Toni: A Look A-Kroos A Legendary Career

Photo by Maciej Rogowski

The footballing world has been witness to great midfielders throughout history. If you were to ask fans “Who is the best midfielder to ever play the sport?”, you would probably get a plethora of responses. Some of the most popular answers would be Zidane, Iniesta, Matthaus, Xavi, or Pirlo. However, some others would respond with players who would typically be classified as underrated. One such player that has been overlooked for most of his career has been Toni Kroos.

While he has undoubtedly been amongst the best in the world these past seasons, he never did get the praise or attention he deserved until after he announced that he would be retiring from the beautiful game. That announcement came on May 21st, with Real Madrid still having one final La Liga fixture left, as well as the Champions League Final against Borussia Dortmund. It is now exactly two months since that announcement, and following the end of the 2024 Euros, the world has officially seen the last pass by ‘The German Sniper.’ 

PASSING GENIUS

When talking about Toni Kroos, it is impossible not to talk about his passing ability. Although this was his final season as a professional footballer, Kroos was still at the top of his game. I don’t expect anyone to just take my word for it, so I’ll let the numbers do the talking. 

When compared to other midfielders in the top 5 leagues, Kroos ranked in the 99th percentile for most passes attempted (103.7), passes completed (94.92) and most progressive passes completed (11.11) per 90 minutes played. To put that into perspective, that means that on average, Kroos only misplaced around 9 passes per game, even though he was typically attempting over 100 passes each game. In case that’s not impressive enough, it is also worth mentioning that around half of those misplaced balls came from tougher passes that were longer than 30 yards in distance.

THE STAT PADDING MYTH

With Kroos’s retirement announcement, he finally got much more attention from both the media and fans in his final games. While most of this resulted in positive messages and appreciation for his ability, it was inevitable that some people would go online and mock Toni. The general trend of these comments was to allude that Kroos was a stat padder whose ability consisted mostly of back passes, rather than chance creation. For those who are unfamiliar with the term, a ‘stat padder’ is someone who focuses more on improving their individual statistics rather than helping their team win.

Well, why don’t we go back to the numbers to find out if there is any truth in these statements? When breaking down his passes, you will find that on average Kroos completed 13.79 long passes (over 30 yards). This not only places him in the 99th percentile for players completing long passes, but makes him the outright leader in this category in the top 5 leagues. Kroos also ranks in the 99th percentile for most progressive passes completed and most completed passes into the final third (outright leader in this category). 

In case this isn’t enough to disprove the ludicrous stat padding claims, Kroos averaged 0.3 assists per 90 minutes. This places him in the 98th percentile in that department and certainly goes to show that he was influential in creating goal-scoring opportunities for Real Madrid. 

LIKE FINE WINE

This might be a good time to remind everyone that these numbers are taken from this past season. It is truly mind-boggling how a 34-year-old midfielder, in his final season as a professional player, was still ranking amongst the best in the world while competing against the newer generation of footballers who are in their prime. Was this all a fluke though? Could Kroos be placed with those “one-season wonders?”

That couldn’t be further from the truth when discussing Toni Kroos. 

If we take a look at the most recent seasons, it becomes quite obvious that Kroos has consistently been one of the best midfielders out there. In terms of his performances in La Liga, Kroos ranked 1st in passes completed, passing distance, progressive passes completed, progressive passing distance, and passes into the final third… for the past three seasons! If we take that even further and evaluate the last seven seasons, his lowest-performing statistic is his progressive passing completion rate in the 2017-2018 La Liga season, where he only managed to rank in the 97th percentile.

Now I know that this doesn’t necessarily place him as one of the best in the world, as these numbers are only compared to players in La Liga. Unsurprisingly though, we find somewhat similar results when examining his Champions League performances. In this most recent 2023-2024 campaign, he ranked in the 99th percentile for passes completed, passing distance, progressive passing distance, and passes into the final third. While he had a somewhat disappointing finish in the 92nd percentile for progressive passes per 90 minutes (8.18), that lower rate only makes it more impressive that he ranked first for progressive passing distance. 

For comparison, Rodri ranked first for progressive passes completed, averaging 15.39 per match. Although Rodri averaged nearly twice the amount of progressive passes than Kroos, the Manchester City star’s average of 515.56 yards in progressive passing distance per game fell quite shy of the 634.83 produced by the Madrid man. What this represents is that, on average, Rodri’s progressive passes covered 33.5 yards in distance, while Kroos’s progressive passes traveled a whopping 77.61 yards! Truly impressive stuff by the German midfielder.

So what about seasons before this one? What you end up finding are consistent results once again, although there is a potentially skewed result thrown in the mix. For the 2018-2019 season, he ranked first in all five passing categories we have been discussing. This would be a truly impressive achievement, but sadly it most likely has to do with Real Madrid being eliminated in the round of 16 after failing to get through Ajax. With fewer minutes played, it would be tough to fairly compare his per 90 statistics with players who had to try and remain consistent for more games. 

Aside from that, if you were to look between the 2017-2018 season up until now, Kroos still remains near the top in the Champions League. Across those seven seasons, you can consistently find him ranked around the 99th percentile in at least one of the five categories we have been discussing. The only exception to this is the 2021-2022 UCL season, where his highest-performing attribute was passing distance (97th percentile). Coincidentally, that season is also where you will find his lowest-ever achieved ranking, ending up in the 87th percentile for progressive passes completed. Nonetheless, that is the only season where he ranked outside of the 90th percentile in any of the five attributes. It is abundantly clear that when talking about Toni Kroos and his passing capabilities, consistency is the name of the game.

A PLACE AMONG LEGENDS

With his career now officially over, it is safe to say that Toni Kroos was not only one of the best midfielders this past season, but one of the best of this generation. Be that as it may, did he do enough to earn a spot amongst the best throughout history? I certainly would classify him as such, but time will tell if future generations continue to appreciate his undeniable skill.

For now, the only things left to say to Toni Kroos are Auf Wiedersehen, and Danke for blessing football fans around the world with your talents.