Player Focus: The Most Valuable Goal Contributors in Europe
Lionel Messi's injury towards the tail end of the season rather upset Barcelona's canter towards the title in La Liga. Whilst not solely responsible for their Champions League drubbing at the hands of Bayern Munich (who were simply brilliant and should not be discredited), Messi's absence from the first leg was fatal and his lack of fitness and form further dimmed their already distinctly faded chances of a comeback.
The fact that they are overly reliant on a player who has won the FIFA World Player of the Year or Ballon d'Or award on four occasions is often used as a slight against the abilities of the rest of the Barcelona squad. Critics claim that the Blaugrana are 'nothing without Messi' because they needed him, half-fit, to come on with half an hour to go against PSG to rescue the tie and propel them through to the semi final of Europe's elite competition. Of course, Messi's importance is merely a show of his astounding ability. He both scores and makes goals, and a hell of a lot of them. The sheer volume makes his strikes undeniably the most important in Europe's top 5 leagues.
With 46 goals to his name in La Liga this season, incredibly, this was actually a less productive campaign for the Argentinian than his last, but his contribution essentially won Barcelona the title. Without his goals, Tito Vilanova's side would have accrued a full 28 points fewer than the record-equalling 100 they managed. Messi also picked up 12 assists, setting up goals worth 11 points.
When considering his goals and assists combined, Messi contributed a massive 38 points to Barcelona's season. [It should be noted here that the points won by his goals plus the points won by his assists does not have to equal the points won by the combination of his goals and assists. For example, in Messi's case, in scoring a hat-trick and getting an assist in the 5-4 win over Deportivo, Messi's contribution turned a 4-1 defeat into a victory. Without his three goals Barcelona would have lost 4-2 so those goals were worth 3 points, while without his one assist they would have drawn 4-4, so that was worth 2 points. The combination of the two, however, was worth 3 points.]
Talk of a 'one-man team' is of course inconsequential. A man cannot make up a team on his own, but that Messi's contribution accounted for so many points in La Liga puts him as close to being a 'one-man team' as they get. Although rather meaningless, it is nonethless interesting to note that 38 points would have been enough to avoid relegation in La Liga this season!
In no game other than the above example was Messi's importance so plain to see. After failing to win for the first time in 2012/13 in their previous game, Barça wobbled, even at 3-0 up at newly promoted Deportivo. As the home side rallied and scored an incredible 4 goals, Javier Mascherano was sent off and the visitors looked like they might crumble. But up stepped Lionel Messi and a hat-trick later, Barcelona had their 9th win from 10 games this season.
Robin van Persie might have scored 20 league goals fewer than Messi this season (26) but they were almost as valuable, with Sir Alex Ferguson's team gaining 27 points through the Dutchman's strikes - just 1 fewer than Messi's. Van Persie was an immediate hit at Old Trafford, with his first 5 goals alone winning 7 points, including a hat-trick at Southampton in a 3-2 win. He also chipped in with 8 assists, and without his contribution of 34 goals and assists, United would have ended the season 36 points worse off. Instantly a key player, it isn't inaccurate to say he was the difference between success and failure at Old Trafford.
Antonio Di Natale has won himself a further year's contract extension at Udinese after another fine season in which his 27 goals and assists won his side 28 points. 8 straight wins at the end of the season snuck the side into Europa League qualification, and the striker was hugely important in that run. Edinson Cavani might have scored 6 more goals than Di Natale to beat him to the golden boot, but the latter's goals were worth more (23 points compared to 22). That meant each of Di Natale's goal was worth a point, on average, this season, while each of the in-demand Uruguayan's strikes were worth 0.76 points, with his side winning a fair portion of their games by a few clear goals, in which Cavani's strikes weren't the difference between the sides. Di Natale's advancing years not only mean his career is coming to an end, but also that interest in him is extremely limited, so Udinese will not face a summer of trying to hold on to their prized asset, like Napoli will have to do with Cavani.
Gareth Bale's prominence within world football has shot up over the past 12 months, in which the Welsh wonder has been converted from a winger into what is near enough a centre-forward. Countless comparisons have been made to Cristiano Ronaldo given both players' propensity to shoot from distance so often and their ability and strength when carrying the ball at pace. While both have scored plenty of spectacular goals, this season Bale has been more important to Spurs than CR7 has been to Madrid. The former has won his side 24 points with just 21 goals, while without the 34 goals of the Portuguese star, Los Blancos would only have been 16 goals worse off. Many of Bale's goals were last minute strikes to win a game, and he very nearly made the difference as Spurs just missed out on Champions League qualification. At 1.14 points per goal, Bale's strikes were some of the most valuable in Europe's top 5 leagues this season, and it is little surprise to see him continually linked with some of the biggest clubs in the world.
Stefan Kiessling has had a fantastic season at Leverkusen, and while his performances and goals might not be as glamorous as those of say, Messi or van Persie, the German striker was vital to his side's Champions League qualification and was deserving of his 8.01 average rating. His 32 goals and assists won his side a total of 25 points; a tally only Messi, van Persie, Di Natale and Bale topped across Europe's top 5 leagues and which was also by some distance the best in the Bundesliga. It really is a wonder why Kiessling is so consistently overlooked for the German national team while Joachim Loew continues to persist with the sparingly used Mario Gomez and the ageing Miroslav Klose as his only real striker options. Another season like the one past and Kiessling will surely leave the national team coach with no option but to select him.
When looking solely at creators, Mathieu Valbuena tops the charts for the the most valuable assists, with his 12 worth 15 points. In 5 games this term, the diminutive midfielder set up the winning goal for a teammate, highlighting just how important he is to his side in times of need. Also of note in the top 10 is fellow Frenchman, Manchester United left-back Patrice Evra, who won his side 9 points with just 5 assists, making each of his assists worth an average of 1.8 points. Without those, United simply wouldn't have built up the unassailable lead they did at the top of the Premier League and may not have gone on to win it. Of course Evra was not as key to United's success - in terms of goal contribution at least - as Robin van Persie, but the input of defender in front of goal certainly helped out.
