Newcastle United’s Dan Burn is officially one of the most accurate passers in recent World Cup qualification history.
Burn has only been playing for England since March, having been rewarded for his fine form at club level shortly after helping Newcastle United win the Carabao Cup.
While Burn’s passing has been criticised for England, he remains a key part of the squad under Thomas Tuchel.
Indeed, Tuchel is reportedly looking to take Burn to the World Cup next summer, such has been his impact in his five camps thus far.
Burn may not be first choice but actually made a telling impact when called upon. Indeed, amid doubts about his ability on the ball, an interesting statistic has emerged.
Dan Burn beats Toni Kroos for successful passes during a World Cup qualification campaign
On Wednesday, Opta Joe posted quite the statistic on social media platform X.
As per their data, Burn is actually one of the most accurate passers of the ball in recent World Cup qualification history.
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Burn completed 116 successful passes per 90 minutes of action, which beat Real Madrid and Germany legend Toni Kroos.
Kroos, one of the elite midfielders of his generation, amassed a total of 114 per 90 minutes of action during Germany’s 2018 qualifying campaign.
Neither Burn nor Kroos could match Spanish technician Xavi, however. The Barcelona icon made 125 passes per game on average during the qualification cycle for the 2014 World Cup.
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Newcastle United fans react as Dan Burn beats Toni Kroos’ passing record
The post certainly attracted a lot of responses from Newcastle fans, particularly after Burn was criticised while playing for England against Albania on Sunday.
Almost all of them were joking that Burn is one of the finest ball-playing central defenders of his generation.
“The Blyth Pirlo,” joked one fan.
Another said: “Get him in midfield with Sandro and Bruno!”
“Very similar players so no surprise there,” joked another supporter.
Burn is a fine player and deserves his place at international level. While not noted for his ability on the ball, it’s perhaps fair to say he’s better than many would have imagined.
Still, the fact he’s in such esteemed company is a surprise.
It may point to the fact he generally plays for England in games they’re going to dominate anyway, but it is an interesting response to some of the recent criticisms of his ability on the ball.
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