The Best Dribblers, Strikers and Playmakers in the U20 and U18 Liga MX
In this article, we take a look at the best players in certain metrics by taking advantage of the power of Wyscout Rankings.
Switching our focus to success rates, and while not as high as many professional leagues across the world, three's still some standout performers. Topping the list is Heriberto Jurado of Club Necaxa U18s with an incredible 74.51% rate. Across the U18 and U20 Liga MX, only four men are going over 66% completion, with them being Tigres U20's Sergio Trevino (70.59%), Atlas U20's Luis Martinez (68.18%), Tigres U18's Kenneth Jaime (66.67%) and Club America U18's Jair Ortega (66.67%).
Interestingly, the aforementioned list contains a couple of fullbacks in Jaime and Ortega, who are holding their own against the attackers.
Strikers
In terms of strikers and goalscoring numbers, there have been many gifted youngsters who've been banging in the goals in both divisions. Sitting atop of the goalscoring charts is Tigres U18's Leonardo Flores on a whopping 20 goals ahead of Guadalajara U18's Armando Gonzalez (18), Club Necaxa U18's Miguel Pedroza (18) and Club America U18's Francisco Garcia (15). Just behind this elite group then comes a couple of standouts from the U20 division in Andres Montano (14) and Joshua Mancha Garcia (14) of Mazatlan and Santos Laguna respectively.
Meanwhile, upon focusing on the top players in terms of Expected Goals, there have been some amazing overperformances from many, which underlines some of the elite finishing that's going on.
Some of the most eye-catching operators have been the aforementioned Montano and Mancha Garcia, who have XG Readings of 8.33 and 7.70 despite both scoring 14 goals. Some other notable figures arise from U18 starlets in Flores (12.73) Gonzalez (13.26) and Pedroza (11.80), whose actual goal counts are 20, 18 and 18 respectively.
When scouring over the shots per 90 numbers, and the three men topping the charts are Pachuca U20's Illian Hernandez (5.10 p90), Puebla U18's Fabrizzio Orozco (3.92) and Puebla U20's Angel Robles (4.48).
The last area we'll cover in this category is touches inside the penalty area, which is led by the three scoring machines in the U18 class in Gonzalez (104), Pedroza (82) and Flores (79). Then, in the U20 class, Mancha Garcia leads the way with 60 touches, which highlights the instincts that have allowed him to fire home 14 goals so far.
Playmakers
Identifying who the elite playmakers are is next, where we'll be using assists, expected assists and key passes to assess the standouts.
Soaring at the top end of the assists charts is elite dribbler Jaime Alvarez of Club Tijuana's 18s, who has 0.71 assists p90, ahead of Necaxa U18's Jurado (0.66 p90) and Atlas U20's Rafael Martinez (0.51).
Intriguingly, the expected assists stats bring up some more names, with the U18 division throwing up the better numbers from the likes of Atlas' Kevin Madrigal (4.60), Atlas' Jorge Guzman (4.57), Pachuca's Miguel Rodriguez (4.29) and Necaxa's sharpshooter Jurado (3.94). One man that warrants mention is assist leader Alvarez, who has 0.71 assists p90, but only has 0.31 expected assists p90.
Browsing through the U20 league, some stars shine through in Tigres' Fernando Gonzalez (6 assists from 2.6 XA) and Santos Laguna's Mancha Garcia (4 assists from 2.68 XA), with their teammates also doing a great job of finishing the chances they've created.
Lastly, the key passing masters throw up a blend of new and familiar names. Ranking first on a per 90 basis by quite a margin is Guadalajara U20's Jonathan Parra (1.44), with Monterrey U18's whizz Morales in second (1.31). Next on the list is Mazatlan U20's Brayan Hernandez (1.22), just in front of Tijuana U18 sensation Alvarez (1.18) and Atletico de San Luis U18's Jose Roman (1.18).
