Key Soccerlytics Insights:
- While Andrea Pirlo (Juventus), Daniele Conti (Cagliari), Yaya Toure (Manchester City) and Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) have all scored three direct free-kicks this season (the most in Europe's top 5 leagues), Toure and Rooney have done so with only 4 attempts (75% success rate), while Pirlo has had 12 attempts (25%), and Conti has had 11 attempts (27.27%)
- While Steven Gerrard (Liverpool) has yet to hit the back of the net directly from a free-kick, he has the best free-kick shot accuracy (83.33%) in Europe. With improved placement and power, he may score one soon
Potential Transfer Market Steal in this category
- Alexandru Maxim (Stuttgart's 23 year old Romanian International) valued at about 6 million euros. He leads the "best dead ball passers" category with 5 assists via free-kick or corner, 15 accurate corners into the box and 4 accurate free-kick crosses
- For context, Ever Banega (Valencia's 25 year old Argentine International is valued at about 18 million Euros), while Rafael Van Der Vaart (Hamburg's 30 year old Dutch International) is valued about 13 million Euros
Dead-ball Specialist Charts from BSports (Updated through 11/11/2013)
