Maand: januari 2023

DATA SCOUTING BELGIAN CHALLENGER PRO LEAGUE: FINDING A CENTRAL DEFENDER

Posted on by admin

Who are the best defenders in the Belgian second tier, the Challenger Pro League? In this scouting piece I’m going to look for a central defender with an accent for ball progressing capabilities. There are different types of central defenders, but I’m looking for a profile that fits a central defender who can carry the ball and thinks progressively.

The data
The data used in this analysis comes from Wyscout. In the dataset for the central defenders, I’ve selected each player who primarily plays on the central defender position. Obviously, there are other players who have played in this position, but I’ve only selected the players that have played as a central defender as a dominant position in the current season. This leaves me with 68 players who qualify in the Challenger Pro League 2022-2023

Because I’m looking at the current 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 450 minutes in this season. After looking at that I’m left with 46 players in my dataset and they will go through my analysis process. The data was retrieved on 5th January 2023.

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

  • Defensive abilities:
  • Ball-carrying abilities
  • Passing abilities

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

Defensive abilities

The importance of defensive duels is evident. It’s to measure the physicality of a central defender and the ability to win defensive duels to assess how well a player defends in defensive situations.

The most defensive duels conducted per 90 are by the following players: Heris with 9,31 defensive duels per 90, Konstantopoulos with 11,25 defensive duels per 90 and Engwanda with 11,33 defensive duels per 90.

If we look closer at the players that have the highest percentage of won defensive duels, the following players stand out: Wuytens with 77,08% defensive duels won, O’Brien with 78,08% defensive duels won and Mawete Kinsiona with 78,21% defensive duels won.

The importance of aerial duels is to assess two things. Firstly, to look how many times a certain player conducts in an aerial duel during 90 minutes of football. And secondly, to assess how many of those aerial duels are won per 90. The aerial capability can be a contributing factor in the defensive strength of a central defender.

The most aerial duels conducted per 90 are by the following players: Lemoine with 5,5 aerial duels per 90, Konstantopoulos with 5,89 aerial duels per 90, and Vukotic with 6,02 aerial duels per 90.

If we look closer at the players that have the highest percentage of won aerial duels, the following players stand out: Bateau with 75% aerial duels won, O’Brien with 76,54% aerial duels won, and Vukotic with 78,13% aerial duels won.

In the scatterplot above we can see the metrics PAdj sliding tackles per 90 and the PAdjinterceptions per 90. These metrics help us assess the defending quality of a central defender, because it shows a form of intelligence of a player. You have to recognise the movements of the opposition to adequately make a defensive actions, and therefore these metrics are useful.

Most PAdj tackles per 90 are by the following players: Vukotic with 1,39 tackles per 90, Khemais with 1,95 shots blocked per 90, and Konstantopoulos with 2,31 shots blocked per 90.

If we look closer at the players that have the most Interceptions per 90, the following players stand out: Le Joncour with 9,75 interceptions per 90, Didden with 9,86 interceptions per 90, and Vukotic with 10,09 interceptions per 90.

Ball-carying abilities

Ball-carrying is a valuable thing for a player to have. The ability to literally carry the ball from the defensive third to the middle or attacking third is not to be underestimated, and this is no different for central defenders that I’m scouting. I’m well aware that this is not something every central defender can do, but I’m looking for a progressing central defender in possession. In what manner do they conduct themselves in progressing the ball? This can be translated via data with the metrics dribbles per 90 and progressive runs per 90.

If we look at the progressive runs per 90 metrics, we can see that three players really stand out from the crowd here. Hautekiet has 1,87 progressive runs per 90, Meisl has 1,89 progressive runs per 90 and Terekhov has 2,13 progressive runs per 90.

When we look at the dribbles per 90, we see slightly different players. The top players in this metric are: Heris has 2,03 dribbles per 90, Sabbe has 2,12 dribbles per 90, and Mawete Kinsiona has 3,12 dribbles per 90.

Passing ability

Passing abilities. I could focus on the percentage of successful passes, but that doesn’t say a lot in itself. I want to see how well they progress the ball as well as without the ball. I’ve looked to the progression with the ball on their feet, but I also want to see how well the progression in passing is. That’s why I chose to look at progressive passes per 90 and passes to the final third.

Looking at the progressive passes we see a few players stand out: Matthys with 13,29 progressive passes per 90, Butera with 14,44 progressive passes per 90, and Van den Bergh with 15,58 progressive passes per 90.

If we look closer to the passes to the final third, we see some of the same names featured at the top. Matthys has 8,84 passes to final third per 90, Hubert has 9,11 passes to final third per 90, and Van den Bergh has 12,09 passes to final third per 90.

Final thoughts

With this data analysis of players we have seen which players do the best in the central defender role in the Belgian second tier with at least 450 minutes played in this season. From this analysis we will make a short list and from that short list, we move on to video scouting and live scouting.

PPDA SHOULDN’T BE USED TO MEASURE THE PRESSING INTENSITY

Posted on by admin

Okay, maybe that title is too strong. I’m not sure. But I know that using a single data metric to value an off-ball action is incredibly vague and complex. Especially when we look at data, it’s so difficult to quantify pressing activities. So, in this article, I will tell you why I think PPDA isn’t the right metric AND should never be used alone to measure pressing intensity.

Pressing

Pressing is an important tactical aspect of football that involves one team actively trying to win the ball back from the other team. Pressing can take many different forms, from a high press in which the team presses aggressively and high up the field, to a low block in which the team sits deep and focuses on defending their own goal.

One of the main benefits of pressing is that it can disrupt the opposition’s attacking play and prevent them from building up momentum. By winning the ball back quickly and high up the field, a team can catch the opposition off guard and potentially create scoring opportunities for themselves. Pressing can also be effective at tiring out the opposition, as it requires a lot of physical and mental effort to constantly try and play through a press.

Pressing can also be an effective way to defend against teams that are strong in possession. By forcing the opposition to play quickly and under pressure, a team can reduce the time and space that the opposition has on the ball, making it more difficult for them to create scoring chances.

However, pressing is not without its risks. If a team presses too aggressively and leaves gaps in their defense, they may be vulnerable to counter-attacks. Additionally, if a team is not well-organized or does not have the physical fitness to maintain a press for an extended period of time, they may struggle to win the ball back and may be more susceptible to conceding goals.

Overall, pressing can be a valuable tactical tool in football, but it is important for teams to carefully consider the context of the game and the strengths and weaknesses of their opponents before deciding whether or not to press.

Data context

Context is important when working with data because it helps to provide meaning and interpretation to the data. Without context, data can be difficult to understand and may not provide a clear picture of what is happening.

Context is also important when comparing data from different sources or time periods. Without context, it may be difficult to accurately compare data because we don’t know if the data was collected in the same way or if it is relevant to the same issues.

In summary, context is important when working with data because it helps to provide meaning and interpretation to the data and allows us to accurately compare and analyse it. Without context, data can be difficult to understand and may not provide a clear picture of what is happening.

PPDA

PPDA (passes per defensive action) is a metric that is used to measure how aggressively a team presses or defends. It is calculated by dividing the number of passes that a team allows by the number of defensive actions (tackles, interceptions, etc.) that they make.

While PPDA can be a useful metric for measuring pressing, it is not sufficient on its own for several reasons:

  1. It only measures the number of passes allowed, not the quality of those passes. A team could allow a high number of passes but still, be effective at pressing if they are able to force their opponents into making low-quality passes. The quality of the passes allowed is important because it can impact the success of the press. For example, if a team allows a high number of passes but those passes are all long balls that are easily cleared by the defense, then the press may still be effective even though a high number of passes were allowed. On the other hand, if a team allows a low number of passes but those passes are all short, accurate passes that allow the opposition to easily bypass the press, then the press may be less effective.
  2. It does not take into account other factors that can impact pressing, such as the positioning of players, the speed of the press, and the overall tactics of the team. The positioning of players is important because it can affect the effectiveness of the press. For example, if a team has their defenders positioned too high up the field, they may leave gaps in their defense that the opposition can exploit. Similarly, if a team’s midfielders are positioned too far apart, they may struggle to effectively press the opposition and may be unable to win the ball back. The speed of the press can also be important. If a team presses too slowly, they may allow the opposition time to bypass the press and launch an attack. On the other hand, if a team presses too quickly, they may leave themselves vulnerable to counter-attacks if they are unable to win the ball back. The overall tactics of the team can also impact the effectiveness of the press. For example, if a team is using a high press, they may be more effective at winning the ball back in the opponent’s half of the field. However, if they are using a low block, they may be more focused on defending their own goal and may be less effective at pressing.
  3. It does not account for the opposition’s attacking quality. A team may allow a low number of passes but still be ineffective at pressing if they are facing a strong attacking team that is able to break through their press. The attacking quality of the opposition can impact the effectiveness of the press because it determines how difficult it is for the pressing team to win the ball back. If a team is facing a strong attacking team with skilled dribblers, creative passers, and clinical finishers, they may struggle to effectively press and may be more likely to allow passes. On the other hand, if a team is facing a weaker attacking team, they may be more successful at pressing and may be able to win the ball back more often.
  4. It does not take into account the context of the game. The score, the time remaining, and the overall strategy of the team can all impact how aggressively they press. For example, if a team is trailing late in the game, they may press more aggressively in an attempt to try and equalize. On the other hand, if a team is leading and is looking to close out the game, they may be more conservative and focus on defending rather than pressing. The overall strategy of the team can also impact their pressing tactics.

Final thoughts

PPDA is a data metric which can assist in measuring pressing in a game, but in isolation it doesn’t mean a lot. This is strengthened by the notion that off ball actions aren’t properly caught in data collection yet.