In our new statistical series, we'll be taking you back through the seasons of some of the most successful Socceroos over the last 12 months, beginning with Adelaide United star Craig Goodwin.
In Goodwin’s stellar season at Adelaide, he netted 10 goals and grabbed eight assists as he helped his side to a fourth-place finish on the ladder.
Goodwin was instrumental in Adelaide’s elimination final victory over Central Coast Mariners, as he scored the opener with a well-placed finish before assisting Adelaide’s second with a trademark whipped cross.
The Adelaide star’s scoring spree of 10 represented the equal highest of his career in the A-League Men competition, with Goodwin also finding double digits in the 2018/19 season.
Meanwhile, his record of eight assists is only bettered by that 2018/19 campaign, with the two seasons substantial standouts in direct goal involvements.
Over the course of the campaign, Goodwin was second in A-League Men for overall expected goals and assists, with his 16.4 only bettered by fellow Socceroo Jamie Maclaren.
Of the wingers’ 63 shots, 26 found the target - those two stats are again only both beaten narrowly by the 2018/19 season.
A key theme within the statistics demonstrates Goodwin becoming more of a key creator for Adelaide - while his goalscoring numbers are beaten by 2018/19, his playmaking stats (apart from direct assists) are consistently higher this campaign.
Goodwin’s xA (expected assists) of 7.9 was higher than any other recorded campaign, while the volume of chances he creates is substantially higher than not just his previous seasons but higher than the campaigns of all A-League Men players since 2015/16.
His 87 chances created is the most of any player in a single A-League Men season since Aaron Mooy’s 104 in 2015/16 - the Adelaide talisman created scoring opportunities at a volume of 3.2 per match throughout this campaign.
Meanwhile, Goodwin played 270 passes into the box during the 2021/22 season, which is his most in a single campaign in the competition, showing his increasing directness in his will to create chances for Adelaide.
He consistently showed his clutch ability for his side during the season - he was directly involved in 47.37% of Adelaide’s goals over their A-League Men campaign.
He played a direct part in many key wins over their season, such as the 3-2 victory over Sydney FC, where he scored two and assisted the other.
He also assisted the only goal in the match prior against Macarthur FC in a 1-0 win and assisted both goals in a 2-1 victory over Newcastle Jets earlier in the campaign.
He showed his quality in other crucial moments when scoring two in a 3-1 win over Brisbane Roar, and netting the equaliser in added time against rivals Melbourne Victory in the seventh match of their season.
For Australia, Goodwin scored a crucial penalty in the shootout victory over Peru to bring the Socceroos to their fifth straight FIFA World Cup, and he played 72 minutes in the 2-1 win over UAE in the knockout match prior.
Throughout the season both in red and Green and Gold, he showed his quality, consistent playmaking and clutch final product, with his last kick of the campaign helping to take the Socceroos to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
