Analysis of goals and assists diversity in English Premier League

Durlik Krzysztof, Bieniek Paweł. Analysis of goals and assists diversity in English Premier League. Journal of Health Sciences. 214;4(5):47-56. ISSN 1429-9623 / 23-665X. The journal has had 5 points in Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Poland parametric evaluation. Part B item 117. (17.12.213). The Author (s) 214; This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Radom University in Radom, Poland Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3./) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3./) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. Conflict of interest: None declared. Received: 5.2.214. Revised 15.5.214. Accepted: 25.5.214. Analysis of goals and assists diversity in English Premier League Krzysztof Durlik 1, Paweł Bieniek 1, 2 1 University School of Physical Education in Cracow, Poland 2 AGH University of Science and Technology in Cracow, Poland Paweł Bieniek, instructor, AGH University of Science and Technology in Cracow, Department of Sport and Physical Education, ul. Piastowska 26a/15, e-mail: pbieniek@agh.edu.pl, phone +485176566 ABSTRACT Top level football events have been submitted for analysis for long time. Though, there is lack of material which would be collected from at least one full season. The aim of the study was to analyze goals and assists of all matches played in English Premier League during 28/29 season. Authors revealed that the most goals were score from near distances to target (over 5%) while 53% of all crossed goal line lower than goalkeeper s hips. Furthermore, second half of a match brings more goals (57.5) as players become unfocused because of exhaustion. Coaching staffs need to have players prepared physically to maintain 9 minutes free of distraction. KEY WORDS shot, placement, accuracy, efficiency INTRODUCTION Success in sport is conditioned by skillful use of mastered motor abilities and tactical experiences during individual matches or tournaments against an opponent e.g. in football. Nowadays, both top club and national team players are similar-classed and present the highest level of technical and tactical performance, thus, different variables related to match are constantly observed (ball possession, pass accuracy, defence and offence schemes). Football championships are the perfect visual material for coaches and experts. At such events as World Cup, EURO Championships, Champions League or Europa League, it is obvious opportunity to regard players who are football-prepared the most effectively. Accordingly, many analysis are conducted to understand match elements more incisively [6, 12, 14, 15, 21, 22]. Application values of research results are expected to enhance perception and tactical abilities of single players and whole teams. Despite the fact that many top tournaments provide numerous data there is dearth of scientific papers on multifaceted season analysis of at least league competitions. A drawback of mentioned kind of research is huge database which relates to passes number, set pieces and goals. Literature review revealed only few articles on English Premier League analysis. Different aspects of play were researched: motor abilities [4, 1]; anthropological [2]; psychological [3, 16, 19]; technical-tactical [5] and biochemical aspects [18]. Two scientific papers corresponded with referee assistants job [7, 17]. One paper described French League 1 [11] and the other sketched Serbian Super Liga [13] through 1-year period which was considered. The main goal of football players is to score as many goals as possible. Effective offensive actions and finishing momentum is very often a training session goal for many 47

coaches. Works which analyze scoring ball placement and scoring chronology appear rather rarely. Only one scientific article was found on Greek Super League in 27/28 season [2]. AIM OF THE WORK The aim of the work was multilevel goals analysis which were scored in 38 matches of English Premier League in 28/29 season. As a result, the most optimal ball placement of goal scoring is expected to be determined. MATERIAL AND METHODOLOGY The material was collected based on observation of all 38 English Premier League matches played during 28/29 season. 942 goals were recorded and loaded into ProZone MatchWiever software. Additionally, to eliminate omissions, analysis were conducted by 2 experienced football coaches. As a support for results presentation there were pitch and goal sectors figures created. RESULTS 1 goal,1 % B1 1 goal,1 % A1 13 goals 1,4 % A5 116 goals 12,3 % A2 116 goals 12,3 % A6 7 goals,7 % A4 131 goals 13,9 % A7 7 goals,7 % A4 7 goals,7 % A8 B2 2 goals,2 % C1 1 1, % A9 8 goals,8 % A13 67 goals 7,1 % A1 32 goals 3,4 % A14 67 goals 7,1 % A11 36 goals 3,8 % A15 9 goals,9 % A12 5 goals,6 % A16 1 goal,1 % C2 5 goals,5 % D1 26 goals 2,8 % D2 67 goals 7,1 % D3 22 goals 2,3 % D4 1 goal,1 % D5 48

E1 2 goals,2 % E2 5 goals,6 % E3 E4 1 goal,1 % E1 F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 G Figure 1. Goal scorer placement. As shown in figure 1, 85.1% goals were scored from zones within penalty area while 14.9% goals were scored from further distances. What was noticed, the most goals were acquired from A7 sector, afterwards from A2 and A6 sectors and not much less from A3. In total, over 5% goals were shot by players who kicked on target from all 4 sectors combined. Only 7.9% goals were acquired from behind 16.5 meters (D3) and 6.5% goals from sideways zones. 7.1% goals were successful penalty kicks. 7 6 5 4 3 2 654 Figure 2. Number of goals and conditions in which the ball was shot on target. According to figure 2, most goals (69.3%) were scored directly after assist of teammate which means no contact with the ball before kick. Only 17.9% were preceded by interception and, the least, players scored after individual dribbling (12.8%). 168 12 One contact Two or more contacts After dribbling 49

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 749 167 26 Foot kick Header Situational shot Figure 3. Goal score body segment. As a result of analysis, it was claimed that there occurred large disparity between foot and other shots effectiveness. Leg kicks, both right and left, brought 79.5% goals of all (including technical, power, no-look shots). 44 goals 4,7 % Z1 4 4,2 % Z2 54 goals 5,7 % Z3 46 goals 4,9 % Z4 58 goals 6,2 % Y1 77 goals 8,1 % Y2 51 goals 5,4 % Y3 73 goals 7,8 % Y4 113 goals 12, % X1 138 goals 14,7 % X2 12 12,7 % X3 128 goals 13,6 % X4 Figure 4. Goal sectors in which the ball was shot. As in figure 4, the most successful shot were those shot as low as ground level. Near to 53% goals were scored in at or below goalkeepers hips level, especially in sector X2 (14.7%) and X4 (13.6%). Shots toward goal center or upper sectors were shown to be the least efficient. 5

4 35 3 25 2 15 5 367 Short pass Figure 5. Kind of assist. 297 Long pass Considering assists as in figure 5, in 367 cases ball was passed to scorer from short distance (less than 15m) while 297 goals were scored after long pass (more than 15m). Furthermore, 337 assists were high passes and only 1 less ground passes (figure 6). 338 336 334 332 33 328 326 324 322 337 High pass Figure 6. Assist ball flight. 327 Ground pass 51

45 goals 6,8 % B1 21 goal 3,2 % A1 16 goals 2,4 % A5 15 goals 2,3 % A2 17 goals 2,5 % A6 12 goals 1,8 % A4 23 goals 3,5 % A7 14 goals 2,1 % A4 15 goals 2,3 % A8 54 goals 8,1 % B2 22 goals 3,3 % C1 16 goals 2,4 % A9 6 goals,9 % A13 7 goals 1, % A1 7 goals 1, % A14 11 goals 1,3 % A11 11 goals 1,7 % A15 9 goals,9 % A12 32 goals 4,8 % A16 33 goal 4,9 % C2 21 goals 3,2 % D1 3 4,5 % D2 67 goals 7,1 % D3 4 6, % D4 23 goals 3,6 % D5 9 goals 1,3 % E1 16 goals 2,4 % E2 22 goals 3,3 % E3 16 goals 2,4 % E4 7 goal 1, % E1 3 goals,5 % F1 6 goals,9 % F2 11 goals 1,7 % F3 3 4,5 %G 3 goals,5 % F4 1 goals,2 % F5 Figure 7. Assistant placement. The most goals were assisted from sideways pitch sectors (B1 and B2), 8.1% and 6.8% crossings succeeded respectively. Subsequently, 43 goals were scored after passes from sector C2. In other cases (excluding sector G), approximately 2.5% assists of total were noticed. 52

12 8 6 4 2 13 69 62 36 14 Corner kick Penalty kick Free kick assist Free kick shot Throw-in Figure 8. Set pieces goals. As in figure 8, 284 goals were acquired after set pieces what is 3.1% of all goals scored in analyzed season. 13 goals players scored after corner kick and 98 from free kicks cumulatively. Only 1.5% goals were assisted by players who thrown the ball in from behind sideline. 25 235 2 15 116 14 145 155 151 5 1-15 16-3 31-45 45-6 61-75 76-9 Figure 9. Goals chronology. Figure 9 shows that English Premier League players score the most goals in last 15 minutes of a match (25%) and the least at the beginning quarter. What is more, first half is a period of time when 42.5% goals are recorded. 53

5 45 463 4 35 3 25 2 175 15 5 57 26 18 15 98 Sweeper Right defender Left defender Midfielder Right Left midfielder midfielder Striker Figure 1. Goals and a scorer position. Figure 1 shows that near to half of all scored goals was acquired by strikers. Second the most effective position is midfielder (18.6% goals) and third both right and left midfielders (wingers, 11.1% and 1.4%). Defenders are group of players whose main tasks are defensive thus total percentage of 1.7% goals was scored by them. DISCUSSION Capability to create offensive action and finish with a score is a key element in football methodology what influences sport results. In general, this is a base to develop playing strategy. Outcomes from this paper correspond with others in which scorer placement was considered. Yannakos and Armatas [22] counted that 79.6% goals were scored from penalty area at EURO 24 in Portugal while 35.2% were acquired from not further than 5.5m. During 28/29 season in English Premier League shot placement was different with penalty area advantage at 85.1% and 24.7% (goal area). In accordance with Clemente [9], the most successful teams at international events end most of their offensive attacks from penalty area what may indicate polished strategy in positional and counter attack. Undoubtedly, it should be mastered during shooting sessions more often. In this work, most goals were scored without ball interception (69.3%) what may indicate that this type of shot supposedly surprises goalkeepers or at least gives little time to react. Only 12.8% goals were recorded after dribbling as modern players are in lack of space and are not able to keep contact with a ball for long. Goalkeepers did not manage to save shots toward lower goal sectors (53% goals). This is in harmony with Starosta et al. [21] who claimed that lower and sideways goal sectors are the most effective to score. According to general knowledge, significance of efficient play in left and right pitch sectors was confirmed. Major number of goals was acquired after successful crossings (23.1%). Also, referring to research conducted by Charalampos et al. [8], much more goals are observed when the ball is passed short. Set pieces were crucial to succeed as 3.1% goals were transformed from. It is important to have a player in a team who is able to cross or shot accurately and with appropriate power. Several papers also confirmed high rate of set pieces scoring indicator [22]. 54

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