WhoScored Analyst: Defenders' Goals Becoming a Nice Habit

As tactics evolve in the modern game, more often than ever we are seeing managers tinker with traditional formations of old in order to attack with as many players as possible.  Barcelona are the team that springs to mind most readily here.  On countless occasions this season, Pep Guardiola has fielded just one recognised defender, with 12 different members of his squad having scored in La Liga this season, and 11 having picked up at least one assist.

Meanwhile, sides such as Arsenal and Newcastle rely heavily on their talismanic forwards Robin Van Persie and Demba Ba for goals. Respectively, the two have scored 47% and 58% of their teams’ Premier League goals this season, and Ba’s imminent departure for the African Cup of Nations may prove a problem for the Magpies.

Where clubs such as these have a wealth of attacking talent, others have to look to other parts of the pitch for their attacking threat. Full-backs are often encouraged to venture forwards and help out in attack by providing crosses for forwards, whilst lumbering centre-halves only really ever join in attacking at set pieces. But which teams make most attacking use of all of their defenders? This is the latest question WhoScored.com has set out to answer.

Goal/Shot Contribution

By far and away the team for which most goals come from their defence is French side Nice.  While they languish down in 17th place in Ligue 1, only 10 teams have scored more than them, and that is, in no small part, down to their forward-thinking defenders, who have provided 9 of their 21 goals (43%). 

However, this statistic is not down to defensive creativity and guile, but merely from taking opportunities at set pieces.  The joint top-scoring defender in Europe’s top 5 leagues, Nice left-back Fabian Monzon, has 4 goals this season, all of which have come from the penalty spot.  Meanwhile, centre-back Renato Civelli has scored 3 headers from set piece situations and right-back Francois Clerc has netted 2 close range strikes from set pieces.

While their defenders have been scoring for fun, Nice manager Rene Marsiglia will surely want more from his midfield, given that the 7 players who have played in central midfield for Nice this season have contributed just 1 goal between them.

Meanwhile, no other side in Europe’s top 5 leagues have a goal contribution of more than 30% from their defenders, though the strategy of utilizing defenders in attack seems to be working.  Of the top 10 teams in terms of goal contribution from defenders, only Nice are in the bottom 5 of their domestic league, and somewhat notably, Inter (23% scored by defenders) and Lille (21%) are 5th and 3rd in their respective leagues.

Also worthy of note is the fact that Nice’s defenders have had 27% of Nice’s total shots this season.  Although this is the joint highest proportion of shots by a team’s defence in Europe, it remains somewhat remarkable that those players have scored 43% of their side’s goals.  In stark comparison are Stoke – a side who one would probably expect to rely heavily on defenders providing an attacking threat.  In fact, while their defence have also had 27% of their total shots this season, they have only managed 2 of their sides 21 goals (9.5%), with left-back Marc Wilson failing to score with any of his 17 shots. 

Assist/Key Pass Contribution

While most central defenders will be all but guaranteed a chance to get forward at a set pieces, full-backs are often made to work for their attacking forays, and it is often the most hard-working and adventurous right or left-backs that prosper.

Daniel Alves is the joint top defender in terms of assists in Europe’s top 5 leagues, with 6, but even regarding him as a defender is rather questionable, and furthermore, this is only a small portion of Barcelona’s many assists.  Incredibly, fellow Brazilian Maicon has made 13 more key passes than any other Inter player, despite featuring in just half of their Serie A games.  However, there are teams whose defenders provide an even greater proportion of their sides’ attacking threat.

Most notable are low scoring, mid-table German side Hoffenheim. Of their mere 19 Bundesliga goals this season, 12 have had assists of which their defenders provided 50% - the highest proportion in Europe’s top 5 leagues. Utility man Fabian Johnson, who has featured for his side in an incredible 8 different positions this season, has picked up 3 of his 5 assists this season when playing at full-back.  The fact that he has also occupied numerous midfield berths further highlights his attacking prowess, and he has clearly utilized this when playing in defence.

A surprising team to feature here, given their creativity in midfield and attack, is Chelsea. The Londoners have seen 11 of their 33 assists (33%) provided by their defence – the largest number of assists by defenders in any team in Europe’s top 5 leagues. This statistically can be largely attributed to Ashley Cole, having picked up an impressive 6 assists from just 19 key passes this season.  Only 5 players in the Premier League, and no defenders in Europe, have created more goals.

There are also those defenders who provide plenty of attacking threat, making countless runs up and down the touchline, planting ball after ball into the box to no avail. Whilst Cole and Alves have the likes of Sturridge and Messi on the end of their crosses, Everton left-back Leighton Baines has been getting very little help from his forwards. Baines has provided 44 key passes, at a rate of 2.4 per game – by far the most by a defender in the Premier League – yet he has only picked up 1 assist all season. Take a bow, Louis Saha!

Defensive importance

While defenders are still being picked on their defensive ability, the attacking threat of someone playing along the back line is becoming ever more important in the game today. Manchester United are a prime example of the fact that goals do not necessarily have to come from defenders, with only 2 of their 49 (4.1%) coming from their defence, but that may well be one of the key difference between them and Manchester City, for whom 8.9% of their goals have come from defenders. Wigan, meanwhile, down in 19th in the Premier League, have seen just 1 of their 18 goals and 0 out of 7 assists come from their defence.

An attack-minded defence is clearly something that should not be underestimated, and may be the difference between first and second place for some, and relegation and survival for others.