Right, so all very subjective, how do you go about supporting that? I ask this because you are focusing on stylistic preference, not specifically what it is that they are performing. Whilst I agree to aspects of this, it only really works if people agree with the identified player and all those that you list I agree are grafters BTW.
So, it is possible to see that their sprinting stats, support the stylistic things you like. Moura's sprints stats are in the top percentile in the league right now as to is Vardy (however Vardy's are specific in that his sprints are made up of entirely running behind, not in pressing, I don't think that should matter. Lamela isn't listed because probably due to injury and lack of mins, so would have to work his out is per game average and I can't be arsed but my gut feel would have me believe that his sprints will be high enough as his pressing is relentless.
The one player that doesn't feature in at the top end of the sprinting stats (well at least the past 4yrs) is Milner. So how would I go about support Milner's grafting qualities other than subjectively saying he gets stuck in. I'd first probably have to work on his averages bassed on mins per game as he does get subbed a fair bit (again can't be arsed to do this but would be worth a shout). He has however been consistently in the top 10% for total distance covered. As I mentioned earlier this isn't the greatest measure for a 'grafter" as someone can plod those KM's but given what we all see it might be an easy one to give the thumbs up to would it not?
You see, in the main, the stats would support what you subjectively believe and if this was Lucas's thread and I had posted Lucas's sprinting stats you might have hit the like of agree because it supported what you see.
This isn't a case of making stats fit what you want, it supports the players that you list as grafters. It's using the stats that are currently used in part to measure intensity (there are other metrics namely "passes per defensive action" PPDA which measure the effectiveness of the team's intensity but they focus on the result of the intensity e.g the other team losing the ball etc) which surely you can see is at the very essence of grafting ergo an intense team is a team that grafts.
I support it by watching the players play football.
If Henderson is grafting, I don’t run to a pie chart to see how many sprints he made before saying “fuck me he works hard”