We’re all here because someone on Twitter started a discussion pertaining to ranking MLS wingers. I’m certain that my rankings won’t satisfactorily answer that question to everybody’s liking, but hopefully it adds something useful to the conversation. First of all, let’s establish some rules.

1) The definition of a winger for this context is going to be super vague. Essentially a wide player lined up in the midfield according to the team lineup provided at the start of a match. Argue that however you wish. This just seems easiest.

2) The player has to have played 500 minutes in the position his season. We’re not doing this “well--he’s been a winger in the past” or “he’s been really good when played out on the wing in a few games”. I’m not playing this game. It’s 500 minutes, meet it or beat it.

3) If you’ve met the criteria above you get a mention in this.

4) I’m going to provide some data with these thoughts. That will of course come from American Soccer Analysis. I could have broken things down far enough to where we only consider the advanced metrics, but we have to draw the line somewhere so we’re using numbers agnostic of the position played.

5) Look. This is a rankings list. We’re not going to agree on all of these. It’s perfectly reasonable for you to think that I am in fact, wrong. That is fine. I might be.

Let’s get on with it.

According to Whoscored, there are 164 players who have accrued minutes in the wide attacking midfield role. Of those 54 met the threshold for this exercise of 500 minutes.

Of those 54, I compared those players’ expected goal, expected assists, expected build-up and expected goal chains to each other. I’m calling it a “peer score” so as to not make it too complicated. This is just their difference above or below the average p96 total for their position.

This is comparing them against each other and not against the position as a whole. That way you get an understanding of where I placed players and maybe why. Additionally, I took factors into account such as p100 xPassing score, dribbles inside the attacking third and defensive actions.