Erling Haaland might be the best player in the world, but he can't dribble or pass. I mean, he can, and he does both of those things better than just about every other human being who has ever tried to dribble or pass a soccer ball. But compared to his peers -- the other best attackers in the world -- he's awful at attempting either one.
Despite playing on one of the most possession-dominant teams in the world, Haaland rates in the fourth percentile among all forwards across Europe's Big Five leagues in passes attempted per game over the past year. And he's in the 27th percentile for successful dribbles -- watch two Manchester City games, and you might see their starting striker beat a defender off the dribble just one time.
The other day, I spoke to someone who helped build a team that won the Champions League and multiple domestic trophies. He told me that in recruiting attackers, they tried to avoid players like Haaland. Not Haaland in particular -- he's so good that you just sign him and figure everything else out after the fact -- but rather elite-yet-one-dimensional players who require sacrifices across the rest of the team to cover up their deficiencies.
Instead, this club official and his team preferred what he called "triple threats." "If you can pass, shoot and dribble, you're a triple threat," he said.
While these players might not be, say, 99th percentile goal scorers like Haaland, they might be in the 80th percentile for all three areas, and the benefit of these types of players is that they almost naturally fit together and complement each other immediately. If one attacker is a threat to dribble, shoot or pass in any moment, the defense has to respect it; this opens up space for the other attackers, and then the chain reaction continues on and on as they move the ball to each other. Plus, this distribution of talent allows for fluid, unpredictable movement among the front three, and it's also easier to cover up for injuries when everyone can play anywhere and occupy any role.
Of course, only a handful of teams in the world can actually afford to acquire these players. "Most teams have to make a compromise," he told me. "It's a bit like that idea that you can have cheap, fast or good. Pick one of the three."
But I do think there's wisdom here in attempting to identify players who don't have one particularly standout skill but function at an above-average level at everything. So, first, we're going to use some rudimentary stats to pinpoint the sport's top triple threats, and then we'll see if we can find some potential future stars, too.