1. One player in a large pressing sequence can make or break a pressing move, because of how mistakes open up opportunities to play through. Often one player being a few feet off can be the difference between a team consistently executing vs failing
Nov 20, 2022 • 39 tweets • 13 min read
THREAD: Between Tuesday and Friday, we processed 5,170 World Cup Brackets on worldcupbracket2022.herokuapp.com. Here's what you had to say about the group stages, possible winners, and every round and nation in between:
GROUP RANKINGS: Here's a breakdown of how everyone ranked the groups:
– Group D the closest to unanimous
– Brazil and Argentina heavily favoured
– Denmark chipping into the champions' odds
Mar 24, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
With all the noise on my timeline yesterday, I didn't have the chance to address the polarizing views of Xhaka that came in response to this viz. I wanted to do that today because it really sheds light on what I believe is a big issue in sports analytics: confirmation bias (1/6)
The two widespread responses to this were either "see? Xhaka is one of the best PL midfielders" or "this proves stats don't belong in football". And the truth is... neither. This isn't meant to be a holistic view of Xhaka, and stats aren't only good when they agree with you (2/6)
Mar 22, 2021 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Ever since this goal happened, I've been feeling really uncomfortable about the options Maguire and Fred both had on the ball here. Fred's pass is obviously inexcusable, but I couldn't fathom how something like this could even be allowed to happen, so I took a closer look (1/6)
Firstly- Maguire has the ball and the back 4 is completely flat. Matic makes a run in behind Iheanacho, making himself unavailable for the ball.
Pretty much any other passing option but Fred means the ball will end up back at his feet. (2/6)
Nov 23, 2020 • 29 tweets • 7 min read
THREAD: Manchester United 1-0 West Brom- United by the numbers
Firstly, Solskjaer deployed United in the usual 4-2-3-1. The shape was better than most previous games and a far cry from the Brighton/Spurs games. Still struggling to get as high up on the right as the left, but Martial’s positioning is more balanced than usual:
Aug 11, 2020 • 29 tweets • 7 min read
THREAD: Data Visualization- Why Solskjaer likes Shaw, United could use 2-3 defensive additions, and McTominay won't be United's long-term defensive midfielder
Recently, United have struggled to transition the ball from defence to midfield, and while last night against Copenhagen was an improvement, the problems were still present.
