In an interview following the announcement of Federico Higuain signing a contract extension, Columbus Crew SC head coach Gregg Berhalter noted that Pipa’s role has changed over his time with the club. Berhalter mentioned Higuain’s defensive work, overall improvement and that Pipa is expected to continue to get better as a player. Any player will change over seven seasons, but how can analytics show how Higuain has changed since bursting onto the Major League Soccer scene in 2012? That’s what we take a look at today.
As always, thanks to the fine folks at American Soccer Analysis for the raw data.