Data, statistics, percentages have become decisive factors in the way football teams analyze and plan their matches. The coaches justify their results, based on what the numbers say, even when they lose. This Sunday, Millionaires and America, Two teams that pay attention to numbers face each other in El Campín (4 pm), on date 2 of group B, in a duel marked by statistics.
América coach, Lucas González, is a defender of data and left the issue on the table when his team lost against Medellín on the first date of group B. The coach, despite the defeat, analyzed the match from the data and This is how he defended his approach: “We had 70% of the ball and the important thing is what you do with it. Well, reviewing the expected goals, which is the relevant metric, we have 2.05 and they have 1.82, and the penalty gives you 0.76. If you take away those two penalties that we gave them, they have a goal expectation of 0.30 versus 2.05 for us,” Lucas said. His statements, although they were his argument to show that his team had not been inferior in the game, aroused criticism, because, beyond the reality of the data, the certainty is that América lost 1-2 .
Alberto Gamero, the Millonarios coach, is also obsessive with data. In his press conferences he usually argues his reasons with statistical information, such as ball possession or effective playing time. “Millonarios is one of the teams that has the most playing time in Colombian soccer,” he said when criticized for his team’s loss of time in the second leg semifinal of the Colombia Cup against Cúcuta.
Coaches handle detailed information that helps them plan their games, argue what their teams do: possession of the ball, successful passes or the number of shots, are aspects that are part of this new discourse that is a trend in the modern football. But how much are statistics a reflection of what happens on the field?
The data for what?
Felipe García Acosta is co-founder and director of the Sports Performance Agency, which provides statistical analysis services for soccer matches. Regarding this rise in the prioritization of coaches in data, he believes: “The impact of this data is so high that it not only influences the day of the game, but also conditions the planning of training sessions, as evidenced daily in the monitoring. of the physical performance of the players, where the workloads are monitored very precisely, and from there decisions are made about the variables to design the practices (type of work, duration, intensity, etc.),” he says.
This expert explains that there are 3 large groups of data that the equipment manages: tracking (positioning tracking), tagging (events or actions) and vital (physical performance). All of them seek to record and organize tactical, technical and physical elements that are fundamental for the development of football at a high competitive level.
The other has to do with how that universe of data is translated versus the result, for example when it is lost. “It is essential to keep in mind what statistics are being referred to and what the team’s game model is: if it is a team in which a defensive or counterattacking style of play prevails, probably leading the ball possession statistic is not important in depending on their game model, and surely the analysis of their coaching staff to study a defeat will review deeper metrics. Now, if the example is reversed and it is a team whose playing style is to keep the ball and subdue the rival from possession, the ball possession statistic takes on another importance, because it is an indicator that part of its model does. It is taking shape and is a sign of “how” we want to achieve victory. Then, if the result is not favorable, it shows that, in some way, the idea of the game was executed.”
From his experience, analyzing the data, even in defeat, as Lucas González did when losing against DIM, is an important factor for the next game. “It is an element of motivation to not lose morale and confidence, it is a way to defend collective work. This does not mean that a coaching staff lacks self-criticism and assumes that everything is fine after a defeat. Defeats teach and, of course, most coaching staffs will look for the right time and place to make observations,” he analyzes.
Alexis Garcia, DT of La Equidad, finds a border between data and reality: “Data, statistics are a great help to measure the superficial aspects of the game, the problem is that they cannot measure the most important thing: talent and passion with which a player develops his role. They have served much more to prevent quantities, not qualities, you can regulate training loads, matches, have accurate quantitative information, they can even serve as explanations when you don’t win and as a justification for measuring a result, but they are not the truth of the game that is sui generis, unthinkable and capricious,” he says.
Blues and reds, in data
The data speaks for the teams. For example, this will be a duel between a great home team and a great visitor: Millonarios has only lost one home game this semester, against Santa Fe; America has only lost one on the outside, against Junior. Of course, América is a team with scoring strength, with 35 goals, surpassing Millonarios, who has 21.
Another fact, according to Opta statistics, is that América kicks much more on goal and with greater effectiveness than Millonarios, with 102 shots and an accuracy of 44.5%, compared to 79 for the blues and an accuracy of 40.5%. . On the other hand, these are two teams that like to have the ball, and for that they have a high pass success percentage, América with 81.2% and Millonarios with 80.5%.
However, both were left on the extremes in effective play. As published by Dimayor after date 20, Millonarios was confirmed as the team with the longest effective time, with an average of 56 minutes and 2 seconds. The curious thing is that America, despite its dominant game, had 51 minutes and 54 seconds of effective time, placed in last place.
PABLO ROMERO
Editor of EL TIEMPO
@PabloRomeroET
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