Pedri: The ultimate decisive playmaker
Thanks to gC data, we’ve uncovered a new player archetype: The Decisive Playmaker.
A type of player who consistently influences goals — not through the final pass or finish — but through the action that makes them possible.
In simple terms, we define it as:
Decisive Playmaking Score = (Number of goals with gC > 0) – (Number of G/A)
This metric isolates players who involves in goal actions without being the scorer or official assister.
In other words, it shines a light on the architects behind the spotlight.
Pedri, the Ultimate Decisive Playmaker
When we analyzed players from the two most productive attacks of the 2024/25 season — FC Barcelona (174 goals) and Paris Saint-Germain (168 goals) — one name stood above the rest: Pedri.
He topped the ranking with 42 Decisive Playmaking actions, ahead of:
- Lamine Yamal — 35
- Raphinha — 27
- Désiré Doué — 24
- João Neves — 22
- Bradley Barcola — 22
Pedri’s impact goes far beyond classical playmaking. He doesn’t always deliver the assist or take the shot — but his fingerprints are on nearly every decisive attacking move.
He’s the player who eliminates defenders, breaks lines, or finds the angle that opens the goal-scoring chain.
Raphinha’s Hidden Dimension
While Raphinha was celebrated for his extraordinary 55 G/A across all competitions in 2024/25, the gC lens reveals something even more impressive:
He also contributed to 27 additional goal actions without being the finisher or the assister.
That’s 27 goals where he was the creative spark that made everything else possible — a reminder that even prolific scorers can be elite playmakers.
The Unexpected: João Neves and the Power of gC
At PSG, João Neves emerged as a surprising entry in the top five, ahead of bigger media names like Vitinha or Hakimi.
His 22 decisive playmaking actions show how gC uncovers hidden insights, highlighting players whose contributions often go unnoticed in traditional analytics.
Rethinking What a Playmaker Is
Traditionally, football associates playmaking with assists, key passes, or chances created.
But those metrics miss many decisive acts — like winning a penalty, breaking a press, or drawing multiple defenders to open a passing lane.
In gC, every opponent eliminated counts.
That means the player who wins the penalty earns contribution credit, not just the one who takes or scores it.
Creativity Measured Through Impact
Because gC measures how much each player helps eliminate defenders in actions leading directly to goals, it naturally captures both:
- The creative side of playmaking, and
- The decisive side — the ability to make that creativity result in a goal.
And ultimately, that’s the essence of playmaking:
Helping your team score goals and win games.
With gC, we can finally quantify it — fairly, transparently, and in context.
Pedri isn’t just a playmaker.
He’s the ultimate decisive playmaker — the player who turns creativity into inevitability.
