AS newspaper recently published statistics showing that Toni Kroos’ pass success rate in the 2018-19 season was up to 96.7%. The German star doesn’t have any goals or assists yet, but he still knows how to attract attention and show his importance on the field.
To date, Kroos has made 333 passes, the most in the bullfighting tournament. The second highest passer after former Bayern Munich midfielder is Ivan Rakitic (Barca) with 284 passes. Meanwhile, Aïssa Mandi (Betis) ranked third with 263 passes.
Among Kroos’ passes, 322 were accurate, reaching a rate of 96.7%. Meanwhile, Rakitic had 264 passes to bring the ball to the desired location, reaching a rate of 92.9%. That statistic shows that the German midfielder is always a reliable passer.
Whether at home or away, Kroos passes the ball equally well. Every time he plays at the Bernabeu, he achieves a passing accuracy rate of 97.7%. Away from home, that parameter is about 96%. And Rakitic is more dangerous every time he plays at Camp Nou. He passed the ball with 97.1% accuracy. When leaving home field, that rate drops to 91.6%.
In March this year, RealMadrid.com described Kroos as having achieved perfection in the art of passing. Since joining “Los Blancos”, he has always ranked first in passing accuracy. In the 2017-18 season, he achieved a passing accuracy rate of 93%.
It is worth mentioning that this midfielder always tends to pass the ball upwards to build an attack. Evidence of his passing accuracy rate in the opponent’s half reached 90.64%. Thanks to his good passing, Kroos is often given the responsibility of taking free kicks.
In addition, he is also very good at creating 28 assists in La Liga as of March 2018. However, Kroos’s value is not easy to understand.
In the context of world football chasing statistics like goals and assists to define a player’s excellence, the former Bayern star is very quiet.
He doesn’t have many great masterpieces or amazing assists. But Kroos is Real Madrid’s midfield genius. He is an artist who makes the ball more beautiful through passes that build play. On Marca, journalist Hugo Cerezo described the German midfielder with the word “quiet”; and “edgy”. There are no data showing those qualities.
According to Sportbible, Toni Kroos’s special quality lies in his ability to escape pressing extremely well. To do this, the German midfielder must have a quick problem-solving brain and a subtle tactical vision to launch passes to teammates in unmarked positions.
In Real Madrid and in the world, there are not many people who can do what Kroos does. GivemeSport writer Rob Swan meticulously analyzed the ability to escape pressing shown by Kroos and concluded: “No team can put pressure on Kroos, even Atletico – a very good team. effective in pressing opponents”.
Four years ago, Real Madrid brought Kroos to the Bernabeu for only 30 million euros. The player’s representative called it the “theft of the century”. How can a midfielder who won the world championship, won the Champions League and proclaimed himself king of the Bundesliga be so cheap?
According to German media, Bayern Munich did not properly evaluate Kroos’ talent. They refuse to pay this player a salary of over 10 million euros/year because he is “not yet a world-class star”. Moving to Real Madrid, Kroos was paid more than 11.5 million euros/season.
In 2017, Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge expressed his regret at losing Kroos to Real Madrid. He admitted that he did not have an accurate view of this player’s true value. Later, Rummenigge once again admitted that he had made a serious mistake.
“If we understood Toni, we would have realized that money is not an important issue for this player. He needs trust from the management”, Rummenigge said. After all, Real Madrid made a big profit with this deal. They had the “passing king” for only 30 million euros.
