragging them out, then wide and setting up with a ball into the middle next phase, or after a switch to the other wing. 
 

Those dismissing all this as “always passing sideways or backwards” are missing the point. Creating a yard of space for Shanks and never letting his markers rest in their shape is just as critical as playing good balls in. In the form he’s in, you could actually argue it is MORE important as he is scoring virtually any time he successfully pins his marker atm. The type of delivery seems irrelevant. 

Edited February 9 by CMc

[chester copperpot]

My comment about him being head and shoulders above anyone else at Dens on Wednesday doesn't seem so bad now 😉

 

I Ken 😁

[lost in space]

10 hours ago, Bazzas right boot said:

 

Because no one else wants him he's shite?

Nobody wanted Gordon,  Kent, Shankland  etc - are they all shite as well.

 

It really is the last resort of the low bandwidth mob when appraising a Hearts player  -" naebody else wants him"

When that's your line of argument then you have no platform or basis and are beyond straw clutching.

 

 

And this year's award for knee jerk reaction and faux anger goes to Bazza.

Same as every year.

You are funny.