The debate about which 11 players make up the Hyundai A-League team of the decade could be never ending, but one thing is certain – you cannot argue with the stats.
Our good friends at Opta have pulled together a statistical framework to decide which are the best players to run out in the Hyundai A-League from 2010 to 2019.
Without further ado, here are the stars of Australian football that made it, and a punchy statistic to help paint the picture of why they are the cream of the crop. We’re in a 3-4-3 formation…
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Goalkeeper
Mat Ryan (Central Coast Mariners)
Kept a clean sheet once every 2.4 games – the most frequent of any keeper to play 15+ games – including 13 clean sheets in 2010/11, then a record and still the joint-second most of any goalkeeper in a season.
https://players.brightcove.net/5519514571001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5806822419001
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Defence
Andrew Durante (Newcastle Jets, Wellington Phoenix, Western United)
Durante has made more interceptions (425) and blocked more shots (148) than any other player since Opta began collecting the data at the beginning of the 2012/13 season.
https://players.brightcove.net/5519514571001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5988217701001
Nikolai Topor-Stanley (Sydney FC, Perth Glory, Newcastle Jets, Western Sydney Wanderers)
Topor-Stanley (1,044) is the only player to have made more than 1,000 clearances in the last eight seasons, as well as creating 36 scoring chances, making 324 interceptions, and blocking 126 shots.
https://players.brightcove.net/5519514571001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5812901973001
Leigh Broxham (Melbourne Victory)
Broxham has played more games (255) and earned more wins (108) than any other Hyundai A-League player in the last decade.
https://players.brightcove.net/5519514571001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5809990979001
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Midfield
Thomas Broich (Brisbane Roar)
Broich created 50+ scoring chances in four of his final five A-League seasons, including 95 in 2013/14, the second-most of any player in the last eight years.
https://players.brightcove.net/5519514571001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5567038226001
Aaron Mooy (Western Sydney Wanderers, Melbourne City)
Despite playing only four of the last eight seasons, Mooy’s 33 assists are the joint-second most of any player in that period – indeed, his 20 assists in 2015/16 are six more than any other player has managed in any of the last eight seasons.
https://players.brightcove.net/5519514571001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5806009267001
Milos Ninkovic (Sydney FC)
16% of all chances created by Ninkovic have ended in a goal, the highest percentage of any of the 21 players to have created 150+ chances in the last eight campaigns.
https://players.brightcove.net/5519514571001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5846205120001
Michael McGlinchey (Central Coast Mariners, Wellington Phoenix)
McGlinchey is the only player to have created 60+ scoring chances in a season for more than one club during the last eight A-League campaigns (66 for Mariners in 2012/13; 62 for Phoenix in 2015/16).
https://players.brightcove.net/5519514571001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5564184996001
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Forwards
Besart Berisha (Brisbane Roar, Melbourne Victory, Western United)
Scored 122 goals, a Hyundai A-League record and 56 more than any other player this decade, and is the only player in Hyundai A-League history to score more than 20 goals in a season twice (21 in 2011/12, 21 in 2016/17).
https://players.brightcove.net/5519514571001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6090165117001
Bruno Fornaroli (Melbourne City, Perth Glory)
Fornaroli became the quickest player to 50 goals in Hyundai A-League history (76 games) and has made more shots on target (144) than any other player in the Hyundai A-League since making his debut.
https://players.brightcove.net/5519514571001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5846202280001
Kosta Barbarouses (Wellington Phoenix, Brisbane Roar, Melbourne Victory, Sydney FC)
Barbarouses (50 goals, 33 assists) is the only player to have scored 30 plus goals and made 30 plus assists in the competition since the beginning of the 2012/13 season, while only Berisha (203) has made more shots on target in that time than Barbarouses (164).
https://players.brightcove.net/5519514571001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5982272451001
ROUND 12: Hyundai Ins and Outs
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