Tag: La Liga
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Wonderkids: 2021 Outlook
Nothing captures the imagination of a football fan quite like the emergence of wonderkids, players surrounded by both high hopes and expectations, and significant uncertainty. Predicting the career trajectory of a young footballer is an extremely complex exercise, bearing in mind the many variables that can suddenly derail even the most obvious of career paths.…
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Wonderkids: Ansu Fati
Of the wonderkids born in 2001 or later, Ansu Fati is the most likely to reach “world-class player” status, according to our analysis. In the final third he participates effectively in the creation of attacks, but it is the astonishing precision of his finishing that really sets him apart. This is thanks to his deep…
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Wonderkids: Rodrygo
A skillful winger with an eye for goal, Rodrygo has just under 100 professional appearances and a debut with the Seleçao on his CV. These are, of course, outstanding accomplishments for a youngster who is yet to turn 20 years old, but they still fall somewhat short of the most optimistic forecasts for him: in…
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Wonderkids: Pedri
Pedri has quickly established himself as a regular starter for FC Barcelona, no easy feat for an 18-year-old coming from the Segunda División. He has tended to play as an inverted winger, at least at the start of the season, but the combination of his excellent passing and dribbling skills, combined with outstanding vision, could…
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La Crescente Importanza della Football Analytics
Dalle origini dell’analisi dei dati nel calcio al dominio del Liverpool, esploriamo come le statistiche e gli algoritmi stanno cambiando il “Beautiful Game”.
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The Growing Importance of Football Analytics
From the origins of data analytics in football to FC Liverpool’s dominance, we explore how stats and algorithms are changing the Beautiful Game.
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Top heading players in European football
Headings require three key skills: a good timing, jumping reach and coordination. In the top 5 leagues, three forwards stand out for their heading skills: Giroud (Chelsea), Pavoletti (Cagliari) and Carrillo (Leganes). In the current season, the “king” of headers is Leonardo Pavoletti, who has already scored 9 headed goals. Mexico City, Sunday 21 June…
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Bend it like Beckham: the top free-kick takers in Europe
Who have been the best free-kick takers in Europe over the past five years? Lionel Messi? Cristiano Ronaldo? According to our research, neither of the two. After analysing all the free-kicks taken in the top 5 European leagues since 2014/15, we arrive to some counterintuitive conclusions. Andrew is attempting yet another dribble. The defender tackles him with energy.…
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The Vitruvian Goalie: A deep dive into the goalkeepers' stats
Goalkeepers save 69% of the opponents’ shots on target, on average. The save ratios differ greatly depending on whether the shots are taken inside or outside the box (60% and 85%, respectively). This suggests that, to be relevant, the save ratio needs to be considered along with the quality of the shots faced by the goalkeepers. To…
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Ball possession in European football (part 3)
Final part of our trilogy of posts dedicated to ball possession in European football. We look into the recurring build-up patterns of four top European teams: Barcelona, Man City, Napoli and Bayern Munich. Third part of a trilogy The FIRST PART OF THE TRILOGY (LINK) was an introduction to ball possession. How it is calculated and…
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