Regardless of the stature of the team you play for, there is always that one player who perceives himself to be the pick of bunch, or the one that possesses that natural ability to brush past an opponent with minimal ease, no matter the level of the football being played.
In the modern game, while the onus is often on ball retention and probing the opponent, waiting for that moment to strike, the necessity to utilise the dribbling capabilities of a “flair player” remains a priority for some teams, especially when chasing a game for a positive result.
Across the world, the likes of Stephan El Shaarawy, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Ezequiel Lavezzi regularly pick up the accolades thanks to the ease with which they can drift past the opposition full back in order to benefit their respective team.
Naturally, if confidence is high in one player, they'll look to get the beating of an opponent on more than one occasion and it's no surprise to have seen the most attempted dribbles across Europe's top five leagues reach into triple figures, with Bastia's Florian Thauvin - on loan from Lille - the lowest of the quintet on 127, and Liverpool striker Luis Suarez the highest with 255.
With the Uruguayan's playing style, it's no real shock to have seen him top the list for the most attempted dribbles in the Premier League, and across Europe as a whole. A poor start to the season for Liverpool meant they were heavily reliant on Suarez and with him as the focal point, up to and including the 3-0 win over Sunderland on January 2nd 2013 - the day Daniel Sturridge was signed from Chelsea - the 26-year-old scored 15 of the club's 34 goals; a direct contribution of 44.1%.
As manager Brendan Rodgers looked to Suarez for the all important goals in his attack, driving the team forward was his priority, with the striker attempting 165 of his 255 dribbles over the 21 game period, with 64 (38.8%) of those being successful.
Attempting, on average, 7.7 dribbles per game - a figure that won't rise again between now and the end of the season after the FA handed Suarez a 10-game ban following his bite on Branislav Ivanovic - it's still lower than Franck Ribery's figure.
The Bayern Munich winger places second across Europe in the most attempted dribbles in his respective league, looking to breeze past opponents 220 times this year, having made 24 appearances - nine less than Suarez, albeit two of the 24 have been from the substitutes bench - the Frenchman is averaging 9.1 dribbles per games, although with the figure it's no surprise to see him with the joint highest assists in the Bundesliga this season, with Philipp Lahm, Thomas Muller and Hiroshi Kiyotake (10) all level with the 30-year-old.
Unsurprisingly, it's Thuavin who averages the least attempted dribbles with only 4.5 per game having looked to beat the opposition 49 times less than the next player on the list; Lionel Messi (176). Furthermore, having made seven substitute appearances, none of the aforementioned players on the list, including Fiorentina's Juan Cuadrado, have appeared from the bench more times than the Frenchman.
As many would've expected, it's Messi that has made the most successful dribbles of each league's respective candidate. The Barcelona striker has beaten his opponent 111 times from 176 attempts, boasting the highest success rate (63%), 14% higher than nearest candidate Ribery (49%).
It's a testament to the capabilities of the Argentina international, who has attempted 44 fewer dribbles than Ribery, although the Frenchman has completed just three fewer successful efforts than Messi. While having made five fewer appearances, the Bayern winger is making, on average, 4.5 successful dribbles per game, a figure higher than Messi's 3.8.
Interestingly, while Suarez tops the most attempted dribblers list, his success rate of the five players - Cuadrado and Thauvin included - is the lowest, with the Uruguayan completing a lowly 42.2% of his dribbles and making just 2.8 per game, the second lowest with Thauvin making the fewest successful dribbles per Ligue 1 encounter (1.8).
However, when comparing the top 10 players in terms of their ratio of successful dribbles to attempts, there is only one that ranks as the best in their respective league - Messi. At 63%, the 25-year-old has the highest success rate, with Andres Iniesta the closest to the Barcelona striker, completing 59.2% of his dribbles, although he has Sevilla's Jesus Navas snapping at his heels with 59.1%.
In the Premier League, it's Tottenham Hotspur's Mousa Dembele who is the most impressive dribbler, with 70% of his 90 attempted dribbles proving successful. While Suarez has completed the most in England, the Uruguay international's 42.2% ranks him tenth when comparing his completion rate to his Premier League counterparts.
Ribery as well is knocked off top spot in the Bundesliga when it comes to the success of his capability when running with the ball, with Wolfsburg's Diego succeeding with a mightily impressive 75.5% of his 155 attempted dribbles.
The Bayern winger ranks tenth in the top 10 completed dribbles when compared to the rest of Germany's top tier of football, having completed 49.1% of his efforts to beat an opponent during his 24 appearances this term.
In Serie A, expectedly, Cuadrado isn't top of the rankings, with Hernanes dwarfing his 45.3% of completed dribbles with a success rate of 61.5%. In fact, the figures highlight a particularly poor completion rate of dribbling in Italy, with only three players - Jonathan Biabiany and Juraj Kucka along with Hernanes - attaining a figure over 50%.
However, fortunately for Cuadrado, he doesn't rank at the bottom of the top 10, instead placing sixth in the mini-league ahead of Vladimir Weiss (44.9%), Freddy Guarin (43.75%), Victor Ibarbo (43.1%) and Alessio Cerci (42.2%).
Finally, casting an eye across to Ligue 1 sees Yohan Mollo secure top spot in the successful dribbles to efforts ranking, the Saint-Etienne winger, on loan from Nancy, completing 57% of his 72 attempts.
Thauvin places higher than Ribery and Suarez in the top 10 list, but only by one place with his 40.9% success bettering AC Ajaccio midfielder Sigamary Diarra by 0.3% in the rankings when comparing Ligue 1's better dribblers of the ball.
Either way, the findings go to show that no matter how many dribbles a player attempts, the success is never guaranteed, of course Messi being an exception to the rule. With every player, bar the Argentine, ranking in the lower half of their respective attempt-to-success-rate table, it's not the player that attempts the most that will always come out on top, further highlighting the dribbling capabilities of Diego, Dembele, Hernanes and Mollo, regardless of their efforts being significantly lower than their respective league counterparts.
