Waylon Francis is in some elite company.
Recently, he achieved a feat that only six other MLS players have done in 2014: notch at least five assists over a span of six matches. His company? Names that you'd certainly recognize: Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane, Diego Valeri, Thierry Henry, Brad Davis and Cristian Maidana.
Notice a trend with those players? None of them are defenders. Francis, serving as the Crew's leftback, is having an exceptional season with his prowess to get forward and send the ball into the box. He's having one of the best attacking campaigns of any defender in the League:
<strong>Defender</strong> |
<strong>Assists</strong> |
<strong>Crosses from Open Play</strong> |
<strong>Chances Created</strong> |
Waylon Francis |
6 |
112 |
20 |
Dan Gargan |
5 |
88 |
21 |
Chad Marshall |
3 |
1 |
5 |
Marc Burch |
3 |
43 |
19 |
Jair Benitez |
3 |
58 |
18 |
Chris Tierney |
3 |
69 |
20 |
Francis and the LA Galaxy's Dan Gargan are in a class by themselves when it comes to assists among defenders, but the Crew leftback has fired over 20 more crosses into the box and indeed leads all defenders in that category. It's also important to note playing time context: with the Costa Rican missing some action due to the 2014 FIFA World Cup, his totals become even more impressive. Francis leads all MLS players (not just defenders) in open play crosses on a per match basis, with 1.6 more than any other defender. No other defender exceeds his assists-per-match figure either.
It's safe to say that the Crew benefits from having left wing-type production from its leftback in the attack. When the realm is expanded to include all players, Francis is tied for third in MLS in total crosses, trailing only Lloyd Sam and Leandro Barrera.
Perhaps it took Francis time to adjust to MLS, but the numbers bear it out: the Costa Rican is the latest player to flourish under Gregg Berhalter's system, which appears to be a good fit for his game.
