The following shows those most involved in deeper creativity – that is – the establishing play before the final assist. This is also known as the “why Ntcham matters” chart. The graph maps Secondary Assists (the pass before the one that sets up the chance) and Pack Passes (forward passes that take out at least … [continue reading]
Packing
Has Lennon Changed Celtic’s Style Of Play?
After struggling to break down Dundee, Lennon spoke about changing Celtic’s “slow and pedestrian” style of play. When he returned as manager, he initially spoke of changing little. So, four games in, what has been the impact of Lennon on Celtic’s style of play? Lennon has had three tough away games as well as a … [continue reading]
Why Ntcham Matters
An article for the undervalued. But mainly Ntcham. Assists, chances and expected goals have all seeped into the mainstream on occasions and regular visitors to this site will be very familiar with those terms. Here we look further back in the moves to see who is creating the environment from which chances can follow. Secondary … [continue reading]
Why Packing Matters
Packing measures teams and players ability to take out opponents with forward passes and dribbles. And it looks as if the more you can do this, the more likely you are to win. The Packing concept is explained in more detail on this article Concerning Packing and in the Glossary. Bypassing players through passing and … [continue reading]
The Enablers
Goals, assists and Defensive Action Success Rate allows identification of key performance at the sharp ends of the pitch. Assessing the performance of those who predominantly play in the middle is not as straightforward. But Secondary Assists and Packing concepts may help here. Packing I introduced the measurement of Packing last season. Please read this … [continue reading]
Pass of the Season
34,678 passes completed over the season and 126 goals – 275 passes per goal! There is always goal of the season but what was the pass of the season? Please read Concerning Packing to understand the some of the concepts being discussed here. Also, the Glossary threads through balls like a very sharp, pointy and … [continue reading]
Packing Them In
How effective is a pass? How does the data help show who the most creative players are? Which players combine most effectively? Using the concept of Packing can help answer those questions. My analysis is limited to players who have played more than 7 matches worth of minutes. It was a natural cut off based … [continue reading]
Stat Snapshot: Assists and Chances (Nov ’17)
As the international break comes to close, get back in the mood for real football with a reminder of where we are performance wise across some key metrics.Today: creativity. Assists The table below shows Assists per 90 minutes alongside Expected Assists per 90 minutes, and the difference between the two. Comparing players based on per … [continue reading]
Concerning “Packing”
The “Packing” and “Impect” concepts were introduced in Germany and the firm responsible can be found here: http://www.impect.com/en/ This is a commercial organisation and they have introduced the concept with an aim of selling the data and insight to clubs. Therefore, in the unlikely event they ever found this inconsequential blog, they probably hate that … [continue reading]
Unpacking Armstrong, and Avoiding Cognitive Dissonance
The Stuart Armstrong “will be / won’t he” sign a new contract saga rumbles on. Rumours of interest from English Premier League sides persist, and why not? After scoring 17 goals last season in winning the treble, the 25-year-old is maturing into the complete central midfielder, and carving an international career. I have no insight … [continue reading]