MLS: In Search of the “Best” Defender

In partnership with

Hooligan Soccer

·29 September 2025

MLS: In Search of the “Best” Defender

Being a defender is tough. You rarely get the glory, unless you’re making some unearthly clearance, or making that perfectly timed tackle. Your value is measured not necessarily in what you do, but what you prevent.

Statistically, it’s also challenging. There are different types of defensive actions: tackles, interceptions, clearances and blocked shots. Context is what makes any of these important. But without that, here at Hooligan Soccer we’ve come up with a formula that tries to synthesize the different defensive metrics into a single score.

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We call it the Hooligan Defender Index, or HDI.

How the HDI Works

Pull your data. For this exercise, we use Sofascore. But you can use any rigorous and data aggregation service that you wish. Our core defensive metrics are: Tackles Interceptions Clearances Blocked shots
For each metric, every defender and midfielder is ranked highest to lowest. The top 80 in each is pulled and placed into a single table.
Remove any duplicates.
Calculate the median value per metric.
Divide the individual’s value against the median and sum the total. This becomes the “Core” value. A higher number is better.
Apply positive variables. In this case, we look at Clean Sheets and Minutes Played, measured against the median (just like the other metrics). After averaging the two scores, this value is multiplied against the “Core” value.
Apply negative variable. Obviously, defenders make mistakes. If you make fewer mistakes, you’ll generally be considered a better defender. For this calculation, the mistakes we tracked are tied to individual, not team, performance: Penalties committed Errors that led to a goal Own goals Total up all values from the three to get the “Negative”
The final step is to subtract the “Negative” from the derived value in Step 6.

Some examples in words, not numbers

The “best” defender according to the HDI is Adilson Malanda of Charlotte FC. He leads the league in Blocked Shots (48), and is second in Clearances (203). He’s not even in the top 50% for Interceptions (26), and in the bottom third for Tackles (25).

But he’s played in every match, and has recorded 11 clean sheets (more than any other defender). Even with 2 penalties committed and an error leading to goal, he soars above his fellow defenders by virtue of strong statistics across many criteria.

Let’s compare this to Portland Timbers’ David Ayala. He’s second in tackles (77), and stronger in Interceptions (44) and Clearances (50). But low Blocked Shots (7) and Clean Sheets (2) hurt his ranking, even without negative modifiers.

For those who argue that Clean Sheets isn’t really an individual statistic, you’re right. But when removed, Adilson Malanda is still in the Top 5, and while David Ayala climbs up, is still many, many places below.

But if you feel strongly, or have some other feedback, please let us know!