Konstantinos Michail - Data task.pdf

1. Data task
Konstantinos Michail
Task 2 – Data

2. Methodology
• Conducted simple research and analysed the provided game to determine
which KPIs to focus on.
• Researched the playstyle of the team and analysed the two main Strikers
(Norwood - Cole) to understand the needs of the team.
• Recognised the team's directness and high-pressing strategy to win the ball
as high as possible on the pitch.
• Focus on Strikers who can efficiently press and play a direct style of football;
therefore, I will look for aerial capabilities.
• Also, focus on Striker's shooting capabilities, as it is important to be lethal
inside the box.
• Strikers need to have progressive passing or ball-carrying capabilities to
create attacks immediately after winning the ball.
• Dribbling skills are also crucial for a Striker.
• I shortlisted 7 players, and I will explain the reason behind it, along with
ranking all strikers from best to worst according to their performance levels.

3. Team breakdown
According to this graph, Barnsley is considered a direct style of a team without many passes per
sequence. Considering this, I will look for strikers that have good aerial capabilities, able to play
in a direct style of play.
*Graph from theanalyst.com, Opta data

4. Team breakdown
According to this table, Barnsley has the highest number of high turnovers.
Therefore, I will look for strikers that press well.
*Table from theanalyst.com, Opta data

5. Player breakdown
This table shows that both of Barnsley’s strikers are carrying the ball a lot in games.
They both have one of the highest progression carries as well, and their carries are
ending into creating chances. Therefore, I will look into players who can carry and
progress the ball effectively.
*Table from theanalyst.com, Opta data

6. Player breakdown
This table shows that both of Barnsley’s strikers are contributing a lot in attack, and
also creating chances for their teammates. Therefore, besides looking at their
execution abilities, I will look into players who can create at the same time.
*Table from theanalyst.com, Opta data
*Attack contribution is non-penalty shots + open play chances created.
** PCT rank: percentile rank of attack contribution.

7. Performance Levels
• This graph represents the correlation of NPG p90, along
with the Over/Under performance metric.
• NPG metric is the number of goals scored, excluding
penalties per 90 minutes. The over/underperformance
metric aims to give value to player performance if, for
example, he is exceeding his expectations. Therefore, the
closer this metric is to 0, the better, as this means his
performance is expected and not a glimpse.
• This will be my starting point in trying to filter out the
players.
• I will choose players who are performing well and scoring
in high numbers.
• Ideally, the player should not be overperforming, as this
could be a one-season wonder case.

8. Expected Goals
• This graph represents the correlation of Post-Shot xG
along with xG.
• With the use of both metrics, we can see the quality of
the shots taken by the player.
• Player 51 has one of the highest values of xG per game
and one of the highest values of Post-shot xG, which
shows his threatening capabilities.
• Player 16 shows one of the best shooting qualities among
these players.
• Players 39, 42 and 49 are similar in these metrics, as they
are all well above average for their executing skills.
• Player 57 has one of the highest xG values, but his shots
are not the best.
• Player 33 has below-average values for both Post-shot xG
and xG and ranks low.

9. Goal Conversion
• This graph represents the correlation of NPG along with
the Goal Conversion rate.
• With the combination of both metrics, I aim to find the
best finisher among the strikers.
• Player 49 has one of the highest values of NPG and one
of the highest Goal Conversion rates; therefore is
considered the best finisher.
• Players 16,57, and 51 have similar values and are
considered excellent finishers.
• Player 39 is slightly ranked lower but still decent.
• Player 33 has an average NPG value but a well-above-
average conversion rate.
• Player 42 looks to be a bad finisher but with a good value
of NPG.

10. Dribbling
• This graph represents the correlation between Dribbles
along with Dribble succession rate.
• With the combination of these metrics, I aim to find the
best dribbler among the strikers.
• Player 16 has the highest number of dribbles, p90, but
with an average succession rate.
• Players 49,51, and 32 are similar, having a decent amount
of dribbles per game and an above-average succession
rate. Players 39, 42 and 57 are bad dribblers.

11. Aerials
• This graph represents the correlation between Aerial wins
along with Aerials winning rate.
• With the combination of these metrics, I aim to find the
best striker regarding his aerial challenges.
• Players 39 and 57 are among the best players regarding
aerial challenges, as they both have a high number of
aerial wins and one of the highest success rates.
• Player 49 is considered an above-average aerial threat.
• Player 16 is average.
• Players 42, 33 and 51 are bad in aerials.

12. Pressing
• This graph represents the correlation between Pressures
along with Pressure regains.
• With these metrics combined, I aim to find the best
presser among the strikers.
• Player 49 is the best player among the selected, pressing
and regaining the ball well above average.
• Player 33 also seems decent.
• Player 42 is making a very good amount of pressure p90,
but with average regains value.
• Players 39, 16, 51 and 57 are considered bad and not
good pressers at all, as they don’t press much and do not
regain the ball enough.

13. Progression & Contribution
• This graph represents the correlation between xGChain
along with Deep Progressions.
• With the combination of these metrics, I aim to find the
players with most contribution to their team’s xG and
progression abilities
• Player 42 is ranked the highest for his contribution and
progressions skills.
• Player 16 is ranked very high for his contribution skills and
is also an excellent ball progressor.
• Player 33 is a very good ball progressor but is average in
his contribution.
• Player 49 is equally good at progressing and contributing
but with moderate values.
• Player 51 seems to contribute more than progressing,
whereas Players 39 and 57 contribute more.

14. Creating
• This graph represents the correlation between Open Play
Key Passes and Open Play Final Third Passes.
• With the combination of these metrics, I aim to find the
best creator among the strikers.
• Player 33 is the best striker for creating capabilities, as he
excels from this graph.
• Player 16 is also an excellent creator, whereas player 42
lacks a bit in key passes.
• Players 39, 51, 49 and 57 are average creators.

15. Shortlist
In this section, I will elaborate and explain why I
chose the specific shortlisted players.

16. Player 49
• Player 49 is one of the best finishers.
• He is overperforming a lot.
• He is not playing regularly, as his minute numbers
suggest.
• He is also very good at aerials.
• He is an excellent ball progressor.
• He is a very good creator, and he is contributing
to his team’s play a lot.
• He is one of the best dribblers.
• He presses a lot and makes one of the highest
numbers of regains.
• Player 49 is selected due to his execution, aerial,
progressing, dribbling, creating and pressing
abilities, which make him a very good striker
overall and one of the best candidates. He is also
at a very young age (19), still developing and with
a high probability of resale value. He is worth
monitoring to see if his overperformance is not
only a glimpse.

17. Player 49
• He is one of the best finishers, as his NPG, Post-Shot xG, and Goal Conversion rates suggest.
• He possesses one of the highest Shot OBV values, and he is also the player who overperforms the most.
• He is a decent presser, making 15.08 pressures p90 and regaining 2.56 times p90.
• He is above average in aerials and makes 6.3 touches into the box. When it comes to his creating skills, he makes an outstanding value of 0.17 assists p90 and contributes to
xG buildup and Chain for his team a lot. He makes 0.77 deep completions and 1.79 deep progressions, along with a value of 0.04 for OBV Carry & Dribble, which makes him
a decent progressor.
• Lastly, he is a very good dribbler, making 2.64 dribbles with a 52% succession rate p90.

18. Player 16
• Player 16 is one of the best finishers and creators
as well.
• He is overperforming a lot.
• He regularly plays as his minute numbers suggest.
He is okay in aerials.
• He is also a decent ball progressor.
• He contributes to his team’s play a lot.
• In contrast, he is not pressing enough.
• Player 16 is selected due to his execution,
creating, progressing and contributing abilities.
He is 35 years old, which we need to have in
mind. He is worth monitoring, but we need to
look closely at whether this is a glimpse of
overperforming in one season or if he is a player
that excels in this league due to his quality and
experience.

19. Player 16
• He is the best for his executing capabilities. having the highest value of NPG with 0.57 p90, along with a value of 0.54 for his Post-Shot xG.
• He makes 3.18 shots p90 with an on-target rate of 49%. He converses 18% of his chances and has the highest value of Shot OBV.
• He is a bad presser and average on aerials. He makes, though, 5.84 touches into the box p90.
• He is the best creator among strikers, having 0.24 assists p90. He has the highest value of 0.95 for xGChain and 0.60 for xG buildup, showing his contribution to his
team’s xG. He makes 2.52 deep progressions p90 and 1.42 key passes p90, one of the highest values.
• He also makes a lot of dribbles, making 3.13 dribbles p90 with an average succession rate of 47%.

20. Player 39
• Player 39 is among the best strikers.
• He played a lot, having one of the highest minute
numbers.
• He is an outstanding finisher.
• He is one of the best aerial threats.
• He is decent at creating.
• He does not press a lot during the games.
• He is not progressing with the ball and is average
in contributing.
• This must be further examined to identify if this is
because of his team’s playstyle or his own work
rate. This player is selected mainly for his
execution and aerial ability. Also, he is at a very
good age (28), reaching the peak of his
development.

21. Player 39
• He is one of the best in his executing capabilities, having one of the highest values in NPG, Post-shot xG and xG metrics.
• He also makes 2.83 shots p90, one of the highest values, but with an average on-target rate of 40%.
• He is conversing 15% of his chances, and his Shot OBV is at 0.12. Lastly, he makes 5.82 touches into the box and is one of the best
regarding his aerial ability.
• He is very average when it comes to creating.

22. Player 33
• Player 33 is not so good in his execution abilities.
• He is overperforming slightly.
• He is playing regularly, as his minute numbers
suggest.
• He is one of the worst for his aerial ability.
• He is a very good ball progressor.
• He is an outstanding creator, and he is
contributing to his team’s play a lot.
• He is also a very good pressing player.
• Player 33 is selected due to his pressing, creating
and contributing abilities. He is also at a very
young age (20), still developing and with a high
probability of resale value. He is worth
monitoring, as his performances are good without
overperforming, and he regularly plays at a young
age.

23. Player 33
• He is below average in his executing capabilities. He does not make many shots in games, and he has a low conversion rate of 11%.
• He has, although a decent Shot OBV.
• He is one of the best pressers, making 21.15 pressings and 2.34 regains p90.
• He is the worst in aerials, and he makes only 3.89 touches into the box. When it comes to his creativity attributes, he has one of the highest numbers of assists,
having 0.22 assists p90 and making 0.97 key passes p90.
• He has a good value of 0.60 xG Chain but a below-average value of 0.33 for xG build-up. In addition, he makes 0.84 deep completions and 2.03 deep progressions
p90.
• Furthermore, he is an okay dribbler, making 1.63 dribbles with a succession rate of 49% p90.

24. Player 51
• Player 51 is one of the best finishers.
• He is overperforming slightly.
• He is not playing regularly, as his minute numbers
suggest.
• He is very bad at aerials.
• He is one of the best dribblers among strikers
• He is also a very good ball progressor.
• He is an excellent creator, and he is contributing
to his team’s play a lot.
• In contrast, he is not pressing enough.
• Player 51 is selected due to his execution,
dribbling, creating and contributing abilities. He is
also at a young age (24), which could provide
resale value. He is worth monitoring, but we need
to look closely at why a player with these stats
was not playing regularly.

25. Player 51
• He is one of the best in his executing capabilities, having one of the highest values in NPG and xG metrics scoring 0.49 NPG p90, along with a value of 0.47 for
Post-Shot xG and 0.41 for xG.
• He makes 2.9 shots p90, with an above-average shots on-target rate of 40%. He has an excellent goal conversion of 17%, and he also possesses a high value for his
Shot OBV.
• He is bad at pressing and aerials, and he makes 6.05 touches into the box p90.
• As a creator, he has an outstanding value of 0.19 assists p90, along with contributing to xG buildup and chain for his team. He makes a decent amount of deep
progressions and has one of the highest values for the OBV Carry & Dribble metric, along with 0.93 key passes p90.
• Lastly, he is an excellent dribbler, making 2.28 dribbles with a succession rate of 54% p90.

26. Player 57
• Player 57 is an outstanding finisher.
• He is overperforming slightly.
• He is not playing regularly, as his minute numbers
suggest.
• He is outstanding in aerials.
• He is a very good ball progressor. He is also an
excellent creator and he is contributing to his
team’s play a lot.
• In contrast, he is not pressing enough.
• Player 57 is selected due to his execution, aerial,
progressing and contributing abilities. He is also
at a very good age (26) and is close to the peak of
his development. He is worth monitoring, but we
need to look closely at why a player with these
stats was not playing regularly.

27. Player 57
• He is one of the best in his executing capabilities, having one of the highest values in NPG and xG metrics. He ranks a bit lower on his Post-shot xG metrics, which
may suggest the quality of his shots.
• He makes 2.81 shots p90, with a well below-average value of 33% shots on target. He has a low Shot OBV.
• He does not press at all, having one of the lowest in this category. He makes 7.14 touches into the box and wins 6.71 aerials, with a winning rate of 50%, being one
of the best for his aerial capabilities.
• He helps a lot with his team-building attacks and contributes in their xG chain.
• Lastly, he has a very good value of 0.14 assists p90, along with 1.15 key passes p90.

28. Player 42
• Player 42 has very good finishing abilities.
• He is overperforming.
• He is playing regularly, as his minute numbers
suggest.
• He is one of the best ball progressors and also
one of the best creators, contributing to his
team’s play a lot.
• He is pressing okay.
• Player 42 is selected due to his creating, passing,
progressing and contributing abilities. He is also
at a good age (29) and playing at his peak. He is
worth monitoring as a more creative option.

29. Player 42
• He is excellent in his execution abilities, having 0.34 NPG, 0.38 Post-Shot xG and 0.31 xG p90. He also makes one of the highest numbers of shots, p90, making
3.43, with a bad on-target ratio of 30%. He, although converses, only 10% of his chances.
• He has a decent Shot OBV and is above average for his pressing.
• He makes 6.52 touches into the box, and he is not considered very good at aerials. He is one of the best creators. He has 0.23 assists p90 and contributes a lot to
his team’s xG buildup and Chain. He makes 0.94 deep completions and 3.39 deep progressions.
• In addition, he possesses one of the highest OBV Carry & Dribble values of 0.12.
• Lastly, he is average in dribbling and makes 1.09 key passes p90.

30. Ranking
In this section, I will rank each striker with an index I’ve measured,
explaining the methodology for creating that index.

31. Methodology
• I’ve decided to focus on three specific aspects: Goals, Aerials and Pressing.
The reason behind this selection is the directness of the team, along with the
high pressing intensity and desire to win the ball as high as possible. Goals is
the obvious option as we are ranking strikers.
• I’ve created an index giving weights to these aspects. I decided to give 40%
weight to goal-scoring abilities and 30% each to aerials and pressing.
• I ranked the highest number of NPG and xG, with 1 being the best and 66
being the worst. In the same manner, I ranked the highest number of Aerial
Wins & Aerial %, and lastly, Pressures and Pressure regains.
• The indexing equation is: Index= 0.4*(NPG Rank + xG rank) + 0.3*(Aerial wins
Rank + Aerial % Rank) + 0.3*(Pressures Rank + Pressure Regains Rank)
• This is a general indexing and differs from the methodology I used before.
This is a way to rank each striker from best to worst.
• The lowest index number is the best, and the highest index number is the
worst.

32. Ranks
Rank Player Index
1 Player 49 29.8
2 Player 40 34.5
3 Player 48 36.6
4 Player 39 38.3
5 Player 11 38.4
6 Player 20 39.4
7 Player 57 41.7
8 Player 17 42.2
9 Player 27 47.1
10 Player 26 47.2
11 Player 16 47.2
12 Player 56 47.5

33. Ranks
Rank Player Index
13 Player 21 48.5
14 Player 58 48.5
15 Player 64 48.7
16 Player 22 50.1
17 Player 66 50.1
18 Player 54 52.3
19 Player 28 53.6
20 Player 37 53.9
21 Player 6 54.8
22 Player 43 55.8
23 Player 65 56.2
24 Player 42 58.6

34. Ranks
Rank Player Index
25 Player 36 59.6
26 Player 62 60.6
27 Player 18 62.1
28 Player 55 62.1
29 Player 44 62.5
30 Player 8 62.5
31 Player 45 64
32 Player 38 64
33 Player 41 65.9
34 Player 60 66.4
35 Player 51 67.5
36 Player 53 70.2

35. Ranks
Rank Player Index
37 Player 33 71.1
38 Player 25 71.9
39 Player 59 72.5
40 Player 13 74.2
41 Player 63 75.6
42 Player 29 75.7
43 Player 9 76.4
44 Player 34 76.5
45 Player 32 77.2
46 Player 3 78
47 Player 14 78.9
48 Player 15 80.3

36. Ranks
Rank Player Index
49 Player 31 80.4
50 Player 50 81.6
51 Player 35 82.3
52 Player 5 82.4
53 Player 1 86.8
54 Player 30 86.9
55 Player 2 87
56 Player 52 87.7
57 Player 61 88.1
58 Player 46 90.1
59 Player 4 90.1
60 Player 7 92

37. Ranks
Rank Player Index
61 Player 47 94
62 Player 10 95.7
63 Player 19 98.3
64 Player 24 99.9
65 Player 23 100.3
66 Player 12 101.7

38. Operational Definitions
Metric Name Description
Over/Underperformance Goals and assists above expectation. The difference between scoring contribution (actual
contribution to goals) and xG & xG Assisted (expected contribution to goals).
xG A metric designed to measure the probability of a shot resulting in a goal.
Post-shot xG Post Shot xG earned from on-target shots.
Goal conversion % Percentage of non-penalty shots a player takes that are converted into goals.
Deep progressions Passes and dribbles/carries into the opposition final third.
xG Chain A model that attributes the xG value of the final shot to all players involved in the entire
possession.
xG Buildup A model that attributes the xG value of the final shot to all players involved in the entire
possession. The buildup version omits xG and xG Assisted to focus on possession work prior to the
end of the chain.
Shot touch % The amount of shots a player takes as a proportion of their touches of the ball.
Deep completion Successful passes within 20 metres of the opposition goal.
Carry % Percentage of a player's carries that were successful.
OBV Assesses ball progression value by estimating how much an event improves (or reduces) the
team's expected goal difference over the current and next possessions.
Defensive action OBV Judging defensive quality based on the value of their defensive actions.
Dribble & Carry OBV Judging dribble & carry quality based on the value of their dribble and carry actions.
Pass OBV Judging passing quality based on the value of their passing actions.
Shot OBV Judging shooting quality based on the value of their shooting actions.