Transitions, Transitions, Transitions!

[SteveC 150]

I have a pal who was commentating on the Indian Premier League (it's OK he does real football too ) and he did a game with Trevor Steven co-commentating. At half time Trevor made a comment re the best player and it was a defender who had not touched the ball even once. He explained (sorry I can't recall all the details) about positioning, stepping out and covering off areas where passes would have been attempted and so forth.

 

My pal was intrigued by this and brought up the same subject after the game with another ex player who instantly agreed with Steven. A crude set of stats would have had this player as a nonetity while two ex players thought he was outstanding. (I presume more sophisticated stat systems would reflect things more accurately, however - yes?)

 

 

PS Yes I told my pal to constantly ask Trevor about his time at Rangers and fed him lines to use and questions to ask (most wisely were left unanswered )

[Rousseau 9,486]

I have a pal who was commentating on the Indian Premier League (it's OK he does real football too ) and he did a game with Trevor Steven co-commentating. At half time Trevor made a comment re the best player and it was a defender who had not touched the ball even once. He explained (sorry I can't recall all the details) about positioning, stepping out and covering off areas where passes would have been attempted and so forth.

 

My pal was intrigued by this and brought up the same subject after the game with another ex player who instantly agreed with Steven. A crude set of stats would have had this player as a nonetity while two ex players thought he was outstanding. (I presume more sophisticated stat systems would reflect things more accurately, however - yes?)

 

 

PS Yes I told my pal to constantly ask Trevor about his time at Rangers and fed him lines to use and questions to ask (most wisely were left unanswered )

 

The defensive side of the game is relatively under-developed. I only really recall Interceptions -- which would take your example into account, but is not quite right -- Blocked Shots, Clearances, Offsides Won and Tackles. Clearly, a team that makes the most tackles is not the best defensive side -- usually it's the bottom-dwellers because they have to make more tackles. Defensive stats are tricky because defending is more about the team unit rather than individual actions, with positioning key among them. There is Shots Conceded, but that's more of a team stat too.

 

Again, I never said stats were the be-all and end-all, simply a useful tool that helps to broaden our understanding of the game.

Edited March 26, 2017 by Rousseau

[Gaffer 1,665]

One of the simplest stats also used is the distance covered by each player. It was really an eye opener for me when I saw that the average distance covered by a player in the SPL was 8.7k in 90 minutes. This was in 2015. The average distance travelled by a BPL player was 10.8km and the average distance covered by the top players in the Liga BBVA was 13.3km. Of course the top players were in teams that were regarded as the best passing teams like Barca and Real Madrid. It becomes obvious that they're not really the best passing sides, but they are the best moving sides. I suppose when you have that much movement around you it's so much easier to find a pass.

 

Distance travelled is a good measure of the work rate of a player but the other side of that coin is how intelligent the move is, how quickly the player accelerates and the timing of it. I find it very interesting though.