Analysis of Football league season 2012/13 from Europe's 5 top leagues

1. A Football Season in statistics
2012-13

2. Background
Data originated from
• Premier League
• La Liga
• Ligue 1
• Bundesliga
• Serie A
Primary data source
http://www.whoscored.com

3. Shots and Goals

4. Shots on Goal rates - Best
5.816.7Roma(5)8
6.216.7AC Milan(3)7
7.517.1Bayern Munich(1)6
6.117.4Man City (2)5
6.317.9Spurs(5)4
6.818.4Juventus(1)3
7.918.9Real Madrid(2)2
6.119.4Liverpool(7)
1
Shots on
target per
Game
Shots per
game
TeamRank

5. Shots on Goal rates - worst
3.410.4Reading (R)8
3.610.4Sochaux (17)7
310.2Stoke (13)6
410.1Valladolid (13)5
3.210.1Riems (14)4
310Chievo (12)3
3.19.3Fortuna Dusseldorf (R)2
2.89.2Siena (R)
1
Shots on
target per
Game
Shots per
game
TeamRank

6. Top scoring teams
Rank Team
Open
Play
Counter
Attack
Set
Piece
Penalty
Own
Goal
Total
1 Barcelona (1) 88 4 12 4 3 111
2 Real Madrid (2) 55 10 24 7 3 99
3 Bayern Munich (1) 64 9 17 4 4 98
4 Manchester United (1) 52 2 22 4 6 86
5 Borussia Dortmund (2) 53 9 14 5 0 81
6 Chelsea (3) 45 3 15 9 3 75
7 Napoli (2) 43 6 16 7 1 73
8 Arsenal (4) 45 7 12 5 3 72

7. Goals per
game
Shots on target
per Goal
Shots per
goal
TeamRank
1.892.9 (35%)8.3 (12%)Arsenal (4)8
1.923.1 (32%)7.9 (13%)Napoli (2)7
1.972.8 (36%)8.4 (12%)Chelsea (3)6
2.262.5 (40%)6.6 (15%)Man Utd (1)5
2.382.7 (37%)6.8 (15%)Borussia Dortmund (2)4
2.663.0 (34%)7.1 (14%)Real Madrid (2)3
2.882.6 (38%)5.9 (17%)Bayern Munich (1)2
3.032.1 (47%)4.7 (21%)Barcelona (1)
1
Shot to Goal conversion rates

8. Observation!
The top 4 teams in goals per game were also the final 4
teams in the Champions League!

9. The masters of the Counter
Attack
Rank Team
Counter
Attack
goals
% of
total
goals
1 Udinese 11 18.6%
2 Schalke 04 11 19.0%
3 Real Madrid 10 10.1%
4 Real Sociedad 10 14.5%
5 Bayer Leverkusen 10 15.4%
6 Bayern Munich 9 9.2%
7 Borussia Dortmund 9 10.8%
8 Espanyol 9 20.9%
Despite the presence of Real Madrid, Bayern and
Borussia the % of their goals scored by counter
attack is comparatively low

10. Observation!
Counter attacking
appears to be an
approach that enables
a difficult to beat style
of play e.g. Espanyol
(20% of goals) but the
the top performing
teams use it as a part
of a much wider
approach e.g. Real,
Borussia and Bayern -
circa 10% of goals
come from the Counter

11. Individual Shots per game
4.2Andre-Pierre Gignac8
4.5Demba Ba7
4.6Edinson Cavani6
4.7Zlatan Ibrahimovic5
5Gareth Bale4
5.1Lionel Messi3
5.7Luiz Suarez2
6.9Cristiano Ronaldo1
Shots per
game
PlayerRank

12. Goals
24Robert Lewandowski8
25Stefan Kießling7
26Robin Van Persie6
28Falcao5
29Zlatan Ibrahimovic4
29Edinson Cavani3
34Cristiano Ronaldo2
46Lionel Messi1
GoalsPlayerRank

15. Implications!
How do we coach
scoring?
• Not shooting
• Not crossing
• Just Scoring
Top class strikers are achieving 25%+
chance to goal conversion rates

16. Assists
12Mathieu Valbuena (MF)8
12Lionel Messi (Fwd)7
12Juan Mata (MF)6
12Francesco Totti (MF)5
13Dimitri Payet (MF)4
14Marek Hamsik (W/MF)3
14Frank Ribery (W/MF)2
15Andres Iniesta (MF)1
AssistsPlayerRank

18. Implications?
The players
achieving the
highest volume of
assists were
principally central
midfield players
A core competence of
our central midfielders
needs to be the
capacity to open up
tight defences - how
do we coach this?

19. The dribblers
Rank
Name Team Pos Apps
Successful
dribbles per
game
Goals
scored Assists
1 Franck Ribéry Bayern Munich AM(L) 24(3) 4.5 10 14
2 Hatem Ben Arfa Newcastle United AM(CLR) 16(3) 4.2 4 2
3 Diego Wolfsburg AM(CL) 32 4 10 7
4 Lionel Messi Barcelona AM(R),FW 28(4) 3.8 46 12
5 Jonathan Biabiany Parma M(CLR),FW 29(4) 3.5 2 5
6 Sercan Sararer Greuther Furth AM(LR),FW 21(1) 3.5 1 0
7 Daniel Caligiuri Freiburg AM(CLR) 27(2) 3.4 5 2
8 Ibrahima Traoré VfB Stuttgart AM(L) 27(5) 3.3 3 6
Not surprisingly - Only 3 of the top 30 dribblers
were defenders
Observation
Dribbling seems an essential and effective skill
provided it is part of a bigger package e.g. Messi,
Ribery and Diego - high on goals and assists

20. The Premier League Creative’s

21. Possession

22. Possession stats - Best
89.5%69.2%Barcelona(1)1
77.3%57.3%Rayo
Vallecano(5)
8
81.3%57.4%Lyon(3)7
85.5%57.4%Juventus(1)6
86%57.9%Man City(2)5
86%58.7%Arsenal(3)4
83.5%58.8%Lille(5)3
87.4%63.8%Bayern(1)2
Pass
Accuracy
Possession
Average
TeamRank

23. Passing stats - Best
Rank Team Cross Through Long Short
Avg per
game
1 Barcelona (1) 15 8 61 688 772
2 Bayern Munich (1) 26 3 77 532 638
3 Arsenal (4) 25 6 54 510 595
4 Manchester City (2) 23 4 51 488 566
5 Swansea (10) 21 2 62 477 562
6 Liverpool (7) 21 3 61 475 560
7 Manchester United (1) 25 3 59 471 558
8 Paris Saint Germain (1) 19 3 55 473 550
The 5 European League winners all averaged 12%
or less long passing

24. Passing stats related to part of
pitch - Best
27%47%26%550Paris St Germain (1)8
28%45%27%558Man Utd (1)7
30%44%27%560Liverpool (7)6
23%48%29%562Swansea (10)5
31%44%24%566Man City(2)4
31%45%24%595Arsenal(4)3
32%46%23%638Bayern(1)2
30%49%20%772Barcelona(1)1
Att
1/3
Mid
1/3
Def
1/3
Avg
pass
Count
TeamRank

25. Passing stats - Worst
Rank Team Cross Through Long Short Total
1 Levante (11) 17 2 61 239 319
2 Bastia (12) 19 4 59 267 349
3 Reading ® 27 1 61 265 354
4 Mallorca (20) 23 1 60 273 357
5 Stoke (12) 23 1 63 274 361
6 Greuther Furth ® 15 1 66 279 361
7 Granada (16) 22 2 61 277 362
8 Zaragoza (19) 21 1 65 282 369
The teams with the worst passing stats also had the
highest % of long passes 17% +

26. Possession stats - Worst
68.4%36.4%Levante(13)1
70.2%43.5%Stoke(12)8
73.6%42.9%Norwich(14)7
72.9%42.7%Bastia(14)6
73.2%42.1%Greuther
Furth(R)
5
75.8%41.5%Dusseldorf(R)4
72.2%41.5%Mallorca(R)3
69.2%40.1%Reading(R)2
Pass
Accuracy
Possession
Average
TeamRank

27. Is there a correlation between
possession and success?
Based on the
previous slides -
YES there does
appear to be a
correlation - not sure
how strong or
whether the
frequency you keep
the ball or the
frequency that you
give it away are the
more significant!

28. Individual Possession stats - Best
95.7%96Xavi(MF)1
92.3%74.3Sergio Busquets (D/MF)8
92.4%64.6Thiago Alcantara (MF)7
92.6%70.9Alex Song(D/MF)6
92.6%52.3Guillemo Rodriguez (CB)5
92.7%55.1Angelo Obinze (CB)4
92.7%55.8Ki Sung-Yueng (D/MF)3
92.8%42.6Luis Gustavo(D/MF)2
Pass
Accuracy
Average
passes per
game
TeamRank
42 players achieved over 90% pass accuracy

29. Implications?
Of the 42 players
who averaged over
90% pass accuracy
over the season
Attackers 1
MF 9
D/MF 7
Defenders 25
Our central defenders /
Midfielders need pass
accuracy as a core
competence

30. Which is best a good attack or
a good defence?
Since the Premiership
began, the league
winners have had the
• Best attack 45%
• Best Defence 20%
• Both 25%
• Neither 10%

31. Defending

32. Teams conceding least goals
Rank Team
Goals
against
per game GA
1 Bayern Munich (1) 0.53 18
2 Paris Saint Germain (1) 0.61 23
3 Juventus (1) 0.63 24
4 Atletico Madrid (3) 0.81 30
5 Saint Etienne (5) 0.84 32
6 Manchester City (2) 0.89 34
6 Bordeaux (7) 0.89 34
8 Napoli (2) 0.95 36
8 Marseille (2) 0.95 36

33. Goals conceded per game -
Worst
Rank Team
Goals
against per
game GA
1 Pescara ® 2.21 84
2 Hoffenheim (16) 1.97 67
3 Werder Bremen (14) 1.94 66
4 Wigan ® 1.92 73
5 Reading ® 1.92 73
6 Mallorca (20) 1.89 70
7 Deportivo La Coruna (17) 1.86 69
8 Hannover 96 (9) 1.82 62

34. Shots conceded per
game - Best
Rank Team
Shots
conceded
pg
1 Bayern Munich (1) 8.2
2 Barcelona (1) 9.0
3 Lille (5) 9.1
4 Marseille (2) 9.3
5 Tottenham (5) 9.7
6 Borussia Dortmund (2) 9.8
7 Atletico Madrid (3) 10.0
8 Juventus (1) 10.0

35. Shots conceded per
game - Worst
Rank Team
Shots
conceded
pg
1 Reading ® 18.6
2 Pescara ® 17.7
3 Fulham (12) 16.8
4 Sunderland (17) 16.8
5 Aston Villa (15) 16.8
6 West Ham (10) 16.5
7 Queens Park Rangers ® 15.9
8 Valladolid (14) 15.8

36. Highest Volume of tackles
Rank
Name Team Pos Apps
Tackles
per
game
1 Matteo Darmian Torino D(R) 30 5.2
2 Valon Behrami Napoli M(CR) 32(1) 4.9
3 Arturo Vidal Juventus M(C) 29(2) 4.9
4 Lucas Leiva Liverpool DM(C) 24(2) 4.7
5 Javi López Espanyol D(R),DM(C) 27(4) 4.7
6 Víctor Sánchez Espanyol D(R),M(C) 32 4.6
7 Fagner Wolfsburg D(R) 24(2) 4.3
8 Fabrice N'Sakala Troyes D(L) 21(1) 4.3

37. Highest Volume of
Interceptions
Rank
Name Team Pos Apps
Interceptions
per game
1 Geromel Mallorca D(C) 28(1) 4.5
2 Oliver Sorg Freiburg D(LR) 32 4.1
3 Morgan Schneiderlin. Southampton DM(C) 36 3.9
4 Luís Neto Siena D(C) 20 3.9
5 Mehdi Benatia Udinese D(C) 19 3.8
6 Heiko Wester... Hamburger SV D(CLR),DM(C) 34 3.7
7 Daniel Carvajal Bayer Leverkusen D(R) 31(1) 3.7
8 Sandro Tottenham DM(C) 22 3.6