The complete plus/minus list by position
Categories: Player Performance
In my previous post on the adjusted plus/minus (APM) metric I displayed the top and bottom twenty in terms of that number. The post was way too long to hold the full list, so I’m going to display it here.
I also decided to employ a cutoff for the amount of playing time required to have an APM. According to the Premier League, any player who appears in 10 matches is eligible to receive a league championship medal, so I will use 900 minutes played as a cutoff value. This cuts down the number of players from 539 to 331.
The positions are default playing positions deduced by me and the rest of the Data Intelligence team and are available in the Soccermetrics API. For this reason the positions may not be exactly the same as most fans expect. Furthermore I group them into generalized positions of goalkeeper, defender, midfielder, and forward.
So here are the APMs for players in 2011-12 Premier League who have played a minimum of 900 minutes:
Goalkeepers:
| Name | Position | Mins | APM |
| Simon Mignolet | Goalkeeper | 2591 | 0.312 |
| David de Gea | Goalkeeper | 2618 | 0.206 |
| Joe Hart | Goalkeeper | 3430 | 0.151 |
| Patrick Kenny | Goalkeeper | 2983 | 0.119 |
| Brad Friedel | Goalkeeper | 3449 | 0.090 |
| Ádám Bogdán | Goalkeeper | 1809 | 0.071 |
| Asmir Begović | Goalkeeper | 2013 | 0.062 |
| Michel Vorm | Goalkeeper | 3339 | 0.051 |
| Ben Foster | Goalkeeper | 3239 | 0.045 |
| Tim Krul | Goalkeeper | 3463 | 0.029 |
| Tim Howard | Goalkeeper | 3456 | 0.027 |
| Thomas Sørensen | Goalkeeper | 1417 | 0.016 |
| Shay Given | Goalkeeper | 2837 | -0.018 |
| José Reina | Goalkeeper | 3060 | -0.021 |
| Wojciech Szczęsny | Goalkeeper | 3447 | -0.026 |
| Wayne Hennessey | Goalkeeper | 3057 | -0.042 |
| Mark Schwarzer | Goalkeeper | 2704 | -0.063 |
| Ali Al-Habsi | Goalkeeper | 3458 | -0.092 |
| Paul Robinson | Goalkeeper | 3090 | -0.133 |
| John Ruddy | Goalkeeper | 3351 | -0.134 |
| Jussi Jääskeläinen | Goalkeeper | 1636 | -0.151 |
| Petr Čech | Goalkeeper | 3067 | -0.209 |
Defenders:
| Jonny Evans | Defender | 2430 | 1.067 |
| James Perch | Defender | 1359 | 0.714 |
| Michael Williamson | Defender | 1916 | 0.689 |
| Thomas Vermaelen | Defender | 2506 | 0.539 |
| Chris Smalling | Central Defender | 1301 | 0.442 |
| Gaël Clichy | Left Full-back | 2527 | 0.424 |
| Steven Caulker | Defender | 2342 | 0.406 |
| André Santos | Left Full-back | 1021 | 0.398 |
| Ledley King | Central Defender | 1807 | 0.389 |
| Roger Johnson | Defender | 2357 | 0.378 |
| Russell Martin | Central Defender | 2874 | 0.330 |
| Rafael | Right Full-back | 913 | 0.317 |
| Micah Richards | Right Full-back | 2050 | 0.309 |
| Vincent Kompany | Central Defender | 2779 | 0.299 |
| Wes Brown | Defender | 1749 | 0.292 |
| Kieran Gibbs | Left Full-back | 1256 | 0.288 |
| Ciaran Clark | Defender | 1149 | 0.283 |
| Davide Santon | Left Full-back | 1672 | 0.270 |
| Neil Taylor | Left Full-back | 3095 | 0.269 |
| Gareth McAuley | Defender | 2876 | 0.258 |
| Armand Traoré | Left Full-back | 1713 | 0.256 |
| Per Mertesacker | Central Defender | 1830 | 0.253 |
| Fabricio Coloccini | Central Defender | 3083 | 0.235 |
| Glen Johnson | Right Full-back | 1959 | 0.231 |
| Ryan Shotton | Right Full-back | 1392 | 0.230 |
| Joleon Lescott | Central Defender | 2692 | 0.226 |
| Branislav Ivanović | Defender | 2279 | 0.215 |
| Liam Ridgewell | Defender | 1168 | 0.201 |
| Ashley Cole | Left Full-back | 2792 | 0.195 |
| Bacary Sagna | Right Full-back | 1715 | 0.189 |
| Daniel Agger | Central Defender | 2144 | 0.188 |
| Billy Jones | Left Wing-back | 1602 | 0.177 |
| Carlos Cuéllar | Defender | 1502 | 0.173 |
| Tony Hibbert | Right Full-back | 2783 | 0.172 |
| Jonas Olsson | Central Defender | 2966 | 0.168 |
| Ronnie Stam | Right Full-back | 1230 | 0.156 |
| Kyle Walker | Right Full-back | 3251 | 0.140 |
| Scott Dann | Central Defender | 2417 | 0.139 |
| Aaron Hughes | Central Defender | 1548 | 0.129 |
| Marc Wilson | Defender | 2967 | 0.126 |
| Adam Drury | Defender | 909 | 0.123 |
| Laurent Koscielny | Central Defender | 2894 | 0.111 |
| Younes Kaboul | Central Defender | 2943 | 0.110 |
| Philip Neville | Full-back | 2071 | 0.104 |
| Steven Reid | Right Full-back | 1767 | 0.104 |
| Christopher Samba | Central Defender | 1363 | 0.100 |
| Anton Ferdinand | Defender | 3024 | 0.098 |
| Phil Jagielka | Defender | 2605 | 0.096 |
| Luke Young | Defender | 2172 | 0.095 |
| Benoît Assou-Ekotto | Left Full-back | 2982 | 0.090 |
| Johnny Heitinga | Defender | 2559 | 0.081 |
| Emmerson Boyce | Defender | 2284 | 0.071 |
| David Luiz | Defender | 1652 | 0.068 |
| Taye Taïwo | Left Full-back | 1204 | 0.065 |
| Sam Ricketts | Defender | 1809 | 0.058 |
| Paul Scharner | Defender | 1598 | 0.057 |
| Robert Huth | Central Defender | 2847 | 0.054 |
| Tim Ream | Central Defender | 1175 | 0.054 |
| Patrice Evra | Left Full-back | 3246 | 0.053 |
| Daniel Gabbidon | Defender | 1423 | 0.047 |
| Nedum Onuoha | Defender | 1461 | 0.043 |
| Danny Simpson | Right Full-back | 3152 | 0.029 |
| Leighton Baines | Left Full-back | 3004 | 0.027 |
| Martin Kelly | Defender | 961 | 0.023 |
| Chris Baird | Defender | 1272 | 0.023 |
| John O’Shea | Defender | 2456 | 0.023 |
| Séamus Coleman | Defender | 1144 | 0.020 |
| Ryan Shawcross | Central Defender | 3179 | 0.015 |
| Richard Stearman | Defender | 2399 | 0.009 |
| Sylvain Distin | Defender | 2248 | 0.001 |
| Stephen Warnock | Left Full-back | 3061 | -0.002 |
| Christophe Berra | Central Defender | 2690 | -0.011 |
| Gaël Givet | Defender | 1761 | -0.012 |
| Zat Knight | Central Defender | 1985 | -0.021 |
| Gary Cahill | Central Defender | 2510 | -0.041 |
| Sébastien Bassong | Defender | 915 | -0.041 |
| Stephen Ward | Left Full-back | 3413 | -0.042 |
| Gary Caldwell | Central Defender | 3256 | -0.052 |
| Ashley Williams | Defender | 3337 | -0.055 |
| John Terry | Central Defender | 2790 | -0.059 |
| Marc Tierney | Left Full-back | 1550 | -0.062 |
| Matthew Upson | Central Defender | 1017 | -0.065 |
| Fitz Hall | Central Defender | 933 | -0.065 |
| José Enrique | Left Full-back | 3001 | -0.067 |
| José Bosingwa | Right Full-back | 2117 | -0.075 |
| Richard Dunne | Central Defender | 2523 | -0.080 |
| Paul Robinson | Left Full-back | 1440 | -0.087 |
| Brede Hangeland | Central Defender | 3428 | -0.088 |
| Grant Hanley | Central Defender | 1845 | -0.090 |
| Maynor Figueroa | Defender | 3386 | -0.092 |
| Grétar Steinsson | Right Full-back | 1894 | -0.096 |
| William Gallas | Central Defender | 1328 | -0.104 |
| Zak Whitbread | Central Defender | 1449 | -0.109 |
| James Collins | Central Defender | 2786 | -0.109 |
| Garry Monk | Central Defender | 1271 | -0.114 |
| Nicky Shorey | Left Full-back | 2019 | -0.126 |
| Leon Barnett | Defender | 1251 | -0.129 |
| Jonathan Woodgate | Defender | 1274 | -0.134 |
| John Arne Riise | Left Full-back | 3142 | -0.136 |
| Andy Wilkinson | Right Full-back | 1665 | -0.144 |
| Alan Hutton | Right Full-back | 2598 | -0.148 |
| Kyle Naughton | Right Full-back | 2736 | -0.183 |
| Elliott Ward | Defender | 1091 | -0.209 |
| Ronald Zubar | Defender | 1158 | -0.212 |
| David Wheater | Central Defender | 2032 | -0.213 |
| Antolín Alcaraz | Central Defender | 2198 | -0.220 |
| Dedryck Boyata | Defender | 1126 | -0.220 |
| Martin Škrtel | Central Defender | 3027 | -0.225 |
| Phillip Bardsley | Defender | 2487 | -0.255 |
| Michael Turner | Defender | 2126 | -0.264 |
| Kevin Foley | Right Full-back | 1065 | -0.264 |
| Clint Hill | Central Defender | 1709 | -0.288 |
| Steven Taylor | Defender | 1279 | -0.292 |
| Jamie Carragher | Defender | 1735 | -0.295 |
| Phil Jones | Defender | 2112 | -0.354 |
| Àngel Rangel | Right Full-back | 2875 | -0.363 |
| Martin Olsson | Left Full-back | 2224 | -0.415 |
| Philippe Senderos | Central Defender | 1836 | -0.426 |
| Bradley Orr | Right Full-back | 1293 | -0.474 |
| Johan Djourou | Defender | 1177 | -0.480 |
| Pablo Zabaleta | Right Full-back | 1555 | -0.486 |
| Stephen Kelly | Right Full-back | 2029 | -0.542 |
| Rio Ferdinand | Central Defender | 2568 | -1.034 |
Midfielders:
| Name | Position | Mins | APM |
| Mikel Arteta | Midfielder | 2606 | 0.572 |
| Lucas Leiva | Central Midfielder | 1047 | 0.492 |
| Alexandre Song | Midfielder | 3018 | 0.481 |
| Ashley Young | Midfielder | 1572 | 0.463 |
| Danny Murphy | Central Midfielder | 2731 | 0.444 |
| David Vaughan | Central Midfielder | 1496 | 0.428 |
| Ryan Giggs | Midfielder | 1480 | 0.422 |
| James Milner | Midfielder | 1587 | 0.408 |
| Park Ji-Sung | Midfielder | 939 | 0.388 |
| Paul Scholes | Midfielder | 1170 | 0.384 |
| Steve Sidwell | Central Midfielder | 1097 | 0.340 |
| James McArthur | Central Midfielder | 1780 | 0.333 |
| Darron Gibson | Central Midfielder | 1023 | 0.296 |
| Graham Dorrans | Central Midfielder | 1515 | 0.269 |
| Damien Duff | Right Winger | 2118 | 0.262 |
| Jean Beausejour | Left Winger | 1397 | 0.255 |
| Ryan Taylor | Midfielder | 2151 | 0.236 |
| Mark Gower | Midfielder | 1137 | 0.234 |
| Fabrice Muamba | Central Midfielder | 1325 | 0.228 |
| Jonás Gutiérrez | Midfielder | 3354 | 0.226 |
| Tomáš Rosický | Midfielder | 1792 | 0.226 |
| Gabriel Obertan | Midfielder | 1576 | 0.225 |
| David Fox | Midfielder | 1952 | 0.212 |
| Cheick Tioté | Central Midfielder | 2056 | 0.205 |
| Jamie O’Hara | Midfielder | 1659 | 0.203 |
| Scott Parker | Midfielder | 2500 | 0.202 |
| Stephen Ireland | Midfielder | 1601 | 0.195 |
| Jordi Gómez | Central Midfielder | 1795 | 0.187 |
| Barry Bannan | Midfielder | 1255 | 0.183 |
| David Silva | Midfielder | 2809 | 0.180 |
| Marcus Olsson | Left Winger | 987 | 0.178 |
| Ramires | Central Midfielder | 2480 | 0.175 |
| Sandro | Midfielder | 1422 | 0.168 |
| Michael Essien | Midfielder | 914 | 0.166 |
| Stéphane Sessègnon | Central Midfielder | 3139 | 0.140 |
| Tim Cahill | Midfielder | 2362 | 0.138 |
| Jermaine Pennant | Midfielder | 1712 | 0.125 |
| Oriol Romeu | Midfielder | 950 | 0.122 |
| Jerome Thomas | Left Winger | 1984 | 0.121 |
| Yaya Touré | Midfielder | 2649 | 0.119 |
| Marouane Fellaini | Midfielder | 2891 | 0.118 |
| Adel Taarabt | Midfielder | 2016 | 0.112 |
| Leon Osman | Midfielder | 2398 | 0.111 |
| Dean Whitehead | Central Midfielder | 2383 | 0.101 |
| Antonio Valencia | Right Winger | 2124 | 0.101 |
| John Obi Mikel | Central Midfielder | 1333 | 0.088 |
| Karl Henry | Midfielder | 2570 | 0.088 |
| Stiliyan Petrov | Midfielder | 2328 | 0.085 |
| Samir Nasri | Midfielder | 2260 | 0.085 |
| Wes Hoolahan | Midfielder | 2302 | 0.080 |
| Juan Mata | Midfielder | 2524 | 0.079 |
| Gareth Bale | Left Winger | 3248 | 0.063 |
| Joey Barton | Midfielder | 2855 | 0.061 |
| Steven Gerrard | Midfielder | 1218 | 0.058 |
| Mark Davies | Midfielder | 2770 | 0.045 |
| Ákos Buzsáky | Midfielder | 902 | 0.041 |
| Matthew Etherington | Midfielder | 2368 | 0.034 |
| Scott Sinclair | Midfielder | 3130 | 0.029 |
| Mauro Formica | Central Midfielder | 2192 | 0.025 |
| Gareth Barry | Central Midfielder | 2738 | 0.024 |
| Michael Carrick | Central Midfielder | 2502 | 0.024 |
| Youssouf Mulumbu | Central Midfielder | 2803 | 0.022 |
| Bradley Johnson | Central Midfielder | 2127 | 0.015 |
| Stephen Hunt | Left Winger | 1388 | 0.014 |
| Royston Drenthe | Midfielder | 1048 | 0.005 |
| Yossi Benayoun | Midfielder | 907 | -0.002 |
| Martin Petrov | Left Winger | 2585 | -0.017 |
| Gylfi Sigurðsson | Midfielder | 1501 | -0.018 |
| Chris Eagles | Midfielder | 2313 | -0.019 |
| Shaun Derry | Midfielder | 2240 | -0.025 |
| James McClean | Midfielder | 1858 | -0.026 |
| Jack Colback | Midfielder | 2694 | -0.027 |
| Steven Pienaar | Midfielder | 1269 | -0.030 |
| Radosav Petrović | Midfielder | 987 | -0.031 |
| Yohan Cabaye | Midfielder | 2867 | -0.032 |
| Charles N’Zogbia | Midfielder | 2088 | -0.033 |
| Wayne Routledge | Right Winger | 1452 | -0.037 |
| Andrew Surman | Midfielder | 1922 | -0.041 |
| Matthew Jarvis | Midfielder | 2807 | -0.042 |
| David Edwards | Midfielder | 1926 | -0.046 |
| Luka Modrić | Central Midfielder | 3239 | -0.054 |
| Jason Lowe | Midfielder | 2689 | -0.060 |
| Jordan Henderson | Midfielder | 2666 | -0.067 |
| Raul Meireles | Central Midfielder | 1973 | -0.068 |
| Leon Britton | Midfielder | 3020 | -0.073 |
| Aaron Lennon | Right Winger | 1582 | -0.076 |
| Stewart Downing | Left Winger | 2482 | -0.077 |
| Chris Herd | Central Midfielder | 1475 | -0.086 |
| Kieran Richardson | Left Winger | 2291 | -0.091 |
| Victor Moses | Midfielder | 3254 | -0.092 |
| Nigel Reo-Coker | Midfielder | 3281 | -0.092 |
| Darren Pratley | Midfielder | 1289 | -0.106 |
| Marc Albrighton | Right Winger | 1496 | -0.107 |
| Sebastian Larsson | Midfielder | 2712 | -0.110 |
| James McCarthy | Central Midfielder | 2921 | -0.111 |
| Elliott Bennett | Midfielder | 2042 | -0.111 |
| Moussa Dembélé | Central Midfielder | 2945 | -0.117 |
| Jonathan Howson | Central Midfielder | 951 | -0.121 |
| James Morrison | Right Winger | 2144 | -0.122 |
| Charlie Adam | Central Midfielder | 2234 | -0.127 |
| Craig Gardner | Midfielder | 2139 | -0.130 |
| Mohamed Diamé | Central Midfielder | 1623 | -0.156 |
| Alejandro Faurlín | Midfielder | 1799 | -0.159 |
| Nani | Left Winger | 2121 | -0.164 |
| Lee Cattermole | Midfielder | 1957 | -0.177 |
| Florent Malouda | Left Winger | 1163 | -0.178 |
| Frank Lampard | Midfielder | 2250 | -0.179 |
| David Dunn | Midfielder | 1663 | -0.179 |
| Andrew Crofts | Midfielder | 1306 | -0.195 |
| Glenn Whelan | Central Midfielder | 2493 | -0.229 |
| Steven N’Zonzi | Midfielder | 2844 | -0.229 |
| Ben Watson | Midfielder | 1278 | -0.230 |
| Jack Rodwell | Midfielder | 945 | -0.230 |
| Danny Guthrie | Midfielder | 1145 | -0.277 |
| Dickson Etuhu | Central Midfielder | 910 | -0.281 |
| Anthony Pilkington | Midfielder | 1987 | -0.282 |
| Morten Gamst Pedersen | Midfielder | 2855 | -0.318 |
| Rafael van der Vaart | Midfielder | 2329 | -0.322 |
| Rory Delap | Midfielder | 1546 | -0.344 |
| Chris Brunt | Midfielder | 2309 | -0.351 |
| Shaun Wright-Phillips | Right Winger | 2214 | -0.357 |
| Aaron Ramsey | Midfielder | 2481 | -0.377 |
| Joe Allen | Midfielder | 2917 | -0.456 |
| David Jones | Midfielder | 1191 | -0.524 |
| Adam Johnson | Right Winger | 1144 | -0.550 |
| Nigel de Jong | Midfielder | 1081 | -0.568 |
| Hatem Ben Arfa | Midfielder | 1580 | -0.575 |
| Jay Spearing | Midfielder | 1298 | -0.575 |
| Michael Kightly | Midfielder | 1189 | -0.581 |
Forwards/Strikers:
| Leon Best | Striker | 1163 | 0.800 |
| Edin Džeko | Striker | 1513 | 0.518 |
| Emmanuel Adebayor | Striker | 2844 | 0.429 |
| Gervinho | Left Forward | 1691 | 0.377 |
| Yakubu | Striker | 2462 | 0.350 |
| Didier Drogba | Striker | 1483 | 0.337 |
| Sergio Agüero | Striker | 2583 | 0.332 |
| Darren Bent | Striker | 1857 | 0.329 |
| Kevin Davies | Striker | 1878 | 0.290 |
| Pavel Pogrebnyak | Striker | 943 | 0.244 |
| Simeon Jackson | Striker | 962 | 0.239 |
| Shola Ameobi | Striker | 1043 | 0.220 |
| Mario Balotelli | Striker | 1348 | 0.213 |
| Jermain Defoe | Striker | 1315 | 0.202 |
| Bobby Zamora | Striker | 2386 | 0.189 |
| Andy Carroll | Striker | 2080 | 0.176 |
| Danny Graham | Striker | 2856 | 0.169 |
| Grant Holt | Striker | 2278 | 0.163 |
| Marc-Antoine Fortuné | Striker | 1099 | 0.160 |
| Dirk Kuyt | Right Forward | 2005 | 0.152 |
| Sylvain Ebanks-Blake | Striker | 1012 | 0.113 |
| Peter Odemwingie | Striker | 2285 | 0.089 |
| Steve Morison | Striker | 2122 | 0.075 |
| Theo Walcott | Striker | 2754 | 0.072 |
| Ivan Klasnić | Striker | 1521 | 0.072 |
| Heiðar Helguson | Striker | 1154 | 0.069 |
| Franco Di Santo | Striker | 2038 | 0.069 |
| Kevin Doyle | Striker | 2348 | 0.058 |
| Fernando Torres | Striker | 1920 | 0.042 |
| Emile Heskey | Striker | 1454 | 0.029 |
| Jay Bothroyd | Striker | 1103 | 0.027 |
| Nikica Jelavić | Striker | 966 | 0.020 |
| Wayne Rooney | Central Forward | 2845 | 0.012 |
| Jonathan Walters | Striker | 3336 | 0.008 |
| Junior Hoilett | Striker | 2971 | -0.009 |
| Craig Bellamy | Striker | 1255 | -0.011 |
| Robin van Persie | Striker | 3360 | -0.026 |
| Kenwyne Jones | Striker | 986 | -0.026 |
| Gabriel Agbonlahor | Striker | 2765 | -0.037 |
| Louis Saha | Striker | 1691 | -0.061 |
| Clint Dempsey | Striker | 3334 | -0.088 |
| Luis Suárez | Striker | 2556 | -0.088 |
| Demba Ba | Striker | 2756 | -0.091 |
| Shane Long | Striker | 2181 | -0.093 |
| Nicklas Bendtner | Striker | 2261 | -0.115 |
| Nathan Dyer | Right Forward | 2369 | -0.124 |
| Javier Hernández | Striker | 1500 | -0.215 |
| Peter Crouch | Striker | 2785 | -0.218 |
| Danny Welbeck | Central Forward | 2022 | -0.223 |
| Jamie Mackie | Striker | 2189 | -0.236 |
| Bryan Ruiz | Central Forward | 1523 | -0.311 |
| Papiss Demba Cissé | Striker | 1118 | -0.342 |
| Daniel Sturridge | Striker | 2261 | -0.373 |
| Steven Fletcher | Striker | 2351 | -0.395 |
| David Ngog | Striker | 2049 | -0.396 |
| Hugo Rodallega | Central Forward | 1277 | -0.512 |
| Andrew Johnson | Striker | 1256 | -0.601 |
I think overall there might be numbers that make some sense, but the model could definitely use more data from previous seasons. Perhaps a three-year APM would be a great idea.
