In latter 2010 Statzpack commissioned the Sports Academy at the University of Ulster to carry out a joint research project with the NSCAA (National Soccer Coaches Association of America).  The research focussed on the use and value of collecting stats in soccer coaching to the membership of the largest coaching organisation in the world.  The research was led by Dr Michael Hanlon. 

Key Findings

Some of the key summary findings are as follows:

• The project surveyed the 30,000 soccer coach membership base of the NSCAA
• 1007 US soccer coaches from the Youth, High-school and College levels completed the questionnaire.
• 61% of those surveyed stated that the recording, analysing and using of team or player statistics was of significant-major importance on player development
• Almost 75% of those coaches recording stats rely on pen and paper
• In general older coaches have a more favourable view on collecting stats.
• The most commonly tracked game features were goals and assists, shots on/off target, corner kicks, cards and goalkeeper actions

Soccer Teamwork

Dr Hanlon commented “The collegiate atmosphere and approach of the NSCAA as an organisation, helped this project significantly.  The partnership approach offered in opening up their member base to the research allowed us to gather and collate a comprehensive data set.  On a general note the outcomes showed a strong positive interest in the use of stats in coaching and developing players.”

Mark Roberts founder of Statzpack, commented “We would like to extend our gratitude to both the NSCAA and the Sports Academy for the support and effort in carrying out this research programme.  The desire and interest in collecting stats is clear in the USA soccer coaching community, we have seen this in the uptake of our products and in the wider interest in coaches to use data as a base to work from”.

A full detailed analysis of the findings is planned to be published later this year in the Soccer Journal, the official publication of the NSCAA inWinter 2011/12.

The heart breaker for the soccer coach, and sometimes the game maker.  If you look at the stats for the English Premier League over the past 10 years you can see a marked upward trend in the number of penalties  awarded, with 2001-2 only seeing 39 awarded, to the 101 awarded in the past season.  And no wonder it can be such an important moment in a game, as around 80% of penalties (in that league at least) result in a goal.  Last year it was Arsenal who gave away a whopping 9 penalties, though not an uncommon tally over the past decade, there has only been one team to concede 10, which was Blackburn Rovers in 2006-7.  Five years previous they conceded or won zero penalties. Times have changed. 

What do the stats look like?

Which club is more likely to concede a penalty? Well if past history is an indicator of future behaviour (and we know it is not…but bear with us) then Aston Villa are a safe bet. Looking at those teams currently in the EPL who have played there for the past 11 years.  They have managed to give away 55 penalties, an average of 5.5 per season.  And which team does the analysis show that manages to be awarded the most penalties?  Manchester United I hear you cry – most of them in the last 2 minutes at Old Trafford, right?  Wrong.  It’s Arsenal, who have accumulated 56 penalties, converting 46 of them since the beginning of the 2001 season. Check out all the stats here, at this wonderful website myfootballfacts.com. Including the fact that Matt Le Tissier in his career at Southampton scored 48 times from 49 spot kicks. All in the top flight of English football.  Awesome.    

A penalty kick may be awarded when a defending player commits a foul punishable by a direct free kick against an opponent or a handball, within the penalty area (“the box” or “18 yard box”).  

Importantly it is the location of the offence — and not the position of the ball — that defines whether a foul is punishable by a penalty kick or direct free kick.  The referee signals the award of a penalty kick by blowing the whistle and pointing to the penalty spot.

Definition & Origin

The penalty kick is a form of direct free kick so a goal may be scored directly from it.  If a goal is not scored, play continues as usual.  As with all free kicks, the kicker may not play the ball a second time until it has been touched by another player.  Thus the kicker may play the ball a second time (possibly scoring a goal) if the ball rebounds off the keeper; but not if the ball rebounds directly off the posts without having touched the keeper or any other player. If it hits the woodwork, another player has to touch the ball before the penalty taker can touch it again.  

The concept of a penalty goal for fouls within 2 yards (1.8 m) of the goal was suggested at a Sheffield FA meeting in 1879.   The invention of the penalty kick is also credited to the goalkeeper and businessman William McCrum in 1890 in Milford, County Armagh, Northern Ireland.  The Irish Football Association presented the idea to the International Football Association Board and finally after much debate, and after a blatant goal-line handball by a Notts County player in the FA Cup Quarter-Final against Stoke the board approved the idea on 2 June 1891.

If you want to delve deep on statistics and penalties visit PenaltyHQ.com where some clever people have analysed over 8000 penalties. Grab a coffee.

I wanted to share an article I came across that details who must be the grandaddy of soccer analysis, Charles Reep.  As we use modern technology to help coaches and players improve their game, we are certainly not new to the task of recording stats.   Reep started to carry out match analysis in 1950 (long before many of us were born) and centrally believed that most goals were produced within 3-5 passes/moves.

“Not all revolutionaries are fondly remembered. Barney Ronay examines the controversial legacy of Charles Reep, football’s first tactical statistician.  Published in June 2003 in When Saturday Comes - which in itself is a fantastic journal for all things soccer related (be warned – visit that site and prepare to see an hour of your day leave you…)

Soccer Analyst

Wing Commander Charles Reep has been called many things. Twenty years ago the Times dubbed him “The Human Computer of the Fabled Fifties”; an obituary described him more simply as “a football ana­lyst”; while a slightly empurpled Brian Glanville once declared him a member of FA coaching director Char­les Hughes’s “band of believers and acolytes”, the arch­angel of “a fanatical credo, a pseudo-religion”.

Few figures in English football history have attract­ed as much vitriol or as much ideological zeal. The loth­ario of the long ball, Reep has remained unfathomably seductive to a roll-call of many of the most influential coaching figures in post-war domestic football. He is the national game’s deep dark secret; we know he’s bad for us, but we just can’t help ourselves.” 

Read the full article here.

Set yourself up on Statzpack

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Uploading your team badge/crest

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Adding a New Game

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Adding a Customised  or Tailored Action Set of Stats

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Using the Matrix Analysis /  Excel Export Function

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Gameshare – sharing your soccer stats with your team and supporters

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I was struck by how open Mondays night game was, and how there seemed to be so much space when attacking (particularly for Man United, and particularly towards the end of the game).    Gary Neville mentioned that the pitch is really big at Old Trafford in his recent biography, and anyone who has been lucky enough tovisit it will tesify it is a large field.  This made us want to investigate…. according to this website (though dated in 2007.. gives us an idea):    http://soccerlens.com/premier-league-pitch-sizes/3683/     – it’s the second-biggest pitch in the league… in fact, it’s 786 square yards bigger (by area) than White Hart Lane where Tottenham, the defeated team play!  Spurs ground is small, close, intimate – probaby more theatre than the Theatre of Dreams.  I don’t think it’s a coincidence that United tend to drop off rather than press when they’re not in posession, and are so effective on the counter-attack using all that space with quick decisive, youthful, direct attacking soccer. 

Soccer Standards?

And this to a US sports coach may seem odd, where standard field sizes are more defined, for example American football fields are a set  360 by 160 feet.  Rugby league is played on a field 112-122 by 68 metres. In Rugby Union (yes there are two variants) the field of play on a pitch/field is as near as possible to a maximum of 144m long by 70m wide. In Lacrosse, the field of play is 110 yards (100 m) long and 60 yards (55 m) wide.) 

The length of a full-size soccer pitch must be between 100 yards (90 metres) and 130 yards (120 metres) and the width between 50 yards (45 metres) and 100 yards (90 metres). It is not allowed to be square.  These dimensions apply everywhere in the world.   The pitch is rectangular in shape. The longer sides are called touchlines. The other opposing sides are called the goal lines. The two goal lines must be between 45 and 90 m (50 and 100 yd) and be the same length.  The two touch lines must also be of the same length, and be between 90 and 120 m (100 and 130 yd) in length.  However, in international matches, the goal lines must be between 64 and 75 m (70 and 80 yd) long and the touchlines must be between 100 and 110 m (110 and 120 yd).   Still, there’s a lot of allowance there for size differences of a soccer field. huge differences. 

Lets take Field Hockey for example, a similar sport to Soccer where 11 players per team are on the field at one time, typically on grass – okay, with a few more sticks of course.  Their governing body dont allow for any misunderstanding, as laid down by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) in the “Rules of Hockey”.   As follows:

 The pitch is a 91.40 m × 55 m (100 yd × 60 yd) rectangular field. At each end is a goal 2.14 m (7 feet) high and 3.66 m (12 ft) wide measured from the inner sides of the posts and crossbar, and an approximately semi-circular area 14.63 m (16 yd) from the goal known as the shooting circle (or D or arc), bounded by a solid line, with a dotted line 5 m (5 yd 6 in—this marking was not established until after metric conversion) from that, as well as lines across the field 22.90 m (25 yd) from each end-line (generally referred to as the 23 m lines) and in the center of the field. A spot 0.15m in diameter, called the penalty spot or stroke mark, is placed with its centre 6.40 m (7 yd) from the centre of each goal.

So why the broad acceptance of the variance in field sizes for soccer? Any idea?

We have released a new version of the Statzpack App, version 2.3 – now available in iTunes.  Take a quick tour of the App in this youtube video.

This version allows you to see custom actions in the real time summary and as usual is free of any cost.

Get the update by visiting iTunes or via the App Store on your iPhone or iPad.

As high quality and as slick the iPhone 4 screen is, it doesn’t compare to that of the iPad when it comes to size.  And yep size matters.  Being able to see more of the screen when you record soccer stats with Statzpack improves accuracy and speed.

Tracking Soccer Stats Gets Easier

A quick look shows how much more of the screen you can see when using a stylus.

Over the past year or so there has been an increase in the availability of stylus’s for smart-phones. So what about a stylus for the iPhone?  Apple don’t sell them directly, but you can get your hands on them online for around $10-15 and there are various types and quality.

So with the help of our sports studies intern Aileen we carried out some research to find out ‘would the use of the stylus improve the Statzpack experience?’  The answer was.. YES!  In general when using a stylus approximately 25% more of the screen is visible.  The central advantage is the use of a stylus increases greater visibility of the screen and hence improves recording accuracy and speed.

We then tested 5 different types of stylus and we concluded that the best stylus to use with Statzpack was a basic soft touch stylus.  Not only can you see more of the screen it was the best stylus type for the action selection in our App.

And we have 10 stylus’s to give away. If you would like to get your hands on one of our stylus’s for free just email freestylus@statzpack.com and we will mail one out to you.

What’s the difference between a direct and indirect free kick? How many strikers are in a 4-4-2 formation? And what’s this “injury time” business all about? Before you start tracking stats on your iPad.. .. ..

Against the run of play: When one team scores after launching a counterattack soon after it regains possession of the ball, that team is said to have scored “against the run of play.”

Attacking third: The third of the field where one team is trying to score on the opposing team’s goal.

Bicycle kick: A shot on goal taken by a player who has his back to the net and kicks the ball while both of his feet are in the air.

Booking: A term used to indicate when the referee has cautioned a player with a yellow or red card. A player is said to have been “booked.” Also known as a caution.

Cap: A recognition earned by a player whenever he plays in an international game for his country. A player becomes “capped” each time he plays for his country.

Caught in possession: A player who doesn’t move forward with the ball or passes to a teammate after receiving the ball, and who is then tackled by an opponent is said to have been “caught in possession.”

Caught square: When a through ball has beaten two or more opposing defenders because they were positioned square to one another (in a straight line across the field parallel to the goal-line) they are said to have been “caught square.”

Chip pass: A pass lofted into the air from one player to a teammate. Used primarily to elude a defender by kicking the ball over his head.

Soccer Defined

Chip shot: A shot towards the net that is lofted into the air in an attempt to sail the ball over the goalkeeper’s head and under the crossbar and into the goal.

Close down: A defensive technique whereby a defender gets as close as possible to an attacker carrying the ball without letting him get by.

Compress the field: When defenders push out toward someone who is dribbling the ball, thereby reducing the area in which that player can move without being in an offside position.

Counter-attack: An attack launched by a defending team immediately after it regains possession of the ball. A counterattack in soccer is equivalent to a fast break in basketball.

Cross: A pass from an attacking player near the sideline to a teammate in the middle or opposite side of the field.

Dead ball situation: Any restart of the game, following a stoppage by the referee, when the ball is put back into play by the attacking team. (i.e.: a direct or indirect free kick or a corner kick).

Direct play: A tactical style of play in which a team tries to move the ball forward into its opponent’s half of the field as soon as possible after regaining possession.

Dissent: When a player expresses disagreement by word or action with any decision of the referee. A yellow card is usually handed out as punishment for dissent.

Dribble: The act of controlling the ball with the feet while moving on the field of play.

Dummy: A player pretending to be about to receive the ball, but instead allowing the ball to travel past him and to the feet of a teammate in order to trick opposing players.

Formation: The arrangement of players into positions on the field. A 4-4-2 formation consists of four defenders, four midfielders and two forwards.

50/50 ball: A loose ball contested by a player from each team, usually after an errant pass or a goal kick.

Half volley: Taking a shot on net just as the ball bounces off the ground.

Header: Use of the head to pass or control the ball, or to take a shot on net.

Man-to-man: A type of defensive scheme where each defender is assigned to mark a specific player from the opposing team.

Marking: Guarding and defending a player to prevent him from advancing the ball towards the net, making a pass or getting the ball from a teammate.

Midfield: The area of the field near the centre line; the area patrolled by the midfielders.

Narrowing the angle: A goalkeeping technique used to reduce the area of the goal that an attacker could shoot. This lowers the odds that the attacker will score.

Nil: British term meaning the score for one side is zero. A score of 1-0 is one-nil in English soccer parlance. Nutmeg: When a player kicks the ball through the legs of a defender instead of carrying it around him, the defender is said to have been “nutmegged.”

Obstruction: A defending player using his body to prevent an offensive player from playing the ball.

Offside trap: The act of the defenders moving forward together in order to place an opponent in an offside position, thereby creating an offside infraction.

Overlap: A tactic where a player moves past a teammate who has the ball down the sideline in order to put himself in a better position to receive a pass.

Own-goal: A player accidentally putting the ball in his own net, thus scoring a goal for the opposing team.

Pitch: British term for a soccer field.

Possession play: A tactical style of play in which a team tries to maintain possession of the ball while moving towards the opponent’s goal, with the underlying objective to create a scoring chance.

Professional foul: A foul committed intentionally on an attacker just outside the defender’s penalty area. Used to prevent a scoring opportunity without incurring a penalty shot.

Set play: A planned strategy that a team employs when a game is restarted with a free kick. Also known as a set piece.

Tackling: The act of taking the ball away from an opposing player by kicking or stopping it with one’s feet.

Through ball: A pass played into the space behind the defenders for a teammate to run on to.

Tracking: Moving and staying with an opponent who has made a run to another part of the field.

Trap: When a player uses his body to slow down and control a moving ball, most often using the chest, thighs or feet.

Volley: Any ball kicked by a player when it is in the air.

Wall: A line of defending players pressed together shoulder-to-shoulder to protect their goal against a free kick. The wall makes it more difficult for the opposing player to score by reducing the amount of open goal area to shoot at.

THE FIELD

Goal area: The rectangular area (20 yards wide by 6 yards deep) in front of each goal from which all goal kicks are taken.

Goal-line: The field boundary running along its width at each end. Also called the end-line.

Halfway line: The middle line that divides the field into two equal halves. Also known as the centre line.

Penalty area: A rectangular area (44 yards wide by 18 yards deep) with its long edge on the goal line; the goalkeeper may use his hands to block or control the ball only within this area. Also known as the 18-yard box.

Penalty spot: The small circular spot located 12 yards in front of the centre of the goal-line from which all penalty kicks are taken.

Sideline: A line that runs the length of the field on each side. The line from which all free throws are taken. Also known as the touchline.

POSITIONS

Attacking midfielder: The most forward-playing midfielder who slots in right behind the forwards and in front of the rest of the midfielders. He supports the offence by providing passes to forwards to set up goals.

Defender: A player who functions primarily in the defensive third of the field and whose major role is to fend off attacks on the goal by the opposing team. Also known as a fullback.

Defensive midfielder: The player positioned just in front of his team’s defence who is responsible for marking the opposition’s best offensive player.

Flat back: A defensive scheme in which the three or four defenders move in unison, maintaining a formation that is straight across the field.

Goalkeeper: The player positioned directly in front of the goal who tries to stop opposing players to score. The only player allowed to use his hands and arms, though only within the penalty area.

Libero: A defender or midfielder who plays in front of the defence. Similar to a sweeper (who plays behind the defenders) or a screen; however, the libero frequently moves forward to join the attack.

Marking back: A fullback whose primary responsibility is to mark or cover one of the opposing forwards.

Midfielders: The two, three or four players who link together the offensive and defensive functions of a team. Midfielders play in front of the defenders and behind the forwards.

Screen: A defensive midfielder playing in front of the defence charged with the responsibility of collecting loose balls across the width of the field and then distributing passes to teammates up the field.

Stopper: A defender who marks the best scorer on the attacking team, often the opposition’s striker.

Striker: An offensive player who plays towards the opposing team’s net and tries to score goals. Also known as a forward.

Sweeper: A central defender who plays closest to his own goal behind the rest of the defenders. A team’s last line of defence in front of the goalkeeper.

Target man: An attacking player who acts as a target for forward passes from teammates. This player tends to be tall and plays with his back to the goal and holds off opponents with his big size and frame.

Wingback: A fullback playing in a wide position with responsibility for making attacking runs down the wings.

Winger: The outside forwards who play close to the sidelines whose primary task is to provide the strikers with accurate crossing passes so they can shoot at the goal.

RULES AND LAWS

Play the advantage: A judgement made by the official to allow play to continue rather than stopping play to call a foul. The official makes this decision when he thinks the foul did not put the offended team at a disadvantage, or if the foul, should it have been called, would take away a scoring chance for the offended team.

Corner kick: A restart of the game where the ball is kicked from the corner arc into the middle of the penalty area in an attempt to create a scoring chance. Awarded to an attacking team when the ball crosses the defending team’s goal-line after being last touched by the defending team.

Direct free kick: A kick awarded to a player after being fouled by the opposition. The player kicks a stationary ball while opposing players are forced to stand 10 yards away from him. A goal can be scored directly from this kick without the ball touching another player.

Extra time: If the score is tied after 90 minutes of regulation, the teams must then play two 15 minutes halves to decide the game. Sort of like overtime in hockey, expect the extra time periods are not sudden death; if one team scores a goal, they must still play both 15 minutes halves.

Foul: A violation of the rules – including kicking, pushing, shoving, tripping and dangerous or aggressive play – for which an official awards a free kick.

Goal kick: A type of restart in which the ball is kicked from inside the goal area away from the goal. Awarded to the defending team when a ball that crossed its goal-line was last touched by a player on the attacking team.

Handball: A foul where a player touches the ball with his hand or arm; depending on where the offence take place, the opposing team is awarded either a penalty kick or a direct free kick.

Indirect free kick: A kick awarded to a player for a less-serious foul committed by the opposition. The player kicks a stationary ball to a teammate while opposing players are forced to stand 10 yards away from him. A goal can not be scored on an indirect free kick as the ball must first be touched by another player before going into the net – this is why a player kicks the ball to a teammate on an indirect free kick.

Injury time: Time added to the end of each half according to the referee’s judgment of time lost due to player injuries or intentional stalling by a team. Also known as “time added on” or “stoppage time.”

Assistant referees: The two officials who assist the lead referee in making his decisions. They monitor the sidelines and goal-lines to determine when a ball goes out of bounds, when a goal is scored or when players are offside; they use a flag to signal their observations.

Offside: A player in an offside position while his team has the ball becomes involved in active play, such as by being the recipient of a pass.

Offside position: The situation where an attacking player, on the offensive half of the field, has put himself in a position where there are fewer than two opponents (usually the goalie and one defender) between him and the goal at the exact moment the ball is kicked forward. This positioning does not constitute a foul until he becomes involved in the play. A player is not offside if he is exactly even with one or both of these defensive players.

Penalty shot: A kick taken from the penalty spot by a player against the opposing goalie. Awarded for the most severe rule violations and those committed by defenders within their own penalty area. Also known as a penalty kick.

Red card: A red card that a referee holds up to signal a player’s expulsion from the game; the player’s team must then play the rest of the game shorthanded. Presented for violent behaviour or multiple infractions (two yellow cards = one red card).

Referee: The head referee in charge of officiating the game.

Shootout: A tie-breaking device that pits one player against the goalkeeper in penalty kicks. The winner is determined after a best-of-five series of shots alternating with each team. If tied after five, the contest continues with different players until one team scores and the other team doesn’t. Used after the teams played two 15-minute halves of overtime with the game still tied.

Substitution: Replacement of one player on the field with another player not on the field. Teams are allowed three substitutions per game.

Throw-in: A type of restart where a player throws the ball from behind his head with two hands while standing with both feet on the ground behind a sideline. Taken by a player opposite the team that last touched the ball before it went over the sideline.

Yellow card: A yellow card that a referee holds up to warn a player for dangerous or un-sportsmanlike behaviour; also known as a caution. Two yellow cards in one game earns a player an automatic red card, signalling his expulsion.

From time to time when we talk to new customers and partners, we are often asked ‘so who uses yur product?’ or ‘where are your customers at?’.   When we were asked this last week by a new user in the mid west of the USA we decided to actually take a few minutes to list it out.  Well we all know that soccer is the truly global game, and the internet has no bounds so it really be no surprise (but it was..) to see that we have customers in the following countries: USA, UK, Ireland, Canada, Turkey, Spain, Netherlands, Sweden, India, Italy, South Africa, Malta, Cyprus, New Zealand, Malta, Australia and Malaysia.  

Global Soccer App

We have users who are high school teachers, semi-pro coaches, professional analysts, parents, even international scouts using our product.  What amazes us and equally motivates us a company is the enthusiasm of the soccer coach – wherever they are, or whatever age group or level they are coaching and we try to plough that right back into our products.

If you’re a Statzpack user you can help spread the word and by making referrals you can get extra free time added to your subscription, check it out here.   Hello world. Greetings Statzpackers

Just to let you know that we have made some refinements to the Matrix Report function.  We improved the capability to define what actions you want to list and the export function to Excel lays out the data in two distinct sheets. To take a look, log into the website and select the Analysis Tab, and then Matrix Report.  Once again these changes were guided by feedback from our users and if you have any ideas let us know.  For example we are currently looking at the capability to allow coaches to complete player/team evaluations on the website, is this something that as a coach you desire? If it is – tell us.

Here is a sample of the look excel output.