Who were the top performers in K League 1 this season? According to certain data, Gangwon FC's Kim Dae-won was at the very top of the list.

Kim Dae-won, from Round 1 in February to Round 38 in October, amassed 53,880 to sit top of the Adidas Point rankings. Behind Kim in second place was Jeju United's Joo Min-kyu and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors' Cho Gue-sung in third.

Kim Dae-won's dazzling displays came almost every week. The former Daegu winger scored 12 goals and assisted 13 more to give him a career-high 25 combined goals and assists. This helped Gangwon record a top-six finish for the first time in three years and for Kim to be named in the K League 1 Best XI for the very first time. 

■ Top-ranked forward Kim Dae-won (53,880)

Sitting top of the Adidas points rankings overall is Kim Dae-won. His rise to the top of the rankings began in June when, in that month alone, he managed to score three and assist two before scoring two and laying on five assists in July. This earned the winger the number-one spot in the Adidas Points rankings for those two months.

Kim's goals earned him 14,400 points, his penalties 1,650, assists 6,500 while shots on target (21 in total) 3,150, key passes (78 in total) 11,700, and crosses (74 in total) 2,960.

In 2022, the Adidas Points rankings' top four was made up of attacking players, namely Kim, Joo Min-kyu, Cho Gue-sung, and Cesinha. Other high-ranking attacking players include Lars Veldwijk in eighth with 43,400 points and Zeca in 10th with 41,646 points).

■ Top-ranked midfielder Shin Jin-ho (50,943, 5th overall)

Pohang Steelers captain Shin Jin-ho sits fifth in the Adidas Points rankings as the top-ranking midfielder. From 32 appearances Shin scored four and provided 10 assists which is the best combined goals and assist tally of his career. His performances this season were enough for a place in the K League 1 Best XI for 2022.

From the overall total, 12,750 points were from attack-related actions, 19,186 for his passing, and 11,650 for defensive actions. No other player has been able to earn 10,000 points or more in all three categories.

Looking into the stats further, Shin made 2,373 passes to earn 4,746 points, 48 key passes for 7,200 points, while for 141 interceptions earned 4,935 points, blocks 315, and clearances 1,550 among others. 

Behind Shin were Ulsan Hyundai's Um Won-sang in sixth with 48,755 points, Modou Barrow of Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors with 47,778 points in seventh, and Vako Qazaishvili in ninth with 42,096.

■ Highest-ranked defender Lee Ki-je (36,134 points, 18th overall)

Helped by the sheer number of assists Lee Ki-je has made this season, the Suwon Bluewings left back is the top-ranked defender in the Adidas Points. He made 35 appearances during the regular season, scored just once but recorded 14 assists - the most in the division and therefore enough to earn the assist king award for 2022. He also picked up an assist in the Promotion-Relegation Playoff against FC Anyang.

The 14 assists he recorded earned him 13,500 points, 59 key passes 8,850 points, and 75 crosses 3,000 exactly to sit top as a defender in these categories. Behind Lee Ki-je among the defenders are Jeonbuk's Park Jin-seop with 35,597 points to sit 22nd overall and his teammate Kim Jin-su with 35,338 points for 23rd overall.

■ Top-ranked goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo (34,977, 26th overall)

With more goals being scored this season, 26 more in fact at 590 from 228 games, being a goalkeeper was harder than ever. In goal for champions Ulsan Hyundai was Jo Hyeon-woo. The former Daegu FC custodian conceded the fewest goals in the league this season at 33, kept 10 cleansheets - enough to earn him 8,000 points. Points were also earned for successful punches (43, 8,600), 50 catches for 12,500, as well as one penalty save for 2,000 points. Jo earned another 10,000 points for being involved in 20 wins for Ulsan this season. Behind Jo was Jeonbuk's Song Bum-keun with 32,390 points to sit 32nd overall who actually kept two more cleansheets.

Korean version: here