Much has transpired in the world of soccer statistics over the past four years since I first published: Possession with Purpose - An Introduction and some Explanations. Three years ago I published my Possession with Purpose - Revised Introduction. In 2014 the concept was presented at the World Conference on Science and Soccer 2014. Last year the concept... Continue Reading →
Gluck – Predicting Team Standings in Professional Soccer
CAN IT BE DONE? Over the last four years I've conducted research on various professional soccer leagues and competitions. To include Major League Soccer, the English, German, and Spanish Premier Leagues, as well as the UEFA Champions League and the Men's World Cup of 2014. Here's my latest analyses on how the Possession with Purpose... Continue Reading →
Major League Soccer – Can it truly reach the heights of top European Leagues by 2025?
What prompted this piece was the recent article published on Soccer By Ives about Don Garber's vision for MLS by 2025 : http://www.sbisoccer.com/2015/09/insists-worlds-leagues.html It's a good article and worth the read. Editorial - In a follow up to this article (below) Stephen Brandt and I, on Yellowcardedpod, interview Brian Dunseth and Thomas Rongen on some... Continue Reading →
Portland Timbers, Major League Soccer and Europe’s Elite Leagues
This post was originally offered up on Stumptownfooty - the SB Nation blog site I write for when I cover the Portland Timbers - given there is up-to-date info in here about how some European Leagues finished (with respect to Possession with Purpose) I felt it worthy to re-post my article here for my overseas... Continue Reading →
Possession with Purpose – Prozone – and more…
No detailed statistics today - just a narrative to pass on a few tidbits as I prepare my End of Season analysis for Europe. The news: The European Season is ending. There's the winners, the losers, and those that stay afloat to live another year. I'll peel back the results on the English Premier League,... Continue Reading →
Control or Lack Thereof – MLS 2015
I originally posted this article on Stumptownfooty - an SB Nation blog site where I cover the Portland Timbers... For over two years I've been researching team and league statistics to help paint a picture and perhaps? better explain what is happening on the pitch relative to points earned in a league table. For the... Continue Reading →
Expected Wins Five – Europe
In my previous series on Expected Wins Four - probably more appropriately entitled "Expected Points" - I'd taken a look at how the general tendencies of four primary Leagues in Europe (England, Germany, Spain, as the UEFA Champions League) compare to Major League Soccer - Is European Football Really Higher Quality than Major League Soccer? This time... Continue Reading →
Redefining and Modernizing Total Shots Ratio
For many years Total Shots Ratio has plodded along as a good indicator of team shooting performance, not overall team performance, but shooting performance. It's a good enough indicator that its found its way into generic match reports for professional soccer teams and has good visibility on Opta - a well recognized soccer statistics company... Continue Reading →
Real Madrid and Barcelona – Two Horse Race
For me, it's not the top two that peak my interest this week, it's the prime movers from mid-table - downwards while looking at the League Table from Week 12 to Week 19. Here's how they stand comparing Week 19 to Week 12: The teams highlighted in Green and Red I''ll get to in a... Continue Reading →