U23 Midfielders Shaping Football’s Pressure Meta—Beyond the Top Five Leagues

There are many types of pressure in football. External pressure—such as fans’ expectations—are frequently discussed, as are internal pressures, which stem from the clubs expecting a certain level of performance. However, with Driblab’s data we can give the concept of pressure a fresh twist. Today, we’ll dive into everything related to this new concept of pressures which moves away from the previous two.

The technology behind our latest product, Arrigo, designed to combine both tracking and physical data, allows us to discover those players who excel in tight situations when under pressure and those who, on the other hand, find joy in pushing other players into those risky and uncomfortable kind of situations.

To get an idea of what we'll be doing, let’s focus on U23 midfielders from the Top 5 Leagues who have played at least 800 minutes in the 24/25 season.

By combining their ability to pass under pressure (whether normal or strong) and their effectiveness in exerting pressure on the player who's on the ball, some standout players emerge.

One of them is Kobbie Maino. The Englishman is averaging 4.2 successful pressures and over 15 passes under pressure per game. He ranks 4th in the Premier League for strong on-ball pressures among midfielders of all ages (2.02). His success rate in these situations stands at 25.9%, making him the 11th best.

A on-ball pressure is recorded when a player applies pressure on the player on the ball from a distance of more than 1.5 meters but less than 3 meters. Meanwhile, an strong on-ball pressure is defined as pressure applied when a player is within 1.5 meters of the opponent with the ball.

On the other side, we've got players which are noted for their ability to scape the press. Among all players in our visualization, Hugo Sotelo averages the most passes under pressure. The Galician midfielder ranks 3rd in LaLiga for completed passes under pressure (11) and also under strong pressure (8.35). In both cases, his pass completion rate is no less than 89%. Like Mainoo, he's enjoying his second-ever season in the top flight.

LaLiga arguably requires better technical floor than the Premier League. There's no doubt about Sotelo's technical ability. However, looking ahead—not necessarily toward a transfer, but rather to becoming a player able to perform at the highest level—his physical profile raises some questions.

Instead, Mainoo's physical profile is one of a player with tremendous running capacity, who doesn't care about starting his pressing efforts far away from the player he wants to apply pressure on. He trust his athleticism to sustain the effort.

The Englishman ranks in the 87th percentile for High Speed Runs per game among midfielders, a figure that Sotelo does not come close to (he ranks in the bottom 4%).

Nevertheless, Sotelo's stamina is remarkable. If we were to look at Mainoo, we would see that the number of sprints he makes in the 2nd half of matches decrease by 35.8% on average when compared to the number of first-half sprints. For Sotelo, it's the opposite - he increases his number of sprints by 24.9% per game on average.

These are quite different physical profiles. Sotelo looks set to develop as a '6' or deep-lying playmaker, or what in Spain we would call a midfielder, wanting to be on the ball, participating in the build-up of attacks and relying on his game intelligence to defend, and using his limited energy strategically to apply strong pressure in key moments.

On the other side, despite possessing huge amounts of technical ability, Mainoo's defensive profile is more industrious, relying on his physical attributes to press and defend.

Both profiles are effective, demonstrating that each player’s potential and style are unique and rarely directly comparable.

NEXT 8 LEAGUES

We move on now to the most interesting part. The lesser known leagues among the well-known ones. If our previous scatter plot was focused on the famous Top 5 Leagues, now we will be talking about what I like to call the Next 8 Leagues. The eight next leagues in terms of level, although this is obviously subjective. After the image, we will take our time to talk about some of the standout players.

Stije Resink - 2003 - FC Groningen

Resink moved this summer from Almere City to FC Groningen and is performing well at his new club in what's been a positive season for both. Our Score says Resink ranks Another positive sign is his physical performance. As you know, we have another Score which sorely focuses on this kind of performance. It places Resink in the 95th percentileputting as the 19th-best rated midfielder among all 87 in the Eredivisie.

Only seven midfielders cover more distance per game than him, and he ranks 7th in High Speed Runs per match. His physical profile aligns well with the fact that he is 3rd in the Eredivisie for successful on-ball pressures per game (2.57). The  shows how expansive his movement is. Combined with his successful pressing, he is undoubtedly an intense player.

Hayden Hackney (2002) & Aidan Morris (2001) - Middlesbrough

There is a strong midfield duo at Middlesbrough with complementary roles. One is the team’s playmaker, while the other acts as a conductor and tempo-setter. Morris takes on more fundamental duties, keeping the ball moving with short passes and maintaining the team’s rhythm. Hackney, on the other hand, is the one who injects speed into the team's playing style, progressing the ball and finding attacking players.

These differences are clear: Morris plays 27% of his passes in the defensive third, while Hackney does so in just 19%.

Morris attempts simpler passes due to his supporting role, which explains his higher pass success rate. While Hackney possess a bigger role in creating dangerous passages of player, both held a big accountability in build-up phases (0.54 vs. 0.56 xG in xG Build Up).

However, when it comes to chance creation, Hackney stands out. He generates almost one chance per game, averaging 0.08 xA. Even so, they form a balanced pair, as shown by their similar defensive numbers on the radar chart.

Mario Soriano - 2002 - RC Deportivo

Mario Soriano is the 1.63m engine that drives Deportivo de La Coruña. Among the 92 midfielders in LaLiga Hypermotion, he ranks 13th in successful passes under strong pressure, completing almost 9 out of every 10 passes in such situations. His 89.1% success rate is better than that all but nine midfielders in the league.

In fact, his pass accuracy is even higher when under strong pressure than in normal conditions—his overall pass completion rate stands at 88.4%, making him the 8th most accurate midfielder.

However, Soriano also often puts in a defensive effort. He averages 3.8 on-ball pressures per game, and when considering normal pressures, his 2.39 per game place him in the top 14% of midfielders in this metric.

The sequence below shows how he first applies pressure, and then, once his team regains possession, he's able to twice evade the opponent’s pressure to find a teammate.

Soriano’s role at Deportivo is far from that of a box-to-box midfielder, but his work rate gives his team an extra edge. He typically plays as the team’s advanced central midfielder, whether in a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1, and often drops deeper to help in build-up play. His ability to pass while being closely marked is remarkable. A player of this style is crucial for breaking through opposition pressure and forcing the opposing team to retreat defensively.

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