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CIES Football Observatory Monthly Report Issue 15 - May 2016

Technical analysis of player performance

Drs Raffaele Poli, Loïc Ravenel and Roger Besson

1. Introduction 2. Key Performance Indicators

Since 2010 the CIES Observatory has been de- In a football team, players fulfil very particular veloping a method to objectively measure per- roles. The qualities necessary to play on the formance on both a collective and individual wing, for example, are very different to those level. The starting point of the approach used required to play in the centre of the field. The consists of considering that in football, as a same observation holds for defensive posi- collective sport, the total is greater than the tions compared to attacking ones. It is there- sum of parts. Nobody can deny that through- fore crucial to measure performances in a out the history of the game, all the great teams specific manner by identifying the most im- have been able to make individual talent serve portant actions for each position. the collective effort. The recourse to statistical analysis techniques Apart from the intrinsic qualities of players, has allowed us to construct six Key Perfor- complementarity between teammates is de- mance Indicators (KPIs) covering all of the es- cisive when it comes to success. Thus, this sential actions that outfield players1 must ac- notion is at the heart of our approach. The lat- complish in order to enable their team to win. ter is based on the computing of the number The KPIs developed are composite indicators and outcome of actions carried out in six are- that are perfectly comparable both spatial- as of the game. Each indicator refers to specif- ly (between leagues or clubs) and temporally ic skills that all clubs must gather in order to (between seasons). They combine systemati- be successful. cally the number of actions carried out (pro- ductivity) and their outcome (efficiency). Following on from the fifth edition, this Month- ly Report presents the six Key Performance In- From a defensive point of view, rigour high- dicators (KPIs) on which our approach is built. lights players who are most able to hamper We shall then illustrate the methodology de- the ability of the opposing team to become veloped by presenting the rankings of the best dangerous thanks to a strong presence in du- big-5 league players in 2015/2016 for each area els, both in the air and on the ground. This is of the game. The following chapter presents an area that notably foregrounds the most the rankings according to position. skilled footballers in marking. The latter abili- ty relies on qualities such as physical strength We will go on to identify the best performing and timing. footballers in comparison to their teammates. This type of analysis is particularly useful in Also part of defending, recovery measures the unveiling the potential of footballers who do ability of players to minimise the opportunities not yet play for the most competitive clubs. It of their adversaries through proficient inter- also allows us to measure the clubs’ depend- ception work. This area showcases footballers ency on their key players. who are best at anticipating the offensive in- tentions of their opponents. Qualities such as In the conclusion, we will underline some of a sense of position and tactical intelligence are the numerous advantages that a well-ground- of crucial importance here. ed approach to measure players’ technical performance as presented in this report can The third area, distribution, highlights players bring to forward-thinking teams. The CIES who are best able to pass the ball. This skill Football Observatory research team is at the disposal of professional clubs to help enhance 1 The indicators developed to measure the perfor- their effectiveness in this field. mance of goalkeepers are not presented here. On this subject, see issue number 147 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post.

1 Monthly Report 15 - Technical analysis of player performance

Figure 1: CIES Football Observatory KPIs for the technical analysis of player performance

ShootingFinition

Accuracy Self-composure PercussionTake on MiseChance en Explosivity creationdanger Decision making Risk taking Swiftness of execution

Positional awareness Technique Tactical intelligence Vision RécupérationRecovery Distribution Physical strength Timing

RigueurRigour

is very important insofar as it allows teams having players that are able to take advantage to keep a grip on the game. With rare excep- of opportunities is a luxury that few teams tions, dominating clubs have more possession can afford. Apart from the above-mentioned than lesser performing teams. From the point skills, shooting relies heavily on accuracy and of view of individual qualities associated with self-composure. this area, technique and vision are of primary importance. When it comes to attacking, take on measures 3. Absolute rankings per area the ability of players to create dangerous situ- ations by successfully challenging adversaries. This chapter reviews the best performing foot- Without a numerical advantage, it becomes ballers for each of the six areas of the game difficult for each team to create opportunities. that make up our approach. The rankings only Take on also increases the chances to score include footballers who played at least 60% from set play by obtaining free kicks and cor- of minutes in the five major European leagues ners. Aside from technique, a player needs to during the 2015/16 season. The differences in take risks and be explosive in order to excel at the levels between competitions are taken take on. into consideration in an intrinsic manner in- sofar as the technical actions accounted are Chance creation defines the ability to put both more numerous and better executed in teammates in a favourable position to shoot. the most competitive leagues. This area highlights players who are most skilled at making the final pass. These football- Five centre backs, two defensive , ers combine aforementioned qualities such as two box-to-box midfielders and a full back technique and vision, while being also particu- occupy the top ten positions of the rankings larly gifted at the levels of decision-making for rigour. Heading the list is the Chilean Arturo and swiftness of execution. Vidal (Bayern Munich), followed by two other South Americans: Diego Godín (Atlético Ma- Finally, the domain of shooting measures the drid) and Alex (). The presence of three capacity of footballers to target successfully Atlético Madrid players illustrates the impor- their opponent’s . In a sport such as foot- tance that coach Diego Simone attributes to ball, where the number of goals is very low, defensive duels.

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Figure 2: best performing players in absolute, the top places when it comes to distribution. RIGOUR, big-5 leagues (2015/16) Three Bayern Munich footballers are notably ranked in the top ten, including two world 1. DM* Bayern (GER) champions: (1st) and (6th). With the Chilean Arturo Vidal, they are 2. Diego Godín CB Atlético Madrid (ESP) the pass masters of ’s team.

3. Alex da Costa CB Milan (ITA) Figure 4: best performing players in absolute, Saúl Ñíguez 4. BM DISTRIBUTION, big-5 leagues (2015/16) Atlético Madrid (ESP)

5. Nicolás Otamendi CB Man. City (ENG) 1. Xabi Alonso DM Bayern (GER) 6. Xabi Alonso DM Bayern (GER) 2. Jorginho Frello DM Napoli (ITA) 7. José Giménez CB Atlético Madrid (ESP) 3. Arturo Vidal DM Bayern (GER) 8. Mousa Dembélé BM Tottenham (ENG) 4. Julian Weigl DM Dortmund (GER) 9. CB Dortmund (GER) 5. DM SG (FRA) 10. Ricardo Pereira FB Nice (FRA) 6. Philipp Lahm DM/FB Bayern (GER) * [CB] : Centre Back, [FB] : Full Back, 7. Andrés Iniesta BM [DM] : Defensive midfielders, [BM] : Box-to-box midfielders, Barcelona (ESP) [AM] : Attacking midfielders, [FW] : Forwards 8. Ilkay Gündoğan BM Dortmund (GER) Marek Hamšík Most of the footballers in the top ten positions 9. BM Napoli (ITA) of the rankings for recovery play as defensive 10. Francesc Fàbregas BM midfielders. The presence of and Chelsea (ENG) Christian Fuchs highlights their exceptional skills in terms of anticipation and position- Forwards and attacking midfielders are equally al awareness. In the same vein, Claudio Mar- distributed in the top ten for the area of take chisio is very gifted. Our analysis also brings to on. The young Lille talent Sofiane Boufal, 22 light the talent of the French neo-international years of age, is ahead of one of the best drib- N’Golo Kanté. The Leicester City’s blers in the history of football: . fully deserves his place among the Blues. This is a clear indicator of his great potential. , ranked fourth, has also had an Figure 3: best performing players in absolute, excellent debut season in the big-5 leagues. RECOVERY, big-5 leagues (2015/16) Figure 5: best performing players in absolute, 1. DM Juventus (ITA) TAKE ON, big-5 leagues (2015/16)

2. N'Golo Kanté DM Leicester (ENG) 1. Sofiane Boufal FW Lille (FRA) 3. DM Milan (ITA) 2. Lionel Messi FW Barcelona (ESP) 4. Mousa Dembélé BM Tottenham (ENG) 3. Franco Vázquez FW (ITA) 5. DM Aston Villa (ENG) 4. Douglas Costa AM Bayern (GER) 6. Thiago Silva CB Paris SG (FRA) 5. Alejandro Gómez FW Atalanta (ITA) 7. Jorginho Frello DM Napoli (ITA) 6. AM Crystal Palace (ENG) 8. Christian Fuchs FB Leicester (ENG) 7. Wilfred Zaha AM Crystal Palace (ENG) 9. Francesco Magnanelli DM Sassuolo (ITA) 8. Júnior FW Barcelona (ESP) 10. Jérémy Toulalan DM Monaco (FRA) 9. Filip Kostić AM (GER)

10. Georges-Kévin Nkoudou AM The footballers of clubs whose playing style (FRA) is strongly based on possession monopolise

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Six attacking midfielders, three forwards and Figure 7: best performing players in absolute, one box-to-box midfielder are to be found SHOOTING, big-5 leagues (2015/16) in the top ten positions for chance creation. 1. Zlatan Ibrahimović FW Mesut Özil (Arsenal) is ahead of Paris SG (FRA) (Manchester City) and a relatively unknown 2. Luis Suárez FW but very talented player: the Brazilian Raffael Barcelona (ESP)

(Borussia Mönchengladbach). Considering the 3. FW more defensive position occupied in Real Ma- Bayern (GER) drid’s tactical disposition, seventh 4. Gonzalo Higuaín FW Napoli (ITA) place is also remarkable. 5. Javier Hernández FW Leverkusen (GER)

Figure 6: best performing players in absolute, 6. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang FW CHANCE CREATION, big-5 leagues (2015/16) Dortmund (GER) 7. Lionel Messi FW Barcelona (ESP) 1. Mesut Özil AM Arsenal (ENG) 8. Alexander Meier FW Frankfurt (GER) 2. David Silva AM Man. City (ENG) 9. FW Real Madrid (ESP) 3. Raffael de Araújo FW M'gladbach (GER) 10. FW Atlético Madrid (ESP) 4. Henrik Mkhitaryan AM Dortmund (GER)

5. AM Tottenham (ENG)

6. AM 4. Absolute rankings per position Empoli (ITA)

7. Toni Kroos BM Real Madrid (ESP) This chapter ranks big-5 league footballers having played at least 60% of championship 8. Paco Alcácer FW Valencia (ESP) minutes over the 2015/16 season according to 9. AM the position occupied on the pitch. Six posi- West Ham (ENG) tions are taken into account: centre backs, full 10. Neymar Júnior FW Barcelona (ESP) backs, defensive midfielders, box-to-box mid- fielders, attacking midfielders and forwards. The Key Performance Indicators are selected The rankings for shooting brings to the fore the or weighted according to their importance for extraordinary performances of Zlatan Ibrahi- each of the positions as illustrated in the figure mović. Aged 34 and a half, the Swede is still at below. the top of his form. Coming to the end of his contract at Paris St-Germain, he should have no difficulties in finding as ambitious a club as Figure 8: KPIs per position according to the CIES his current one. Despite the high number of Football Observatory goals scored, Cristiano Ronaldo is penalised by a relatively low shot conversion rate. Poste RIG* REC DIS TAK CHA SHO

Centre    - - - backs   

Full       backs

   Defensive    midfielders   

Box-to-box       midfielders

   Attacking    midfielders   

   - - - Forwards   

* [RIG]: Rigour, [REC]: Recovery, [DIS]: Distribution, [TAK]: Take on, [CHA]: Chance creation, [SHO]: Shooting From very important [] to not considered [-]

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Of the 60 footballers in the top ten places of Figure 10: best performing full backs in absolute, the rankings per position, 15 play in the Span- big-5 (2015/16) ish Liga, 13 in the English , 12 1. Filipe Luís in both the German and the Ital- Atlético Madrid (ESP) ian , as well as 8 in the French . 2. Philipp Lahm This result tends to reflect performance gaps Bayern (GER) between leagues. The clubs most represented 3. are Barcelona (7 players), Bayern Munich (6), Barcelona (ESP) 4. Ricardo Pereira (6), Manchester City (4), Nice (FRA) Tottenham (4) and Atlético Madrid (4). 5. Marcelo Vieira Real Madrid (ESP) The leading trio of centre backs is made up 6. Marcos Alonso of Mats Hummels (Dortmund), Thiago Silva Fiorentina (ITA) (PSG) and Nicolás Otamendi (Manchester City). 7. The youngest player in the top ten is Olympic Milan (ITA) Lyonnais’s Samuel Umiti. At 22 years of age, 8. Man. City (ENG) the winner of the 2013 edition of the under 9. 20 World Cup is ready to make the big jump Barcelona (ESP) to teams capable of winning the Champions 10. Senad Lulić League. Lazio (ITA)

Figure 9: best performing centre backs in abso- Two Bayern Munich footballers head the rank- lute, big-5 leagues (2015/16) ings for defensive midfielders: Arturo Vidal and Xabi Alonso. Both of them ensure the stabili- 1. Mats Hummels ty of Pep Guardiola’s team. In third place, the Dortmund (GER) Argentinean possesses sufficient 2. Thiago Silva Paris SG (FRA) qualities to play for an even better performing team than Lazio. The youngest player on the 3. Nicolás Otamendi Man. City (ENG) list, Julian Weigl, is only 20 years old. From the 4. very start of his first season in a big-5 league, Bayern (GER) he has been able to show the true extent of 5. Facundo Roncaglia Fiorentina (ITA) his talent.

6. Diego Godín Atlético Madrid (ESP) Figure 11: best performing defensive midfielders 7. in absolute, big-5 leagues (2015/16) Napoli (ITA) 8. 1. Arturo Vidal Paris SG (FRA) Bayern (GER) 9. 2. Xabi Alonso Lyon (FRA) Bayern (GER) Mamadou Sakho 10. 3. Lucas Biglia Liverpool (ENG) Lazio (ITA)

4. Claudio Marchisio Filipe Luís is the best performing full back of Juventus (ITA) Jorginho Frello the big-5 leagues. After a difficult year at Chel- 5. Napoli (ITA) sea, the Brazilian regained his best form under 6. Mounir Obbadi Diego Simone at Atlético Madrid. The youngest Lille (FRA) player on the list is Ricardo Pereira. Although 7. only 22 years of age, according to our analysis, Marseille (FRA) the Portuguese footballer on loan from Porto 8. N'Golo Kanté Leicester (ENG) to Nice could already play successfully with 9. the top European clubs. Barcelona (ESP)

10. Julian Weigl Dortmund (GER)

During the 2015/16 big-5 league season, there has not been a better performing box-to-box midfielder than Tottenham’s Mousa Dembélé. On the cusp of his 29th birthday, the Belgian

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international has fully matured. In fourth place Figure 13: best performing attacking midfielders is another Tottenham player: (20 years in absolute, big-5 leagues (2015/16) old). This is one of the greatest talents England 1. David Silva has produced in the last decade. Man. City (ENG)

2. Mesut Özil Figure 12: best performing box-to-box midfield- Arsenal (ENG) ers in absolute, big-5 leagues (2015/16) 3. Henrik Mkhitaryan Dortmund (GER) 1. Mousa Dembélé 4. Tottenham (ENG) Tottenham (ENG) Koke Resurrección 2. 5. Paris SG (FRA) Atlético Madrid (ESP) Douglas Costa 3. Ilkay Gündoğan 6. Dortmund (GER) Bayern (GER) Christian Eriksen 4. Dele Alli 7. Tottenham (ENG) Tottenham (ENG) 5. Yaya Touré 8. Man. City (ENG) Liverpool (ENG) Dimitri Payet 6. 9. Juventus (ITA) West Ham (ENG) Shinji Kagawa 7. Miralem Pjanić 10. Roma (ITA) Dortmund (GER)

8. Toni Kroos Real Madrid (ESP) Of the forwards, Lionel Messi heads Zlatan Andrés Iniesta 9. Ibrahimović and his teammates Neymar and Barcelona (ESP) Luis Suárez. Cristiano Ronaldo is sixth behind 10. Saúl Ñíguez Atlético Madrid (ESP) the young prodigy from Juventus (22 years of age). The Argentinean is well on his At 30 years of age, Manchester City’s attacking way to becoming a world-class footballer. Six midfielder David Silva is still performing at a of the top ten forwards are South Americans. very high level. The Spaniard is ranked ahead Zlatan Ibrahimović and Thomas Müller are the of another world champion, the German only representatives of non-Latin countries. Mesut Özil, and the Armenian Henrik Mkhitar- yan. Six footballers from the English Premier Figure 14: best performing forwards in absolute, League are to be found in the top ten places. big-5 leagues (2015/16) The youngest players in the list were born in 1. Lionel Messi 1992: Erik Lamela (Tottenham), Koke Resur- Barcelona (ESP) reción (Atlético Madrid) and Christian Eriksen 2. Zlatan Ibrahimović (Tottenham). Paris SG (FRA)

3. Neymar Júnior Barcelona (ESP)

4. Luis Suárez Barcelona (ESP)

5. Paulo Dybala Juventus (ITA)

6. Cristiano Ronaldo Real Madrid (ESP)

7. Raffael de Araújo M'gladbach (GER)

8. Thomas Müller Bayern (GER)

9. Lucas Pérez La Coruña (ESP)

10. Gonzalo Higuaín Napoli (ITA)

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5. Relative rankings per area Figure 16: best performing players compared to teammates, RECOVERY, big-5 leagues (2015/16) While most of the footballers at the top of the 1. Idrissa Gueye DM absolute rankings are already very well known, Aston Villa (ENG) many footballers having over-performed the 2. N'Golo Kanté DM most in comparison with their teammates are Leicester (ENG) 3. Riccardo Montolivo DM less familiar. For example, at the first place of Milan (ITA) the relative rankings for centre backs is Se- 4. Jorginho Frello DM bastian Langkamp. His performances are part Napoli (ITA) of the reason for Hertha Berlin’s successful 5. DM season. The Argentinean Facundo Roncaglia of Sevilla (ESP) Fiorentina is also very talented. 6. Claudio Marchisio DM Juventus (ITA)

7. Mousa Dembélé BM Figure 15: best performing players compared to Tottenham (ENG) teammates, RIGOUR, big-5 leagues (2015/16) 8. Serey Die DM Stuttgart (GER) Kalidou Koulibaly 1. Sebastian Langkamp CB 9. CB Hertha Berlin (GER) Napoli (ITA) Mirko Gori 2. Facundo Roncaglia CB 10. BM Fiorentina (ITA) Frosinone (ITA)

3. Raphaël Varane CB Real Madrid (ESP) The analysis of relative performances in the 4. Diego Reyes CB (ESP) area of distribution allows us to highlight the key role played by Roberto Trashorras in Rayo 5. Kader Mangane CB GFC Ajaccio (FRA) Vallecano’s tactical scheme. At 35 years of age, 6. FB the player trained at Barcelona is still a force GFC Ajaccio (FRA) to be reckoned with. Second-ranked Daniel 7. Alexandre Coeff FB Ceballos has not yet celebrated his 20th birth- GFC Ajaccio (FRA) day. He is destined for a great career. 8. Sebastian De Maio CB Genoa (ITA)

9. Wallace dos Santos CB Figure 17: best performing players compared to Monaco (FRA) teammates, DISTRIBUTION, big-5 (2015/16) 10. CB West Ham (ENG) 1. Roberto Trashorras DM Rayo Vallecano (ESP)

In the domain of recovery, the Senegalese Id- 2. Daniel Ceballos BM rissa Gueye has largely surpassed the perfor- Betis (ESP) 3. Mounir Obbadi DM mances of his teammates at Aston Villa. The Lille (FRA) second place of N’Golo Kanté confirms the 4. Daniel Drinkwater DM importance of this player in the success en- Leicester (ENG) joyed by Leicester City. Our analysis also sug- 5. Pascal Gross BM gests that Riccardo Montolivo is the best can- Ingolstadt (GER) didate to supplant Claudio Marchisio, injured, 6. Dani Parejo BM Valencia (ESP) for the next European championships. 7. Jorginho Frello DM Napoli (ITA)

8. Lucas Biglia DM Lazio (ITA)

9. Bruno Soriano DM Villarreal (ESP)

10. Fabien Lemoine DM St-Etienne (FRA)

Franco Vázquez heads the relative rankings in the area of take on. Despite the good perfor- mances of the Italo-Argentinean, Palermo has not had a successful season. The very frequent changes of coach have certainly not helped in this regard. Trained at Real Madrid, Pablo Sara- bia has the necessary skills to play for a more ambitious club than Getafe.

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Figure 18: best performing players compared to how important the Nigerian is for Watford. teammates, TAKE ON, big-5 leagues (2015/16) Ranked fourth, Javier Hernández has integrat- ed himself very well into Bayer Leverkusen’s 1. Franco Vázquez FW Palermo (ITA) style of play.

2. AM Getafe (ESP) Figure 20: best performing players compared to 3. Sofiane Boufal FW teammates, SHOOTING, big-5 leagues (2015/16) Lille (FRA) Alejandro Gómez 4. FW 1. Alexander Meier FW Atalanta (ITA) Frankfurt (GER) Lionel Messi 5. FW 2. FW Barcelona (ESP) Watford (ENG) Isaac Success 6. FW 3. Rubén Castro FW Granada (ESP) Betis (ESP) Sergio Keko 7. FW 4. Javier Hernández FW Eibar (ESP) Leverkusen (GER) Yannick Bolasie 8. AM 5. Deyverson Acosta FW Crystal Palace (ENG) Levante (ESP) 9. AM 6. FW Nice (FRA) Gijón (ESP) Wilfred Zaha 10. AM 7. Gonzalo Higuaín FW Crystal Palace (ENG) Napoli (ITA)

8. Borja Bastón FW The relative rankings for chance creation il- Eibar (ESP) Lucas Pérez lustrate the extraordinary talent of Mesut Özil. 9. FW La Coruña (ESP) Though he is playing in such a competitive 10. Wissam Ben Yedder FW team as Arsenal, the German is the player who Toulouse (FRA) over-performed the most in comparison to his teammates. Our analysis also shows that two young Spaniards have all the necessary attrib- utes to pursue a top-level career: Paco Alcácer 6. Relative rankings per position (22 years of age) and (20). Our approach also allows us to calculate the Figure 19: best performing players compared to relative contribution of players according to teammates, CHANCE CREATION, big-5 (2015/16) their position. Several footballers in the top ten, such as Sebastian Langkamp, are also 1. Mesut Özil AM present high in the rankings per area of the Arsenal (ENG) game presented above. Without excelling in 2. Paco Alcácer FW Valencia (ESP) any particular domain, Gustavo Cabral (Celta Vigo) is ranked fifth among centre backs. This 3. Marco Asensio AM Espanyol (ESP) result shows him as very good all-rounder. 4. Riccardo Saponara AM Our analysis also highlights the talent of the Empoli (ITA) 23-year-old Mexican Diego Reyes (Real Socie- 5. David Silva AM Man. City (ENG) dad, on loan from Porto).

6. Jordan Veretout BM Aston Villa (ENG)

7. AM Stoke City (ENG)

8. Lucas Pérez FW La Coruña (ESP)

9. Dimitri Payet AM West Ham (ENG)

10. Wahbi Khazri AM Bordeaux (FRA)/Sunderland (ENG)

In the domain of shooting, no player has per- formed better in comparison with his team- mates than Alexander Meier. The knee injury that kept him from playing since the begin- ning of March has heavily penalised . Odion Ighalo’s second place shows

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Figure 21: best performing centre backs com- footballer in the top ten, Seko Fofana, is 21 pared to teammates, big-5 leagues (2015/16) years of age. His owner club, Manchester City, loaned him to Fulham in 2014/15 and then to 1. Sebastian Langkamp Hertha Berlin (GER) Bastia for the 2015/16 season. A new loan to a big-5 league club in 2016/17 would allow him 2. Facundo Roncaglia Fiorentina (ITA) to further develop.

3. Kalidou Koulibaly Napoli (ITA) Figure 23: best performing defensive midfielders Diego Reyes 4. compared to teammates, big-5 leagues (2015/16) Real Sociedad (ESP)

5. Gustavo Cabral Vigo (ESP) 1. Roberto Trashorras Rayo Vallecano (ESP) 6. Shkodran Mustafi Valencia (ESP) 2. Víctor Camarasa Levante (ESP) 7. Nicolás Otamendi Man. City (ENG) 3. Mounir Obbadi Lille (FRA) 8. Damien da Silva Caen (FRA) 4. Younousse Sankharé Guingamp (FRA) 9. Kader Mangane GFC Ajaccio (FRA) 5. Seko Fofana Bastia (FRA) 10. Jérémie Bréchet GFC Ajaccio (FRA) 6. Beñat Etxebarria Bilbao (ESP)

7. Damjan Djoković (Cologne) heads the rankings GFC Ajaccio (FRA) among full backs. Our analysis justifies Joa- 8. James McArthur chim Löw decision to make him a regular of Crystal Palace (ENG) Arturo Vidal the German national team. Loaned at the start 9. Bayern (GER) of the season by Grasshopper to the newly 10. N'Golo Kanté promoted Serie A team Frosinone, the Swiss Leicester (ENG) with Croatian origins Daniel Pavlović has had a very good first season in the big-5. Torino’s Zlatko Junuzović first place among box-to-box Bruno Peres is ranked third. The Brazilian is midfielders illustrates his status as a key play- being sought after by several top level clubs. er at Werder Bremen. He has held this role for several seasons. The second place of Dele Alli Figure 22: best performing full backs compared is indicative of his extraordinary talent. Pascal to teammates, big-5 leagues (2015/16) Gross from Ingolstadt is also very talented. Our analysis suggests that the 24 year-old German 1. Jonas Hector Köln (GER) is ready for the next step in his career.

2. Daniel Pavlović Frosinone (ITA)

3. Bruno Peres Torino (ITA)

4. Issiaga Sylla GFC Ajaccio (FRA)

5. (FRA)

6. Jonathan Martins Troyes/Guingamp (FRA)

7. Senad Lulić Lazio (ITA)

8. Marcos Alonso Fiorentina (ITA)

9. Mitchell Weiser Hertha Berlin (GER)

10. Julian Palmieri Bastia (FRA)

Just behind the evergreen Roberto Trashorras, Víctor Camarasa is the big-5 defensive mid- fielder who has out-performed the most his teammates. Aged 22, the Levante player is on his way to a promising career. The youngest

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Figure 24: best performing box-to-box midfielders Wissam Ben Yedder, ranked sixth, also has the compared to teammates, big-5 leagues (2015/16) necessary qualities to play a major role in a better performing team than Toulouse. His de- 1. Zlatko Junuzović Bremen (GER) parture seems immanent as his contract runs out in 2017. 2. Dele Alli Tottenham (ENG)

3. Pascal Gross Figure 26: best performing forwards compared Ingolstadt (GER) to teammates, big-5 leagues (2015/16) 4. Jordan Veretout Aston Villa (ENG) 1. Lucas Pérez 5. La Coruña (ESP) Torino (ITA) 2. Odion Ighalo 6. Mahmoud Dahoud Watford (ENG) M'gladbach (GER) 3. Alexander Meier 7. Mousa Dembélé Frankfurt (GER) Tottenham (ENG) 4. Gonzalo Higuaín 8. Thomas Mangani Napoli (ITA) Angers (FRA) 5. Paco Alcácer 9. Yannick Gerhardt Valencia (ESP) Köln (GER) 6. Wissam Ben Yedder 10. Miralem Pjanić Toulouse (FRA) AS Roma (ITA) 7. Rubén Castro Betis (ESP)

Riyad Mahrez heads the list of attacking mid- 8. Zlatan Ibrahimović fielders. The Franco-Algerian has greatly con- Paris SG (FRA) tributed to the incredible results achieved by 9. Sevilla (ESP) Leicester City. Dimitri Payet, ranked fourth, has 10. Deyverson Acosta made a great Premier League start with West Levante (ESP) Ham. The South Korean Ja-Cheol Koo (Augs- burg) is also particularly talented. Confined for too long in amateur football, Mohamed Larbi (GFC Ajaccio) fully deserves his place in the professional game. 7. Conclusion

Figure 25: best performing attacking midfielders compared to teammates, big-5 leagues (2015/16) For a pertinent analysis of player performance, contextual elements must be taken into ac- count. Individual performance is strongly linked 1. Leicester (ENG) to the ability of clubs to bring together football- 2. Mesut Özil ers with complimentary characteristics within Arsenal (ENG) the framework of the style of play practised. 3. Pablo Sarabia Getafe (ESP) The matching between individual qualities and skills required to play in a particular position 4. Dimitri Payet West Ham (ENG) with regard to the team’s tactical scheme is 5. Ja-Cheol Koo also of crucial importance. Augsburg (GER)

6. Mohamed Larbi Moreover, individual performance is influenced GFC Ajaccio (FRA) by the general configuration of teams. It is, for 7. Nicolai Müller example, much easier for a player to be com- Hamburg (GER) petitive in a stable environment with a clear 8. Riccardo Saponara Empoli (ITA) strategy than in an unstable one characterised by frequent changes of the coach. 9. Wahbi Khazri Bordeaux (FRA)/Sunderland (ENG) The strong interdependence between all of 10. Marco Asensio Espanyol (ESP) these contextual elements makes perfor- mance analysis in football particularly com- The relative rankings for forwards highlight the plex. An in-depth knowledge of the football out of the ordinary performances of Lucas environment, a fine understanding of the log- Pérez. The Spaniard scored almost 40% of De- ics of the game and the perfect mastery of portivo La Coruña’s goals. Aged 27, he can still statistical techniques are all prerequisites to take his chance with more ambitious clubs. be efficient in this domain.

10 Monthly Report 15 - Technical analysis of player performance

Though our experience shows that resistance to quantitative methods within clubs is on the decline, shortfalls in the production, contex- tualisation or interpretation of results contin- ues to have a negative impact on the ability of teams to take full advantage of data-driv- en research. Recurrent power struggles within clubs also contribute to limit the potential im- pact of innovative analytical approaches. However, a well-grounded performance anal- ysis on both a collective and individual lev- el should be one of the key actions that any ambitious club should undertake to combat short-termism and improvisation that are still prevalent in the majority of professional football teams. From this viewpoint, the full integration of pertinent performance analyses such as that presented in this Report in the decision making processes continues to have a strong potential for the significant and long term improvement of results.

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