Can we determine what leagues are most similar to each other? Clubs similar to a specific club? Possible leagues and clubs for a specific team to scout in? I’ve developed a method for this and introduce it here.… Read More League and Club Similarity: Proof-of-Concept and Applications for Recruitment
“How many points should a football team have been expected to earn?” That’s the question this article develops a method for. The Pythagorean Expectation method developed in Baseball is brought into Football, with all aspects of the method and sample analyses detailed.… Read More Creating an Expected Points Model Inspired by Pythagorean Expectation
The data-vs-eyes debate in football is not a dichotomy but a spectrum. Without any videos, you miss out on precious information. Without any data, you miss out on precious information. If you really want to answer (or begin to answer) a specific question, you’ll need to ensure you place yourself as close to the optimal location on the spectrum as possible… Read More The Data-“Eye-Test” Spectrum in Football Analysis
Italy’s 3rd division is rife with young talent across the 60 teams in the league. Which stand out the most based on specific data criteria? I build a U24 “dream team” with 36 players across all 11 positions to find out.… Read More Data Scouting Serie C for U24 Players: All Positions
This article uses data to find several young, interesting LaLiga2 CMs. Many data visuals follow so we get a sense of each player’s profile and performance.… Read More Using Data to Find Interesting Young Midfielders: 22-23 La Liga SmartBank
What if the US, with a closed top division, formed a state/regional league system, including all clubs from the MLS, USL, NPSL, and NISA? This article dives into a fantasy league structure for each region.… Read More What Might a Brazil-Style Regional League System Look Like in the USA?
This is a first step towards trying to get a better view of defenders and defensive skills using event data. I examine ball receipts under pressure and subsequent actions to see if attackinng-player-focused event data can be used as a proxy for defensive actions… Read More Moving Towards Better Data Analysis of Defensive Play: One Proof of Concept – Pressures
… and why they’re all misleading and/or faulty.
We’re currently in a situation where widely-available data and metrics used to analyze defenders can often be antithetical to defending itself. There’s a disconnect between on-ball events and quality defensive skills in current data accessible to the public.… Read More We Need to Talk About Defensive Metrics…
Raimonds Krollis is the best striker in Latvia. This articles analyzes him and illustrates his main strengths & tendencies including movement, dropping deep, and finishing, while discussing his areas to improve and his potential ability.… Read More Raimonds Krollis, Valmiera’s Talisman Captain: Player Profile & Analytic Scouting
Paul Bismarck Tabinas is a young Japanese wing back who loves running with the ball and is very dangerous in the air. In this scouting report we’ll look at lots of data and videos to see who he is as a player, his strengths and weaknesses, and if the wing back position is his best fit.… Read More Paul Bismarck Tabinas: Iwate Grulla Morioka’s Raw, Attack-Minded Wing Back – Data and Video Scouting
Article by Ben Griffis What players tend to pose the most immediate danger to the opponent’s defenders and goalkeeper with their passes? This is the question I’m looking to (begin to) address with a new metric I rather non-creatively term, Passing Danger Index, or PDI for short. The idea behind this is to see which… Read More Introducing “Passing Danger Index”: Measuring The Immediate Danger A Player’s Passes Pose to Opposing Back Lines
The 2022 edition of Latvia’s top flight, the Virsliga, will be decided on the final match day. This article previews the match, offering several key data visualizations and analysis on what we could expect from both matches and what it means to the title race.… Read More Latvia’s 2022 Virsliga Comes Down to the Wire: Previewing The Title-Seeking Teams’ Matches
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