30 December 2014
Just two more days to go and 2014 will be a thing of the past. This last calendar year will go down in Bianconeri history as one of the greatest ever: 95 points racked up in 12 months, averaging 2.57 points per game. For the record, that's Juve's highest ever total and more than any other side has managed since three points were introduced for a win.
It's a team game as we all know but in every team there are standout performers for each area of the pitch. So we've decided to end the year by giving credit where it's due and list the players who achieved the best individual stats in this record-breaking 2014 Juve side.
FASHIONING AND FINISHING
When it comes to precision passes in the danger zone and clinical finishing it's little surprise to find Stephan Lichtsteiner and Carlitos
Tevez at the top of the charts.
The Swiss Express set up ten goals for team-mates (all in Serie A) and many of those were lapped up by l'Apache himself – Juve's top scorer in 2014 with 24 strikes to his name (18 in the league).
In the scoring stakes Tevez is followed by Fernando Llorente (16 goals in all competitions), Arturo Vidal (11), Paul Pogba (seven) and Claudio Marchisio (five).
Andrea Pirlo deserves a mention of his own. Most of his six efforts were shaped by his own two hands, expertly placing the ball onto a small patch of turf just a few square centimetres before firing it into the back of the net.
Besides being the club's top marksman in 2014, Tevez was also the second best provider of goals, adding nine assists (all but one in Serie A) to his personal tally of 24. Pirlo laid on eight assists for team-mates, followed by Pogba (seven) and Marchisio (four).
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SHARPSHOOTING
*Tevez also leads the way for total shots, peppering the opposition goal with 120 attempts, 87 in the league (second only to Luca Toni's 93 in Serie A). He got 68 of those efforts on target recording the highest number in Italy's top flight (48), ahead of Totò di Natale (45) and Luca Toni (45).
Further back we find Paul Pogba with 65 shots (56 in Serie A) and Fernando Llorente with 60 (47 in the league). Arturo Vidal and Claudio Marchisio (with 53 and 46 efforts in all competitions) complete the top five.
Llorente (38) and Pogba (30) join l'Apache on the podium for attempts on target, with Vidal (24) and Pirlo (20) aiming the fourth and fifth most shots within the frame of the goal. Which basically means that nearly all of Il Maestro's shots end up on target.
CREATING CHANCES
Andrea Pirlo is the Juve man who has carved out the most openings for team-mates over the course of the last 12 months: 85 in total, according to OPTA. Tevez created the second most opportunities (79) followed by Pogba (57), Vidal (52) and Llorente (50), the Spaniard always a key cog in the Bianconeri's attacking manoeuvres with his off-the-ball movement
and lay-offs for team-mates.
PICKING PASSES
The real organisers of the Bianconeri's play are Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini, who played more passes to team-mates than any other Juve player in the last year, 2845 and 2837 respectively in all competitions. Giorgione (1953) edges ahead of Leo (1902) considering league stats alone but they remain pretty much neck and neck. The defenders are ranked seventh and eighth in Serie A for number of total passes (Roma's Pjanic takes top spot).
Andrea Pirlo comes in just behind the two centre-backs, having sent 2487 balls his team-mates' way in the last year.
If we count the number of completed passes, then King Kong is the top dog (2537), ahead of Bonnie (2510), Pirlo (2173), Marchisio (1953) and Pogba (1576).
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WINNING IT BACK*
What about regaining possession for the team? Here it's only natural that Gigi Buffon should boast the highest figure (379) but not all that far behind him is Paul Pogba. The numbers highlight just what a key figure the Frenchman is defensively as well as offensively: in 2014 he broke up the opposition's play 309 times, 54 and 59 times more than his co-workers in the Bianconeri engine room, Claudio Marchisio and Andrea Pirlo.
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GETTING STUCK IN*
With a nickname like the Warrior, it's little wonder that Arturo Vidal is at the front of the pack when it comes to chasing down an opponent, sticking out a leg and coming away with the ball. The tough-tackling Chilean has gone toe to toe with opponents 145 times in all competitions this year, winning 115 of those duels (96 overall, 77 won in Serie A).
Behind him are Paul Pogba (93 challenges, winning 76) and Claudio Marchisio (90 and 64). Chiellini is in fourth place, while Kwadwo ìAsamoah and Martin Caceres rank fifth for total challenges (67 for the Ghanaian utility man) and tackles won (51 for the Uruguayan centre-half).
