Juventus player Miralem Pjanic

Who is the best passer in Serie A? This isn't an easy question to answer. Most would like to point to assists and pass accuracy but it isn't that easy to figure out. Players like Pjanic and Brozovic are often too far away to actually make a direct assist but also manage to make a high number of accurate passes due to their deep lying roles and the fact that they do not make many risky passes from their positions, this also applies to central defenders. On the other hand players like Gomez, Luis Alberto and Ronaldo are closer to goal so they have low pass accuracy due to the fact that they take on more risk in the final third, strikers usually have bad pass stats but a high number of assists duo to the part of the pitch their in. This also means they have more assists and key passes. If a player plays on the wings like Suso and Gomez he will also have more crosses that the others and the same is true for wide defenders, so we are going to go through the all the passing stats and make up an all round top 5.

All images and stats are from WhoScored.com.

Total Assists: Usually strikers, AMF and wide players
Key Passes per Match: Usually same as assists but less dependent on other player making the finish
Average Passes per Match: Central defenders and midfielders excel in this department due to all the side passes they are able to make with little to no pressure.
Pass Accuracy %: Same as above these players will find it easier to make an accurate pass more often than not
Crosses per Match: This stat is usually dominated by wide players as a similar pass played from the middle is considered a Long Ball
Long Balls per Match: This stat is usually dominated by goalkeepers as this is one of the most common passes they make, as you can see there are only 1 outfield players on the list, CMF and CD are also prime positions for this stat

I didn't want to put more than one foto for the long balls but just for reference the other 3 outfield players making up the top 5 in this stat are Raul Albiol, Joachim Andersen and Miralem Pjanic.

So how do we figure out who is the best of them all? First lets talk about assists, when an assist is made this stat is not only dependent on your passing ability but also your teammate's shooting ability. So it's obvious that Pjanic will be the deep lying playmaker with the most assists because he plays in the team with the best attacking talent, at least on paper. Key passes are a better indicator of how good a passer is in the offensive phase than an assist although this is also dependant on a teammate's run/position.

Ok, that's enough theory on passing for one post let's get down to the top 5, it should come as no surprise to anyone who is in number 1 after looking at the lists above.

  1. Alessandro Gomez
  2. Luiz Alberto
  3. Miralem Pjanic
  4. Suso
  5. Marcelo Brozovic

Honorable Mentions: Rodrigo De Paul, Jose Callejon, Fabian Ruiz, Lorenzo Pelegrini, Dries Mertens, Kalidou Koulibaly, Milan Skriniar and Cristiano Ronaldo.

I hope you enjoyed this deep dive into the world of Serie A stats, let me know in the comments if you agree or disagree as well as your personal top 5.