Deadly Combinations: Empowering Players

Coaches are increasingly becoming the owners of football. They hold the power: to select, to decide, and to modify. But they would be nothing if there were no players to play. And as some players perform better or worse, the possibilities for the coaches change accordingly.

Beyond tactics, physical preparation, and on-field formations there’s one aspect of coaching that doesn’t get much attention but could be a good indicator of a coach’s level: combinations. A coach who enhances relationships between his players, not just between a few, but specific relationships in precise areas of the field, will bring his team closer to victory.

One coach who has achieved this is Xabi Alonso: Wirtz has assisted Patrick Schick 7 times this season, with no other combination netting more goals in Europe's top five. In terms of goals, they form the best duo in the five major leagues. From a coach training in Germany to a former and very successful Bundesliga coach: the Raphinha - Lewandowski combination at Barça under Flick has generated, so far, 18 key passes (passes that lead to a shot) and 3.56 Expected Assists. No other combination surpasses those numbers.

Of the five passer-finisher combinations with the most key passes, Brazil's Raphinha is involved in three. In two as the passer — Raphinha - Lewandowski (18) and Raphinha - Lamine Yamal (15) — and in one as the finisher: 15 of his shots this season have come after a pass from Lamine Yamal. The other two duos that round out the top five are Palmer - Madueke and Vinicius Jr - Mbappé.

We’ve seen that this top five consists of attacking pairs, whether winger to striker, attacking midfielder to striker, or winger to winger, from teams that dominate possession. That is, they frequently find opportunities to generate dangerous chances through their best players who combine with each other.

However, not all teams average more than 60% possession. Making sure that players from teams with fewer attacking opportunities combine frequently in dangerous positions is also a sign of a good coach.

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In this regard, the most surprising case is Marmoush - Ekitike because their team averages less than 50% possession. Even so, until the Egyptian left the club in January, their combination had generated 2.7 xA from a total of 12 key passes. Only two combinations have generated more xA, but none come from teams with less than 50% possession. Two players holding up Eintracht’s attack.

If we look at the average danger of each pass, we must talk about the Cherki - Lacazette connection. Cherki has provided 8 key passes to Lacazette, which means that each key pass from Cherki to the former Arsenal striker has an average value of 0.27 xA. When Cherki finds his teammate, danger is imminent.

Now, back to our first combination: Wirtz to Schick. We've spoke about their accuracy, but the difference between assists and xA distances us from giving them the sustainability check. They’ve connected on 10 key passes, 7 of which have ended in goals. However, this combination has only generated 1.56 xA, an average of 0.16 xA per key pass. Their xA difference of +5.42 is the largest in the five major leagues. No other combinations in the Leverkusen team comes close to matching Wirtz-Schick goal effectiveness.

On the other end of the spectrum are Palmer and Nico Jackson. The Englishman has set up the Senegalese striker to shoot on 10 occasions. Their average of 0.27 xA per key pass is the second-highest, yet this pair sustains the worst difference between assists and xA (-1.71). Jackson has only scored one goal from those 10 key passes. He should have scored at least 3.

For the final part of today’s text, we’ve divided every connection based on their team’s average possession percentage.

For teams with less than 45% possession, we should talk about two combinations from the same league. The Elanga-Wood connection, discussed in the previous text, needs an average of 2 key passes to score a goal. Similarly, the Ese - Mateta combination requires just 0.27 xA to find the goal. Both have scored 4 goals, and no other pair in this possession range has scored more.

In the next range—teams with more than 45% but less than 50% possession—one La Liga pair has connected to score more times than any other: Alex Baena to Ayoze Pérez, with 4 goals from 11 key passes. In this range, the combination with the most key passes is Keito Nakamura - Junya Ito at Reims with 13.

In the final block before we reach teams with mandatory possession (more than 50% but less than 55%), we go back to the Premier League. The Robinson - Iwobi connection at Fulham has led to 8 shots and 4 goals with just 0.58 xA generated. That is, they need only 0.14 xA to score a goal. On the other hand, the Murphy - Isak combination has the 4th highest xA per key pass (0.24) and has scored 5 goals from 8 key passes.