Play-by-Play Network Analysis in Football

Area of Science:

• Sports Science
• Network Analysis
• Football Analytics

Background:

• Individual player contributions in team sports are complex to quantify.
• Previous football analysis often used match-level data, missing intricate player interactions.
• A play-by-play approach is crucial for understanding real-time football dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To apply play-by-play social network analysis (SNA) to identify dominant and intermediary players in professional football.
• To develop and apply new network metrics suitable for play-level analysis.
• To differentiate player roles based on play characteristics and success.

Main Methods:

• Utilized play-by-play social network analysis (SNA) on 70 professional matches from the German Bundesliga (2017/2018).
• Collected player passing and positional data via a semi-automatic multiple-camera tracking system.
• Introduced and computed 'flow betweenness' and 'flow centrality' as play-level playmaker indicators.

Main Results:

• Central defenders were identified as dominant and intermediary players, particularly in unsuccessful plays.
• Offensive midfielders showed the highest involvement, while defensive midfielders acted as key intermediaries in successful plays.
• Forwards were involved in successful plays but had minimal playmaker status.

Conclusions:

• Play-by-play network analysis provides a more granular understanding of player roles and interactions in football.
• The study highlights distinct roles for different player positions based on play success.
• New metrics like flow betweenness can quantify playmaker influence at a micro-level.