PSP is very pleased to welcome Dan Stover and Jim Prestifilippo. Dan and Jim will be presenting a Philadelphia Union infographic each month to illustrate how the team performed statistically. Enjoy!
To download a PDF version of this month’s infographic, click here.
Author: Dan Stover and Jim Prestifilippo
When they're not tearing up Fifa '13 online play with the Kaizer Chiefs (Tshabalala for life) or trotting Morecambe FC into the EPL on Lewis Alessandra's back, Dan and Jim spend their weekends in the River End or down at the Iron Abbey cheering (sometimes grumbling} on the Union. These Lansdale natives enjoy the finer things in life - like Old Crow bourbon, cheap tattoos, and thrift store furniture. They're both currently training for their entry into next year's Supplemental Draft.
This is great and well done! Thanks!
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Is there any way to add pass attempts as a sub stat in the successful passing % category?
@Jedi like the total attempts? absolutely. We’ll work it into the next sheet at the end of April. Here are the totals:
Gaddis – 158
Parke – 128
Okugo – 124
Williams – 212
Albright – 1
Carroll – 189
Lahoud – 152
Garfan – 39
Marfan – 152
Daniel – 128
Torres – 10
Cruz – 51
Le Toux – 117
McInerney – 73
Casey – 7
Hoppenot – 28
any other suggestions would be welcome. enjoy guys.
Add bacon into the mix somehow. Bacon makes everything better.
Yup total, successful and unsuccessful. L-dale represent!
+1 to the authors
I all around love this infographic. One suggestion: the players with a negative “Plus/Minus” Rating are facing the wrong direction relative to the rest of the data. Other than that great stuff guys.
Great reference. Thanks a lot, fellas!
+1. Well done. Love the possession plus-minus especially. I wonder if there are league-wide averages on some of these stats.
Interesting to see that Lahoud has gotten a bum rap.
And that the impression that Williams is struggling this year has some merit.
Nicely put together, especially categorizing it into separate categories. Biggest surprise I see is Williams not being among the defensive leaders….looking at the formulas though, I’m thinking it might be a result of him not being challenged as much per game as the others. Assuming (BIG assumption) that this is in fact what’s happening, are teams fearful of Williams and choose not to attack him? Are teams stronger attacking from the right side? Both? Neither? Just a fun discussion topic in my opinion.
Just for shiggles, my subjective attempt at starting XI based ONLY on the infographic data. Curious what others would think of this line-up. Also curious if your opinion of what the starting XI should be has changed as a result of seeing these stats.
—————–McMath——————
Gaddis—Parke—Okugo—-Marfan
——————Carrol——————–
—–Lahoud—————-Daniel——-
—————–Le Toux——————-
———McInerney—–Casey———-
How about G. Farfan for M. Farfan, Le Toux for Lahoud and Kleberson for Le Toux?
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I think our best bet for a point against Columbus away would be a 4-2-3-1 if Kleberson does not play (4-4-2 if he does)
Thanks for the thoughts JediLos117! To answer your questions:
Marfan was a weird decision for me. He was rated 4th best in Defensive Rating/game but has the worst Possession differential. I know he belongs as a Midfielder or Attacking Mid, but decided his defensive numbers were one of the best 4 available. Infographic suggests Garfan could also slot in and be a slight drop off.
Le Toux and Lahoud, I can certainly see that switch being made. I think I put Lahoud in mid because of his higher passing rating and possession differential.
Kleberson for Le Toux-I wanted to base my lineup on the infographic, and only the infographic. Since Kleberson hasn’t played yet and isn’t included, he’s wasn’t eligible due to the rules I set for myself.
Again, all this is HIGHLY subjective. By no means am I trying to be convincing, just explaining my reasoning and looking to continue the discussion Dan and Jim started with the infographic.
The numbers dont lie…but somethings have to be understood when looking at the passing percentages…especially in regards to specific positions and responsibilities.
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It should be no surprise that Okugo, Parke, Lahoud and Carroll have such had passing percentages as they spend most of their shift in the defensive third…central defenders better make sure they connect with their passes or they run the risk of exposing themselves to counterattacks, etc…for defenders its either clear the ball or make sure the pass connects.
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In M. Farfans case, since he spends most of his time in the middle or offensive third as an offensive catylst he is afforded more room for error. He is running at the defense one on one, trying to thread the needle with a through ball and generally pushing the offensive limit and as such should have a lower passing percentage…
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In regards to Casey and McInerney. They couldnt be more different as strikers…but IMO they both are similar in that they work best in the middle and Im curious to see if they could work together as the 2 in any formation…I tend to think not.
Agree 100% that defenders should have the best passing completion percentages. Some error allowed for clearances. If I wasn’t at work I’d dive into the Opta stats to try and do a league-wide average by position.
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(Adopting your method of periods to separate paragraphs)
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Marfan’s passes…doing a quick look at his successful vs. unsuccessful passes for the NYRB game, there certainly is a geographical difference between the two clusters. Lots of completed passes in the middle third, lots of unsuccessful passes in the top third. He’s clearly an attacking player as you suggested, and I’ll freely admit that me putting him at LB is absurd at best. Again, just going on the infographic data. It anything, his high “defense” rating shows he does add value when on the other side of the ball.
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Casey/McInerney do have different playing styles, and I’m not sure what to think about this pairing. The “traditional” method is that you need a pair up-top that work well together….which may or may not be similar playing styles. Other argument is that having two different styles allows for different methods of attacking, Conor as a target man, and McInerney making runs…assuming they aren’t on-top of each other in the middle of the field as you suggest they would be.
I don’t understand any of it. Let me know when the Brad Pitt movie comes out.
This is awesome
I think the possesion differntial is as true a barometer of player quality shown.
Regarding Sheanon’s (perceived or actual) poor showing, my impression is that he’s been given more free reign to push forward more especially with the addition of Parke and the blossoming of Okugo to cover in the back.
This would leave him scambling back trying to get into the play, not the ideal position to be in wheb trying to stop a counter.
PS Well done Dan & Jim!
Would love some stats on my kids’ behavior patterns as it pertains to their sleep cycles & food intake correlated with school suspensions and whippings.
3/5 of our starting midfield haven’t had a shot on frame?
This is great, very well done guys. The most glaring thing I notice is how badly Marfan is doing. Although it has been pretty apparent on the field as well.
Nicely done…it will be interesting to see how these numbers change as the season progresses. My only suggestion would be to not include the players kit numbers.
Thank you for a huge contribution. This can only get better with more data. Might be nice if you can look at trends, but that’s a lot to ask, I guess. This is great.
Nice job Dan and Jim! It seemed to me that Sheanon’s passing has been poor this year out of the back. Your stats seem to validate that. Nice to know I’m not completely crazy. Thanks for putting all this together. Great stuff…!!!
Outstanding work Dan and Jim!
Great work, Dan & Jim.
I especially love how the numbers can debunk some theories that people have been pushing (i.e. – Keon is a terrible defender, Carroll is always giving the ball, etc.)
Many years ago I coached little league baseball. I was sick of whining kids and idiot parents so I made up a spreadsheet with complete player stats, starts, innings played and so on since nothing like it existed. Printed it every week and sent a copy home with every kid. They called it “the report card”. It changed everything including how I saw some players. I am so curious about how this changes our discourse. I would have loved it for my youth soccer teams. Nice work!
Hello there, You’ve performed a great job. I will definitely digg it and for my part suggest to my friends.