september 2021

ANNA PATTEN – SCOUT REPORT

Posted on 09/28/2021 by admin

For someone who loves defenders, I’ve written remarkably little about them. This is about to change, hopefully. In this article I will look and analyse Anna Patten of Arsenal. She’s a very interesting player and perhaps somewhat underrated in terms of attention and importance, but the young defensive player could prove to be an instrumental part of Arsenal’s success in the coming years.

This analysis will focus on her defensive abilities as well as her contribution to Arsenal’s attack and the videos will concentrate on her games in the WSL 2021-2022 and the UWCL 2021-2022. The footage is from Wyscout and is retrieved at 28-09-2021.

Defensive positioning

Defensive positioning is a metric in which we measure the ability to cover ground and defend a certain space in relation to other teammates, the opposition, and the pitch as a whole. In the examples below, we see defensive positioning as done by Anna Patten.

In the three examples above, you see Anna Patten in Arsenal’s game against Reading. What she does well in these examples is that she scans the options the attacking side has and what she needs to do in order to disrupt their attack or minimalise their threat.

She uses her pace and strength to stay ahead of the attacking player she has to mark and does anything in her power to trail back when she is higher up the pitch and a transition from attack to defence occurs. She keeps a relative distance to her direct opponent but closes in as soon as the ball enters her specific zone or when the balls seems to go to her direct opponent.

1v1s

In this part we will analyse the 1v1s by Anna Patten. We can see in these videos how well she performs in terms of duels, but also how she prevents or takes advantage in a 1v1 situation. This can be through positioning, defensive action or by using the space available.

Patten is very eager to close the opponent down, but in her eagerness, she sometimes chooses the wrong moment to have a defensive action. That leads to the ball being passed through her legs, or not being able to use her body well to regain possession of the ball. She has the qualities to do so, but it’s all about the timing and the place where you do so.

In terms of pressing an opponent, she does very well, as can be seen in the third video in the game against Chelsea. She has a run at the opponent and makes it difficult for her to get forward by blocking passing lanes and forcing to pass it back or sideways.

Interceptions

In the next few examples, I will look at the interceptions made by Anna Patten. These show us that she recognised a pass and acts on it, by getting in front of her opponent and start a transition from defence to attack. Not in all cases though, sometimes it is blocking a passing lane and it results in a set piece situation.

Patten is good at recognising where the ball will be passed too. By knowing this she can choose the right time and place to make that interception. This can also be seen in the videos above where she gets possession of the ball or her teammates get possession of the ball, after a decisive action on her part.

It’s an integral part of a modern full back and/or wing back to possess these qualities. An interception is not just making an action and getting the ball at your feet, but it’s also making sure that your team can progress because of it and that’s what Patten does very well in the games watched.

Crosses

As stated above, an integral part of a full back or wing back is to progress on the pitch, but also to contribute to an attack by an action. Crosses are very important, because that means that the flanks are utilised and more people can attack said cross. In the examples below you see videos of crosses by Anna Patten.

In these five examples you see the crosses by Patten. She possesses over the ability to get into the right position to give the crosses from both the right and left flank, spots the runs and gets the ball into the right area. When the attacking players connect with it, the crosses are very effective and give for dangerous situations.

The pace and power behind the crosses could be better, but that’s compensated by the fact that the accuracy and placement of the crosses is sufficient to create danger in the penalty area, as seen in the videos above.

Through pass

Besides crosses, through passes are very useful to have in our arsenal. Patten doesn’t attempt those through passes a lot – but she possesses the ability to do so.

In the video above you see how Anna Patten gets the ball and immediately thinks progressive and spot the runners. She looks for the combination and on receiving the ball she gives a through ball, which splits the defence and gives Arsenal the possibility to be a big threat in the final third.

Final thoughts

Anna Patten is a very interesting player and perhaps a player who isn’t in the primary conversation when talking about world class players, but she has a lot of potential. With Arsenal stepping up in terms of performances under their new head coach, this might well be good for Patten – as she can lift on that particular success. If she finetunes her eagerness and anticipation, she could reach very high levels.

SET PIECE ANALYSIS: RANGERS FC ATTACKING CORNERS

Posted on 09/26/2021 by admin

The season has well started in most of the leagues and that means that set-piece analysis of goals from attacking corners can be done. My attention goes to the Scottish Premiership. Before I analysed Dundee United in the 2020/2021 season and this time my focus goes to titleholders Rangers FC.

Rangers FC will be fighting for titles on different fronts, but the Premiership is one of the main goals, and scoring set pieces is of vital importance when you are having difficult times against tough opponents. So far, the Glasgow outfit has scored three goals via attacking corners and in the videos below, I will show you how they did via analysis.

Rangers FC vs Ross County

In the video above we see Rangers FC against Ross County with Rangers having a corner from the right. The corner is taken by a right-footed player, meaning the ball will swing out towards the penalty spot. Ross County employs an one-man zonal structure with two man marker and three blockers

Rangers has a player on the left for the short option and one player just outside the penalty area. This player is tasked with cleared balls and also with being the first line of rest defence. There is one player in the six-yard box and in the middle on the penalty spot they have five players against six players of Ross County, meaning that Ross County have an overload in this area.

As soon as the ball is taken we see the four runners split into two units: one unit of three and one unit of one. The unit of three moves towards the central zones of the penalty area, while the other player moves towards the far post, because that is where the room and space have been created. The attention goes to the three runners to the goalkeeper zone, leaving the far post relatively free. It’s a 1v1 and it’s won by Rangers, after which they convert the cross into a goal.

Rangers FC vs Celtic

In the video above we see Rangers FC against Celtic with Rangers having a corner from the right. The corner is taken by a left-footed player, meaning the ball will swing in towards the six-yard box. Celtic employs a one-man zonal structure (error in the video) with two man markers.

Rangers has two players in the six-yard box with one player just standing outside the six-yard box. Rangers also has three runners coming from the deep far post zone, who will make their way into the six-yard box at the far post, in order to get most momentum in that area of the pitch.

As soon as the ball is taken we see the three runners split in two units: one unit of two and one unit of one. The unit of two moves towards the far post zones of the penalty area, while the other player moves towards the far post as well, because that is where the room and space have been created. The units don’t split much in terms of space, but create just enough stretch so that the three can attack the cross and not be in the way of each other. In the end, it’s a 3v2 overload and Rangers come out victorious in this corner and score a goal.

Rangers FC vs Motherwell

In the video above we see Rangers FC against Motherwell with Rangers having a corner from the right. The corner is taken by a right-footed player, meaning the ball will swing in towards the penalty spot. Motherwell employs a two-man zonal structure with one man marker in the six-yard box.

Rangers have one player in the six-yard box with one player just standing outside the six-yard box. Rangers also has three runners coming from the deep penalty area zone, who will make their way into the six-yard box at the far post and goalkeeper zone, in order to get most momentum in that area of the pitch and create overloads in the six-yard box where it’s possible. One player stays behind and guards the first line of rest defence.

As soon as the ball is taken we see the movement in the five players on the edge of the penalty area. Four of those players actually move forward to make something of this corner. You have one player closer to the corner taker and he goes forward, but immediately remains conservative and stays just inside the penalty area. In the end, we see two players going in opposite ways and joined by the third, move towards the goalkeeper zone and far post zone. This all is a distraction as the two players close to the six-yard box are the ones to focus on. The highlighted player moves to the front post and drags three defenders with him, creating space for the other player in the six-yard box – who can easily convert the headed ball into a goal.

DATA SCOUTING NORWEGIAN ELITESERIEN 2021: FINDING A STRIKER

Posted on 09/19/2021 by admin

In the last data scouting piece I spoke about the fact that I wanted to look further than the usual countries in Europe and scouted the Austrian Bundesliga. Although I still stand by those words and wanted to broad my view, I came to realise that I’ve not really looked into certain countries in Europe that are worth looking into. My eye will focus more closely to the leagues in Portugal, Russia, Austria, Scandinavia and Turkey in the next weeks. Last time I spoke about Austria, today I will delve into the Norwegian Eliteserien.

In this scouting piece I’m going to look for a striker who’s good in the box, has volume in shots per 90 and looks to match or overachieve his expected goals ratio.

The data
The data used in this analysis comes from Wyscout. In the dataset for the striker, I’ve selected each player who primarily plays on the striker position. Obviously, there are other players who have played in this position, but I’ve only selected the players that have played as a striker as a dominant position in the current season. This leaves me with 71 players who qualify in the Eliteserien 2021.

Because I’m looking at the current season, which is a full season, I want to make a selection for players that played a decent amount of games for me to assess them. For me, it’s important that they played at least 900 minutes in this season. After looking at that I’m left with 23 players in my dataset and they will go through my analysis process. The data was retrieved on 18th September 2021.

I will look at the following categories and metrics to assess their abilities through data:

Shots
Dribbling
Offensive duels
Assists
Goals

After going through the data analysis and visualisation, I will make a shortlist of players who I think are worth keeping your eye on.

Shots
Looking at shot quality can be measured in different things. In the scatterplots below I will look at the volume of the shots and the expected goals that are generated through the shots.

In the shot volume, we can see that Wadji (3,47 shots per 90), Friday (3,29 shots per 90), and Lauritsen (3,26 shots per 90) stand out in terms of the number of shots.

The best performers in terms of the percentage of shots going on target are Omijuanfo with 67,44% shots on target, Bakenga with 57,14% shots on target, and Tveter with 55,17% shots on target.

In the scatterplot above you can see the number of shots per 90 of a certain player and the expected goals per 90 of that particular player in question. The reason we look at this is how many shots a player has in a game and how high the probability is of scoring an actual goal.

In the shot volume, we can see that Wadji (3,47 shots per 90), Friday (3,29 shots per 90), and Lauritsen (3,26 shots per 90) stand out in terms of the number of shots.

Looking at the expected goals generated per game we see the following players coming on top: Wadji and Kone with 0,58 xG per 90, Bakenga with 0,7 xG per 90, and Omojiuanfo with 0,9 xG per 90.

Dribbling

Dribbling often is linked to wide midfielders of wingers, but it can be a valuable aspect of a striker’s game as well. The ability to control the ball, progress on the pitch, and deal positively with a 1v1 situation with an opponent defender, is not to be underestimated. Especially when you are not playing a typical central forward role, but playing with two strikers.

If we look at the number of dribbles per 90, the following players come out on top of their respect metric: Taylor with 8,09 dribbles per 90, Friday with 5,59 dribbles per 90, and Mikkelsen with 5,33 dribbles per 90.

When we look closer to the success rate of the dribbles, we can see that a different set of players scores high – but attempt fewer dribbles per 90: Brustad with 81,82% successful dribbles, Bakenga with 75% successful dribbles, and Udahl with 71,43% successful dribbles.

Offensive duels

The importance of offensive duels can be seen in two lights. The first one, is to measure the physicality of a strikers and the ability to win offensive duels to create something out of an attack. The second one, is to engage in the pressing style set out by a team. The ability to press a direct opponent and win the ball can also be found in this metric of offensive duels.

The most offensive duels conducted per 90 are by the following players: Friday with 18,09 offensive duels per 90, Liseth with 16,45 offensive duels per 90, and Taylor with 13,42 offensive duels per 90.

If we look closer at the players that have the highest percentage of won offensive duels, the following players stand out: Rasmussen with 59,21% offensive duels won, Mikkelsen with 47,51% offensive duels won, and Bakenga with 44,9% offensive duels won.

Assists

Expected metrics seem simple but can become incredibly complicated when combining things. In the scatterplot above I’ve taken a look at the probability of the pass becoming an assist per 90 minutes and looking at the actual assists of a player per 90 minutes.

If we look at the expected assists per 90, we can see that four players stand out from the crowd with a significantly higher xA per 90 than the rest. Taylor has 0,27 expected assists per 90, Edvardsen has 0,14 expected assists per 90, and Brustad has 0,12 expected assists per 90.

Looking more closely, we can see that the actual assists per 90 don’t correspond with the three players with the highest expected assists per 90. Taylor has 0,31 assists per 90, Edvardsen has 0,25 assists per 90, and Berisha has 0,26 assists per 90.

Goals

In the end the most important thing for a striker is his output: goals. I’m looking at the probability of scoring a goal with a certain short and looking at the actual goals goals scored by a particular player per 90 minutes.

When we look more closely to the actual goals scored per 90 we see that Omojuanfo stands out with 1,33 goals per 90, followed by Bakenga with 1,06 goals per 90, and Lehne Olsen with 0,81 goals per 90.

Short list

Four players have impressed me in terms of data and I have made percentile ranks data visualisations of them, before going further and analysing them through video.

After this phase of data scouting and analysing, we will move into video scouting and assess how well they do in certain game situations. This article was an example of how you use data to make a shortlist.

JAN OBLAK’S PERFORMANCES 2016-2021 – PART I: 2016/2017

Posted on 09/11/2021 by admin

If goalkeeping is an art, surely Jan Oblak’s performances in the past 7 years will feature as centerpiece in the museum. Jan Oblak has been instrumental to Atletico de Madrid’s success and their defensive performances. In this analysis the focus will be on Jan Oblak’s performances from the 2016/2017 season to the 2020/2021 season, the latter seeing Atletico crowned champions of Spain.

In this analysis I will focus on a few things. I will use data to assess how well Jan Oblak has been doing in the 2020/2021 season in comparison with his peers and I will use data in general to illustrate the performances in numbers. Next to that I will look at video to assess his abilities on the line, leaving the line and the ability to give a long ball. The data and video used in this piece come from Wyscout.

This will be a five-part series with today starting with 2016/2017 season with Atletico de Madrid.

2016/2017

Jan Oblak played 30 games in La Liga of which 15 games resulted in a clean sheet for the goalkeeper, that’s exactly 50% of the games. He played 11 games in the Champions League in which he had 6 clean sheets, resulting in a percentage of 55%.

In the graph above you can see four metrics by which we can measure the data performance of Jan Oblak. In this particular season, Jan Oblak had 89 shots against in La Liga by different teams. The quality of the shots and the probability of them being converted into a goal would suggest that 25,26 would result in a goal – which is 28,38% of the shots. In reality, Oblak conceded 21 goals in this La Liga season, which means that he’s overperforming by 4 goals less conceded than thought.

He concedes 0,69 goals per game in this particular season, making him the best performing keeper in this sense that has played over 30 games that season. It’s not completely foolproof as this doesn’t incorporate the likeability of a goal being scored or how well the defence has performed, but Jan Oblak did extremely well in this metric.

Saves with reflexes

In the video below you see Atletico de Madrid conceding an attack against Real Betis. A cross from the left is cut back and the Atletico defence doesn’t deal with it properly leaving it to be a shot for Betis. The volley is guided to the far post within the penalty area and it needs a swift and strong response from Oblak. Not only to keep it out but also to push it sideways, so that the opposition can not profit from a rebound.

In the video above we see Atletico de Madrid conceding an attack against Espanyol to the right. The ball is not dealt with properly and Espanyol can take control of the ball and attack with 5v7, but make the most of the situation by going to the right side of the penalty area. It seems like a free shooting opportunity for the home side, but the actions by Oblak make it very difficult for the attacking side. He rushes out from his line in order to make the goal smaller for the attacker. Combined with his reflexes after a hard hit shot, he makes sure to save this particular shot and make sure the instant danger is gone.

In the video above you can see Atletico de Madrid conceding an attack to the left from Real Madrid. Real Madrid combine through the central zones, setting up Benzema in the middle to shoot on target. This doesn’t seem like too difficult a shot to save when you look at the angle, but the reflexes in this case are quite good. When facing a shot from that close range, you will have to bet which side the ball will go. Oblak initially chooses another side, but in his reflex manages to block the ball still, and saves it.

In the video above we see Barcelona having an attacking corner from the right which swings out, meaning it will be more difficult to leave the line and makes the most of the ball, for Oblak. In this case, the ball goes to a Barca player who heads the ball to the far post and to the ground. What makes it difficult to save the ball is that you need to time your dive well otherwise the ball will bounce off you or go underneath you. And, secondly, the ball had such speed and force, that it needs strength from the keeper to get the ball behind his body and make sure it’s saved before the goal line.

Leaving the line

Above we assessed Oblak’s performance and technique while on the line or with reflexes. Another aspect of a goalkeeper’s game is to assess whether he/she can leave the line and clear the ball after a cross, corner, or freekick.

In the video above we see Villareal with a freekick against Atletico de Madrid and it is taken from the right. The ball swings out but will go near to the six-yard box into the goalkeeper zone. In these moments you have to be certain of your decision. Oblak is determined to punch the ball away and does that convincingly. If he had hesitated and not fully committed to this ball, Atletico de Madrid would be very likely to concede from this freekick.

In the video above you can see Oblak defending a corner from the left, which eventually leads into a high cross into the goalkeeper zone. Because the ball is traveling a long time, it’s easier to anticipate and due to the aerial height of Oblak, he can catch it quite easily.

In the video above you can see Atletico de Madrid in the game against Real Madrid when a cross comes from the left. The cross goes deep past the far post zone, but it could be a dangerous situation if Real Madrid wins the first contact. Oblak really needs to get hold of the ball because otherwise the goal is empty and the opposition can make the most of the situation. He rises high and gets to the ball, which allows Atletico de Madrid to start building their attack again.

In the video above you can see Atletico de Madrid in their game against Real Sociedad when they have a cross from the left. It’s again a high ball that gives Oblak the time and space to execute his action. In this case, the defenders prevent the attacking players from progressing up the pitch, leading to an easy save.

These are some of the characteristic saves by Jan Oblak which we have seen over the past few years. My mission is to look at some of the same sorts of saves in later seasons and see if there is a continuation of technique or that he has evolved and tried new things. We will start the comparison in the next piece when we look at the 2017/2018 season of Jan Oblak with Atletico de Madrid.