IJBTT

Quantifying the performance of players in a football match

	International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT)
	© 2017 by IJETT Journal
	Volume-45 Number-1
	Year of Publication : 2017
	Authors : Abhinav Yashkar
	DOI :  10.14445/22315381/IJETT-V45P210

Citation 

Abhinav Yashkar " Quantifying the performance of players in a football match ", International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT), V45(1),43-46 March 2017. ISSN:2231-5381. www.ijettjournal.org. published by seventh sense research group

Abstract
It`s hard to evaluate the impact of a player’s performance on the team. The tradition method and rating systems involve looking at a few metrics which include goal scored, assists, key passes, tackles, intercept, etc. Often this methodology makes the goal scorer and the assist provider the most important players of the team, which might not always be the case. No wonder Ballon d`Or winners are forwards and not defenders. These numbers make sense when comparing similar metrics. However, when comparing a forward, whose primary job is to score and assist goals, with a defender, whose primary task is to clear the ball, tackle, it’s difficult. Football is a team sport; there is a complex interaction between the players. A winning goal might be a result of a threading pass by the midfielder and the winger making a diagonal run to take one of the central defenders with him creating space for the striker to score the goal. In such complicated scenario, it is tough to allocate the contribution of the goal. The paper discussed a statistical method, using regression and optimization, to qualitatively allocate the points contributed to the team by a particular player during a season. Thus, even thou the player who scored the winning goal might have secured 3 points for his team; his contribution to the team is not 3 points. The paper provides a methodology for distributing those 3 points to their rightful contributors.

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Keywords
Football, Player Performance, Linear Programming Regression, Optimization, player rating