Side Attack
We are going to break up our 3 players in behind the strikers into two categories. Players that can operate on the side of the attack (No. 8 & 11 – see attacking 4 graphic left) and players who can operate in the hole behind the striker. Despite the obvious reasons, we also need to think tactically about it. Our 2 players either side of our player in the hole will need to retreat into wide positions in a defensive sense when we lose the ball, so they must also be comfortable filling a role on the wing. It’s open to debate which players can be included in what category so I have made a judgement call on a few players. Furthermore as we will need 2 players, one for either side, we will pick the two players with the most points in our final table.
The first statistic we will look at is not passing accuracy but passing accuracy in the final third. It’s a lot more difficult to keep the ball in the final third, so an important area for an attacking player. As you can see from the graphic below, Samri Nasri has the highest pass competion in the final third with 86.78%. Nani comes a close second with David Silva third.  So lets put Nasri’s passing accuracy into some context. Out of the 356 players to attempt more than 160 passes this season no other player can better that passing accuracy. Nasri really does know how to pass that ball in the final third.
We also want our wider players to be able to cross the ball with some accuracy and be able to dribble. After all, attacking players are there to create. Clint Dempsey comes out top with 40% of all his crosses finding a team-mate. Nasri again figures high in this category. Lastly in our dribble attempt column Nani gets 5 points with 74.24% of all his dribbles being successful. Out of 36 players to have attempted 50 or more dribbles this season Nani is the most successful.
It is no surprise that when it comes to creating chances from open play then David Silva would feature highly. He has been a revelation this season and a fantastic player to watch in full flow. Likewise Juan Mata has hit the ground running in his first season in the Premiership. Both these players get 5 and 4 points respectively for coming out tops in both categories in the creativity graphic. As a side note its interesting to note that Mata is actually more economical with his chance and assist creation – creating a chance or assist every 14.26 passes he attempts, compared to Silva’s rate of every 20.13 passes.
Lastly lets take a look at goals scored by our attacking side players. Clint Dempsey has had a very productive season scoring 12 goals all ready. A number some strikers would be happy with at this stage of the season. Gareth Bale is also having a good season in front of goal having scored a total of nine. Also a player not mentioned a lot this season, Nani has scored 6 goals.
So what does our final table look like? What two players are going to play either side of our front two?
Silva is hardly a surprise choice to play in our attacking front four. He has created more chances and more assists than any other player this season. However, Nani might be a slight surprise having not featured that heavily for Man United this season. Having said that, he scored tops with being successful with the amount of dribbles he attempts and he has also scored 6 goals and created 8 goals for his team-mates. So put in that context a creative player who can cause opposition defences all sorts of problems.
Next Page: Finally, which two strikers will make the Premier League Ultimate Team?
