eco-researchpaper-quality of isl vs other leagues (1)
1. Comparison of The Quality of Football played in the
Indian Super League Vs Other Leagues
Abstract
The study investigated the performance indicators in football and how
the level of performance is directly proportional to the quality of football
being displayed by the individual and the club as a whole. The
investigation was carried out in order to find out the difference in quality
of football displayed in the Indian Super League (ISL) and the other
leagues of the major footballing nations of the world, mainly The
English Premier League. The research was carried out taking into
consideration various variables of performance analysis and interpreting
the data in order to provide a justification to the matter via a scientific
and statistical method. Descriptive statistical tool (one sample t test) was
used to test the hypotheses in the case of some parameters and it was
found that the ISL had a great dearth in quality when compared to the
EPL or other European Leagues.
Literature Review
There is a vast difference in the quality of football displayed at the
Indian Super League (ISL) and the other leagues played all around the
world. The leagues played in Europe are ranked higher than those
played in Asia, with the A League(Australia), J-League(Japan) and the
2. K-League (South Korea) being the most prominent leagues in Asia in
terms of competitiveness.
When compared to the EPL (English Premier League) and the La Liga
(Spanish League), these high profile Asian leagues are no match in
terms of quality of football.
Now comes The ISL, where franchise owned teams fight it out for the
title. A league held for three months (October-December) where retired
professionals or players in the twilight of their career want to try their
luck for the last time, before they decide to hang up their boots.
“In the ISL, the finishing is poor, the marquee players are old, fitness
levels aren't great and neither is technique. Yes, you get the odd moment
of brilliance but on the whole it very much feels like the first unsteady
step taken by a toddler.
Then, you flip channels.
Manchester City's Sergio Aguero is on the screen -- standing on the left
side of the goal in the D with a defender in front of him. He pauses for a
split second, feints, gets half a step to his right and curls the ball into the
side netting. The goalkeeper dives full length but couldn't stop it. Later
in the match, he netted his fourth goal -- this time he was on the right
side of the goal and he let his left foot do the talking.” (The Sport
Review) (21.10.2014).
Thus we can see that the fitness levels, technique and the finishing of the
marquee players (supposed to be the best players in the league) in the
ISL are a lot lower than the fitness, and skill levels that a player in the
English Premier League possesses.
3. “ISL teams have spent money and tried to ensure that the management
of the event is as professional as possible. But is that enough? How can
it take on the EPL? Should it even try?
Instead, the ISL has a different battle on its hands. The MohunBagan-
East Bengal Derby often draws crowds in excess of 100,000 but the rest
of the matches sometimes struggle to convince even a 1,000 people to
make the trip to the stadium.
You rarely, if ever, understand how difficult a game is when you watch
it on TV. The screen distorts distances and angles. It also never shows
you the amount of ground each player has to cover and you never truly
appreciate the efforts being put in by the players in hostile weather while
you sit in air-conditioned comfort. Being at the ground allows you to
soak in the madness and truly support the game.
That is what the ISL can introduce too. The quality will come in time. It
took the EPL 200 years to get where it is. If we can keep the faith in the
ISL,we surely won't have to wait that long.”
(First post) (19.10.2015)
The influx of quality will surely m
ake the ISL more competitive in terms of quality and viewership, but
will it be at par with the other heavyweight leagues of Asia or Europe,
that remains to be seen.
“Despite foreign names and coaches and strategies, the ISL remains
slow paced, less aggressive and less interesting to watch. Be it Indian
players failing to react to swift precise movements or lack of individual
brilliance, the game needs to change a lot for the good.
(PriyanshuGanguly. Economy Decoded.com)
4. The proposed extension of the ISL (from 3 months to 6 months) can
bring about both positive and negative changes towards improving the
quality of players playing in the ISL and improving the quality of the
league as a whole.
The Purpose of the research is determining the factors that affect the
quality of the ISL as compared to the other leagues and coming out with
a solution or a process, in which advancements could be made to achieve
higher quality football matches, in the ISL in the near future.
Parameters to be taken into account for determining the gulf in quality
between the ISL and the other footballing leagues.
1. Number of goals scored.
2. Distance covered by each player.
3. Passing accuracy
4. Shot accuracy
5. Number of passes completed
6. Miss-passes
7. Number of successful final third penetrations
8. Wage bill per player
9. Wage bill per team
Parameter Source: Statistical data (OptaStats. Whoscored)
5. Introduction
This research will discuss performance indicators in football from a
scientific and statistical point of view. Statistics and scientific ways of
performance analysis seemed to be present for a long time~40 years.
(Reep, C. and B. Benjamin, Skill and chance in ball games.Journal
of the Royal Statistical Society, 1971.) While paper and pencil were
used in the earlier days, software solutions like ProZone allow a more in
depth analysis of football games. With the advent of football statistics
based websites like WhoScored and OptaStats, in depth statistical
analysis of a team and every player playing the game can be obtained in
a matter of a click. Quality of a match, team or a player is determined by
his/her level of performance through a period of time, i.e consistency.
Analysis
Now the question that arises is what are the performance indicators?
A performance indicator is a selection, or combination, of action
variables that aims to define some aspects of a performance in a given
sport and, these performance indicators, should relate to successful
performance or outcome.(Hughes, M.D. and R.M. Bartlett, The use of
performance indicators in performance analysis.)
Utilizing this definition it seems necessary to define “action variables”,
which are then categorized into physical/physiological, technical,
6. tactical and others parameters. These parameters will be discussed
individually as we progress through the paper.
Physiological Parameters- Physical capacity of players seemed to be a
key factor in match performance, the fact that successful teams covered
greater distance in high-speed movement activity. (Carling, C.,
Interpreting Physical Performance in Professional Soccer Match-
Play). More specifically, match activity such as high-speed running in
relation to league position at the end of the playing season have been
used to provide an indication to which physical performance can
influence the ‘success’ of teams.
Time motion analysis or in simpler terms we can say distance covered
by a player in 90 minutes is an important parameter to judge the quality
of a player as it reveals his/her level of fitness and it is known that fitter
players are better in quality and produce higher levels of performance. It
seems evident that “fit” players can cover greater distance if needed,
disregarding of level of play. For example, researchers (Bradley, P.S.,
et al., High-intensity activity profiles of elite soccer players at
different performance levels) suggested that distance covered at high
intensity are more valid measure of physical performance in football
because of their strong relationship with training status.
The average distance covered by all players combined in the Manchester
Derby(Manchester United Vs Manchester City) played in October 2016
was 5.4 miles(WhoScored) whereas the average distance covered in the
Maharashtra Derby in the ISL (Mumbai City VsPune City) was a mere
3.1 miles(WhoScored). This shows the vast difference in distance
covered on an average between the teams of the two leagues, in a match
of high magnitude and tension. This basically states that the “Fitness
Levels” of the players playing in the two leagues has a huge difference.
7. The players playing in the EPL are a lot fitter than their ISL
counterparts.
Technical Parameters-Similar to the physiological parameters,
technical elements are very important in football and most of the time
these parameters (such as shots on goal) are very easy to measure
reliably. This kind of analysis is called notational analysis. (Hughes, M.
and I. Franks, Analysis of passing sequences, shots and goals in
soccer.)
Passes-
Number of passes-
Overall number of passes, pass attempts during net playing time and
overall number of correct passes are figured as important factors in
judging the quality of football being played. Longer passing sequences
are a more efficient way of scoring goals compared to shorter passing
sequences in elite Australian football (Johnson, K. and A. Murphy,
Passing and goal scoring characteristics in the Australian A-
League).
Top 5 passers in the Man United vs Man City match completed
75,73,63,65,56 passes. While top 5 passers in the Mumbai City Vs Pune
City ISL game had completed 41, 48, 33, 35, 31 passes.
An independent sample t test was performed on the above data and the
level of significance (P value) was 0.000 which is < 0.05 and the null
hypothesis was rejected. This means that the first sample is different
from the second sample. This shows the difference in quality of passing
between the teams of the two leagues.
Types of passes-
Types of passes were not seen as a performance indicator. However,
quality teams were able to execute a wider variety of passes as a tool to
8. create shots, making them less predictable and being able to shoot more
frequently ( Hughes, M. and S. Churchill, Attacking profiles of
successful and unsuccessful teams in Copa America 2001.) Crosses
and chips were used more significantly by quality teams compared to
unsuccessful and poorer quality teams.
Passes into specific areas-
Penetrative passes into the box and the 6 yard area seemed to increase
the number of shots on goal and consequently number of goals. (Gomez,
M.A., et al., Effects of game location and final outcome on game-
related statistics in each zone of the pitch in professional
football.)Interestingly, unsuccessful or teams of poor quality tended to
play significantly more passes into the pre-defensive area. (Jankovic,
A., et al., Influence of certain tactical attacking patterns on the
result achieved by the team’s participants of the 2010 FIFA World
Cup in South Africa).
Top 5 players with most key passes in the final third in the Man Utdvs
City match had 6,3,3,2,2 passes respectively. Whereas in the Mumbai
City Vs Pune City match the top 5 players with most key passes in the
final third had 3,3,2,2,1 passes respectively. This shows the the lack of
vision in the final third from the ISL players when compared to the
vision of picking a pass in the final third of the EPL players.
Pass accuracy-
There is no doubt that pass accuracy is an important performance
indicator in football in general. For example it was shown that the pass
accuracy was significant higher 5 minutes before scoring. Pass accuracy
not only retains possession, but may also lead to scoring opportunities
while also restricting possessions and scoring opportunities of the
9. opposition (Redwood-Brown, A., Passing patterns before and after
goal scoring in FA Premier League Soccer).
Top 5 players with highest passing accuracies in the Man Utdvs Man
City game were 90,90,91,87,85 percent accurate with their passing. On
the other hand the top 5 passing accuracy of the Mumbai City Vs Pune
City match were around 75,78,80,73,71 percent.
An independent sample t test was carried out with the above passing
accuracies and the level of significance (P value) was found to be 0.000,
which is < 0.05, which means that the null hypothesis was rejected and
that there is a difference between the two groups of values that were
used for the test. This shows that there is a difference in quality of
passing accuracy between the two leagues.
Pass to opposition/interceptions/miss-passes-
The number of miss-passes in a match projects the lack in quality of
passing of the team and the players as individuals. Though it is a bit
unclear if the interception is a consequence of the inability to pass
accurately or good movement from the opponent (or a combination of
both). However, it is believed that everyone can agree that low number
of opposition and high number of interception might help to succeed in
the game. Thus making low number of miss-passes is a determinant of
the quality of football.
In the game featuring the two EPL teams, there were 120 miss-passes/
interceptions throughout the course of the game while there were 160 in
the ISL game.
Tackles won/lost-
Limited data is available for tackles won/lost in connection with
performance and quality in football. Interestingly, it is not reported that
10. number of successful tackles links to success, however the number of
tackles and the total fouls discriminated between top tiers and lower
ranked teams (Oberstone, J., Differentiating the top English Premier
League Football Clubs from the rest of the pack: Identifying the
keys to success. Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, 2009).
In a game between West Ham and Everton an average of 27-29 tackles
were completed in the course of 90 minutes. On the other hand in an ISL
match between North East United and FC Goa an average of 19-21
tackles were completed.
Additionally, a low number of successful tackles defensively may have
contributed to a high number of conceding goals which shows a lack in
defensive skills or defensive quality of a club.
Shots on/off target-
Disregarding success, home teams have 26% more shots, however the
success rates for the shots do not differ from away teams (Seckin, A.
and R. Pollard Home advantage in Turkish professional soccer.
MPRA Munich Personal RePEc Archive).Successful teams have a
greater number of shots, shots on target, but more importantly a better
rate for number of shots per goal offensively, but also a lower rate of
shots and shots on their own goal (Castellano, J., D. Casamichana,
and C. Lago, The Use of Match Statistics that Discriminate Between
Successful and Unsuccessful SoccerTeams. Journal of Human
Kinetics, 2012).
Going back to the Manchester Derby a total of 11 shots on target were
recorded through 90 minutes of football.
While in an ISL match between North East United FC and Kerala
Blasters, mere 5 shots on goal were recorded.
11. The area/zone of scoring attempt were also taken into consideration. The
penalty area (44.4%), goal area (32.2%) and outside the box (20.4%)
were chosen for goals, however 90% of all goals was scored inside the
penalty area for the 1986 World Cup (Olsen, E., An analysis of goal
scoring strategies in the World Championships in Mexico), whilst it
was 80% for the World Cup 1990 and 81.8% for goal scoring attempts
appeared in the penalty area for Greek domestic football (Sotiropoulos,
A., M. Mitrotasios, and A. Traulos. Comparison in goal scoring
patterns between Greek professional and amateur teams)(Wright,
C., et al., Factors associated with goals and goal scoring
opportunities in professional soccer International Journal of
Performance Analysis in Sport)
Tactical ability-
Despite hard to quantify, it seems evident that the tactical ability and
style of play are key performance indicators and indicators of the quality
of the playing teams. For example, interception of an opponent pass and
subsequent fast counter-attack would all be considered as key quality
aspect of a football club/team (McGarry, T., Applied and theoretical
perspectives of performance analysis in sport).
The so-called game modeling has been used to detect game patterns
distinguishing successful from non-successful teams. Successful teams
are generally of better quality when compared to the unsuccessful team.
(Garganta, J., Trends of tactical performance analysis in team
sports: bridging the gap between research, training and
competition).
Classifying the match into offensive and defensive patterns, but also
highlighting the transitional phase (and pressing) gives an insight about
the quality of the match being played which in turn brings out the quality
of the teams in the league.
12. Offensively-
A team’s offensive play in sequences ending in a shot on goal are
influenced by situational variables (such as numerical relationship
between attack and defense players) (Pratas, J., A. Volossovitch, and
A.P. Ferreira, The effect of situational variables on teams’
performance in offensive sequences ending in a shot on goal).
However, offensive actions play a key role in football. More scoring,
followed by set pieces (35.6%) and counterattacks (20.3%) (Yiannakos,
A. and V. Aramats, Evaluation of the goal scoring patterns in
European Championship in Portugal 2004). Furthermore, 80% of
goals scored after short duration attacks, and players touched the ball a
maximum of 3 (Garganta, J., J. Maia, and F. Basto. Analysis of goal-
scoring patterns in European top level soccer teams.)or 4
times. (Hughes, M. and I. Franks, Analysis of passing sequences,
shots and goals in soccer.Journal of Sports Sciences, 2005).
As many shots (on goal)/goals are performed from the area directly in
front of the penalty area as well as many assists derived from that zone,
it seems logical to penetrate that zone as much as possible or enter the
final third (Rees, G., et al., The effect of match status on attacking
strategies in the English Championship, in Research Methods and
Performance Analysis, M. Hughes, et al., Editors). 64% of
possessions within that zone derived from ball possession of between
0.5-2.5 seconds (Horn, R., R. Williams, and J. Ensum, Attacking in
central areas: A preliminary analysis of attacking play in the 2001-
2002 Premiership season). 46% of off-target attempts from zone in the
final third were from possessions of just one second. However, it was
also reported that not the amount of possession, but its effective
usage/conversion distinguished between successful and non-successful
13. teams (Rees, G., et al., The effect of match status on attacking
strategies in the English Championship)specifically, organized
offense presented the highest frequency in goal.
Offensive play that resulted in a shot on goal in the English Premier
League holds an average of 7-9 in a match. In the ISL this number holds
an average of 3-4 actions (where an offensive play results in a shot on
goal) (WhoScored) (OptaStats) (SportStats).
Transition-
Transition seems to be of high importance in football (Turner, B.J. and
M.G.L. Sayers, The influence of transition speed on event outcomes
in a high performance football team).As the team that just lost the ball
is in a (more or less) unorganized/variable situation which was proven to
have significant effect on conceding goals.
Pressure applied to players having the ball seemed to be crucial in the
mid-offensive zone, as these actions preceded “successful finishing”
(Rees, G., et al., The effect of match status on attacking strategies in
the English Championship), defined as shots on target. The goals
scored were mainly preceded by behaviors in zones near the opposition
goal.
Transition also brings to the fore the speed or intensity at which the
match is being played. In a game that has very quick transitions from
defense to offense, is a match that is exciting as we get to see end to end
action. Whereas in a match that has relatively slow transition speeds
from defense to offense is a match that is low on the excitement radar.
Thus a game with high transition speeds will be a better quality match as
compared to a match with lower transition speed from defense to
offense.
14. The normal transition speed of a team counter attacking in a premier
league game is 4.9 seconds with an average of 3 passes that takes the
ball from a defensive position to an offensive one (defensive third to
offensive third).
On observation, an ISL match has a transition speed of about 9-11
seconds, with an average of 6-7 passes taking the ball from defense to
offense.
Defensively-
It appears that defensive ability of teams to control the opposing team's
movements is the measure of a team’s defensive quality and has an
effect on success in Football (Fatemeh, H., et al., Effectiveness of
types of individual defense performance in achieving success).A
scientific measure was the longitudinal and lateral inter-team-mate
distances, centroid position, and the area of the team span on the pitch
(Frencken, W., et al., Variability of inter-team distances associated
with match events in elite-standard soccer).
In the 2015-2016 season of the Premier League, the “defensive error
leading to goals” tally was an average 3.
The ISL has the same number as the average, despite it being a shorter
league with just 18 games per team as compared to the Premier League’s
38 matches per team.
Set-pieces-
Dead-ball situations can play a significant role in match outcome. For
example up to ~36% of all goals were scored through set-pieces
(Wright, C., et al., Factors associated with goals and goal scoring
opportunities in professional soccer).
15. Goals from direct free-kicks show the quality of the players to put the
ball in the back of a net from a dead ball position. Scoring a direct free-
kick needs lots of skill, practice and precision.
Top 5 teams to score from a direct free-kick in the EPL 2015-2016
season scored 4, 4, 4, 3, 2 goals. The ISL had 3, 3, 2, 2, 1 as the number
of goals from direct free-kicks.
Average Age- The Indian Super League’s (ISL) star quotient has gone
up this season. So has the average age.
The three biggest stars in the cash-rich tournament, which kicks off on
October 1, are all on the wrong side of thirty. Prolific French midfielder
FlorentMalouda, signed by Delhi Dynamos, is 36. Mumbai City’s
marquee player Diego Forlan, the Golden Ball winner of 2010 World
Cup, is 37. And World Cup winning Brazilian defender Lucio, who’ll
once again wear FC Goa colours, is aged 38.
They aren’t the only fading stars hanging on for that one final payday.
Data compiled by FIFA’s Transfer Matching System (TMS) for the June
1 to August 31 window shows that the average age of ISL imports this
season is the highest in the world. So far 59 new players that have been
signed up by the eight ISL clubs and their average age is 27.
This isn’t happening for the first time. Last year, Indian clubs (ISL and
I-League combined) were involved in 118 international transfers during
the summer and winter windows. The average age of players signed was
28 years and 10 months, second only to Iran. The year before that –
during the inaugural edition of the ISL – Indian clubs brought 131
players, which was the second highest in Asia.
16. The average age of players back then was 29 years and one month, the
oldest. Incidentally, the average age of players imported by Indian clubs
was around 25 till 2013.
Till not so long ago, USA’s Major League Soccer (MLS), the Australian
League and a few others leagues in Asia – notably the Gulf – were the
favourite destinations for footballers who were past their prime. The
latest FIFA data fosters the perception held by many that India is the
new retirement home for the ageing footballers.
Arsene Wenger’s view on the ISL and the age of the foreign players
playing in the league-
In 2014, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was among the first to foresee
this. Days after five former Gunners – Robert Pires, Freddie Ljungberg,
Nicolas Anelka, Mikel Silvestre and Andre Santos – joined the ISL,
Wenger told the club’s website that the ‘Indian league was a good
option’ for players who are too old to sneak into one of the top European
leagues. “You have two steps. Being completely at the top finishes when
you are 34 at the latest. After that, you have different leagues like the
MLS and the Indian Super League,” he had said.
Forlan, who won the Uruguayan league with Penarol last season, says
short duration of the ISL makes it an attractive option. “At the moment,
the way they (organisers) are conducting the league – nice stadia, the
way they show it on TV – it’s more or less similar to the Premier
League. There is a difference of course,” the former Manchester United
and Atletico Madrid striker says. “The league is not that long. It’s really
short and it’s a different type of event. That’s why it’s attractive for
many players. Also, the offers you have are really good as well.”
The tempting offer of making millions in three months got
AllesandrodelPiero to Delhi in 2014. Last year, Roberto Carlos came out
17. of retirement at the age of 42 to play for Delhi Dynamos. He was
accompanied by HelderPostiga, who signed for Atletico Kolkata, while
Adrian Mutu returned from obscurity and turned up for Pune City. And
these were some of the marquee names.
Several other journeymen players in their 30s, who were not suitable any
more for a full-season contract in Europe, also landed in India to revive
their careers.
The average age of the players playing in the ISL is 27. However when
you look at the starting eleven and its average age, it shoots up to 29
years. This is because the first eleven mainly comprised of the marquee
players, who were foreign players over the age of 30.
When compared to the average age of the starting eleven of the players
plying their trade in the English premier league, it is a low 25.7 years.
Representation in the National Team-“One in five players at Euro
2016 will be from the Premier League”. This was the headline in The
Telegraph UK sports section, 2 weeks before the beginning of the Euro
16.
“Liverpool best represented club at Euro 2016 with 12 players”(Daily
Mail UK). Liverpool FC had 12 of its players on duty for their
respective nations, at the Euros, 16.
The players in the ISL have Indian players who represent India at the
International level. But, it is to be noted that all the hype about the ISL is
around big name foreign players playing a part with the Indian
contingent of players. Some of the foreign players playing in the league
18. are beyond their prime and some, simply put, are not considered to be
good enough by their National Football Federations to represent the
national team. Besides the Indian players playing for India, only one
notable mention is Mumbai City winger Sonny Norde, who represents
the Haiti National Team. All other foreign players have either retired
from the International stage or are considered to be inferior to the other
players who get selected to represent their country.
India’s International Ranking
India is ranked 137th in the world as per FIFA rankings. This low
ranking in the International stage somewhat brings out that the Indian
players are not that good enough when it comes to playing football
Internationally.
This ranking of India shows that there is a massive gap in terms of
quality when you compare India to nations like Spain, England, or for
that matter even Asian nations like Japan and South Korea. So it is
inevitable that the quality of players playing in the English(EPL),
Spanish(La Liga), Australian( A-League), South Korean(K-League),
Japanese(J-League) will be exponentially higher than the Indian players.
As the core of all the ISL players are made up of Indian players, it is not
unprecedented that the quality of the league as a whole will be a lot
inferior to the other major leagues of the world.
Conclusion
19. Performance and its relationship with quality (and therefore its
indicators) need to be considered with regards to several variables that
have an effect on performance of a player.It seems that teams need to
develop a specific performance index (such as how to enter the attacking
third) for a specific opponent, at a specific location, in a specific type of
competition for a specific time during the match.Furthermore, the
performance index might be individual to specific positions as the
technical and physical demands differ. For example, target strikers have
different movements (amount and intensity), different technical skills
(such as ball possession) compared to central c closer to the goal and
therefore have greater chance to score.Generally, efficacy seems to be
key offensively (goals per shots) as well as defensively (gaining re-
possession quickly). Ball possession (to us) seems to be important in
controlling the game, however, not necessarily as an important
performance indicator. As it seems having ball possession for a long
time does not ensure goals scoring, however is very effective way to
control the game when winning.Creating/cover spaces over large
distance on the pitch offensively seems to create opportunities for
individual players and therefore lowers chances for interceptions,
however, simultaneously increase the demand and the complexity of re-
organizing the defense when losing the ball. As a result,
counterattacking is a very effective way to win a game, especially for
“lower-ranked” in certain situations (away games, less comfortable with
ball possession etc). Keeping all these aspects in mind and after
analyzing the parameters, it is seen that the players plying their trade in
the ISL are a shade poorer in quality when comes in direct comparison
with the players playing in the major European leagues. International
ranking of India in football and the other various physiological,
psychological and technical factors of a player might be the reason of
the lack in quality of football played in the ISL.
