The First Four - What's Different in 2025?

Let's examine the four players who have met the 5-game threshold for new data viz.

Through 6 games, four players have met the 5-game threshold for new data visualizations that utilize FBREF data. Two others, Wallem and Durkin, can achieve that feat this weekend in KC.

So, I wanted to do something I don’t do often - a quick read.

Let’s see what we can learn from this 2025 data without delving into the details and simply seeing what the pretty charts reveal.

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Henry Kessler | CCB

PROS

• Defensively, you are seeing Kessler at his best.

• Tackles, blocks, and clearances are all at elite levels.

• Passing, he is near perfect, and hitting his long passes accurately

CONS

• Not carrying the ball at all, and he was above average last year.

• Hitting long passes accurately, but attempting so few and not passing the ball forward, the latter of which was borderline elite last year.

Kyle Hiebert | RCB

PROS

• Puts his body in front of the ball at an elite level.

• Successful dribbles (WCB compared to the standard CB)

CONS

• Uh, everything? He's just, not doing anything over 90 minutes?

Jannes Horn | LCB

(His 2024 data at LB doesn’t make a comparison worthwhile nor accurate)

PROS

• CITY has unearthed an elite CB against dribblers. That's great news in Major League Soccer since everyone else loves spending money on fast dribblers.

• Carries the ball like he's played FB (he has).

CONS

• Jannes can't jump.

• Jannes doesn't do risky passes.

Marcel Hartel | 10

PROS

• From a midfielder, he is off-the-charts elite at creating xG and xA.

• Improvement in just about every single metric we care about

CONS

• Not dribbling like last year but also not playing wide like in 2024.

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I’m excited to see these continue to come in over the next couple of weeks, and we will do a larger comparison as more data becomes available.

Your thoughts, #AllForCITY?