“The genie is well and truly out of the bottle when it comes to data in football, but there is still plenty of scope to maximise its utility. In today’s thought experiment, The Athletic asks… should we adjust all on-ball player metrics? Let’s clarify what that would mean with an example. In a busy summer transfer window, your team’s recruitment staff are looking for a clinical striker who is quick to get a shot away and will score something out of nothing. Using data as a filter, is it more impressive for a striker to score 10 goals for a team battling relegation than a striker scoring 25 goals for the inevitable title winners? When adjusted for opportunity to score, the gap between the players’ output might not be as big as first thought. This is a simple example, but let’s dig deeper. …”
The Athletic