Suárez beat Cristiano and Messi: he is the most Influential of the world

Luis Suárez has been awarded with all sort of prizes this season. But probably several any was as exhaustive and statistically founded as the one he received this Wednesday, when the economic analysis and news agency picked him as the most influential player of Europe, after having analysed the most powerful leagues of the world.

Suárez tops the index with a rating of 86.02, ahead of Lionel Messi, Zlatan Ibrahiomovic, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kevin Strootman.

But there are also other Uruguayans on the top 50 list: Diego Godín (Atlético Madrid) is on the 18th position, while Edinson Cavani (PSG) is on 34th. Considering the countries, Uruguay is on the 6th position, together with Argentina and Portugal. The list is headed by one of our rivals in the World Cup, Italy, which has 7 players in the top 50, followed by England and Spain (5) and France (4).

According to Bloomberg theirs is the “most scientifically advanced evaluation” on football, as it takes into consideration all attacking and defensive responsibilities on the team, as well as the strength of the rival.

Bloomberg states that Football Power 50 from BSports is “the most advanced data-driven ranking of individual player performances across Europe’s top five leagues. This index, evaluating players purely from the data, has become a reliable measuring stick for player performance”.

For such purposes, 100 different actions of the players are analysed, leading to about 1,000 to 1,500 data points for each player per match. This is processed by the BSports Rating. For example, defensive performance is analysed by assessing the effectiveness and efficiency in very specific actions such as tackles and interceptions, as well as goals conceded in relation to expected goals conceded prior to the match.

In the case of attackers, the evaluations consider the scoring, the shooting, creativity when attacking, for example, as well as the ability to maintain possession, with an emphasis on the assists, dribbling and missed balls, among others. Indeed, every second in which the player possesses the ball or struggles to get it is analysed by Bloomberg.
In the case of strikers –ranking headed by Suárez-it evaluates the goals with each leg, headers, shots to posts, their ability to create and finish chances, efficiency according to the minutes on the pitch and skills to catch aerial assists.
Considering all that, Suárez was the best of the world this season.