Thread by @StatifiedF

📢 NEW - NSxG maps 📢

Time to introduce something I've been working on lately. It's called non-shot (NS) xG maps and they look like 👇

In this thread I'll try to explain what they are, why they're useful and how they can be used!

#xG #NSxG #football #data #analytics

@EveryTeam_Mark @MarkTaylor0 @Tussendelinies @tactipedia @Tacticsplatform @joe_mulberry @DanKennett @StatmanDave @elpivoteftbl @experimental361 Why do we need NSxG maps? NSxG maps can help speeding-up and improving the proces of video analysis.

Usually analysts watch hours of video footage, in order to understand how a certain team plays: how do they create dangerous attacks? Which players are most dangerous?

@EveryTeam_Mark @MarkTaylor0 @Tussendelinies @tactipedia @Tacticsplatform @joe_mulberry @DanKennett @StatmanDave @elpivoteftbl @experimental361 But what if we let the data tell us where to look?

▶️ Enter NSxG (or similar metrics like xT or PV)

By plotting in which area of the pitch a team makes their most valuable actions (mind you, we are not talking frequencies here!), we know where they get most dangerous from

@EveryTeam_Mark @MarkTaylor0 @Tussendelinies @tactipedia @Tacticsplatform @joe_mulberry @DanKennett @StatmanDave @elpivoteftbl @experimental361 And this how it looks like: a pitch in which different areas *light up* according to the NSxG created from that area.

Here we see that #Ajax so far this season generates most threat from the right half space and the so-called "zone 14" (central area outside the box).

@EveryTeam_Mark @MarkTaylor0 @Tussendelinies @tactipedia @Tacticsplatform @joe_mulberry @DanKennett @StatmanDave @elpivoteftbl @experimental361 Right half space and zone 14? Sounds like areas often occupied by a certain #Ziyech...

Well let's see, what does the data tell us if we add the 3 most influential players in every zone? Indeed, there's Ziyech! Together with #Tadic the most dangerous players in these zones!

@EveryTeam_Mark @MarkTaylor0 @Tussendelinies @tactipedia @Tacticsplatform @joe_mulberry @DanKennett @StatmanDave @elpivoteftbl @experimental361 But that's not all we can do with NSxG maps. Next to the most influential players, we can also show the most dangerous types of actions.

Below we see *how* #Ajax generates NSxG from every area of pitch. Mostly with regular passes (unsurprisingly).

@EveryTeam_Mark @MarkTaylor0 @Tussendelinies @tactipedia @Tacticsplatform @joe_mulberry @DanKennett @StatmanDave @elpivoteftbl @experimental361 Once we know from where a team creates valuable actions, how they do it and which players are most influential, it's time to look at actual video footage.

We know which match events have the highest NSxG and for every event we know in which game at which time it took place.

@EveryTeam_Mark @MarkTaylor0 @Tussendelinies @tactipedia @Tacticsplatform @joe_mulberry @DanKennett @StatmanDave @elpivoteftbl @experimental361 As a data scientist, I can now go the video analyst and say: "Instead of watching X*90 minutes of video footage, take a look at these exact moments by Ziyech in match X, Y, Z at these exact minutes. Those are his most dangerous actions. Saves you a lot of time!" :)

@EveryTeam_Mark @MarkTaylor0 @Tussendelinies @tactipedia @Tacticsplatform @joe_mulberry @DanKennett @StatmanDave @elpivoteftbl @experimental361 So far we have been looking at plots with data from all #Eredivisie matches #Ajax played so far.

But NSxG maps can also be generated per match. Or for the last X matches a team had played. It depends on what the coaching staff wants to see.

@EveryTeam_Mark @MarkTaylor0 @Tussendelinies @tactipedia @Tacticsplatform @joe_mulberry @DanKennett @StatmanDave @elpivoteftbl @experimental361 Below you can see an example of "one match NSxG maps" from the RB Leipzig - Borussia M. Gladbach match of last weekend.

It shows pretty quickly that #RBL created a lot of danger from zone 14, while #BMG struggled to create chances form near the opponents box.

@EveryTeam_Mark @MarkTaylor0 @Tussendelinies @tactipedia @Tacticsplatform @joe_mulberry @DanKennett @StatmanDave @elpivoteftbl @experimental361 So far this introduction to NSxG maps. I hope you liked it! Let me know what you think about them😀