Passing sequences and networks analysis in football A study on the UEFA EURO 2020

Manuel Maria Strecht Ribeiro Hipólito Reis

Key information

Authors:

Manuel Maria Strecht Ribeiro Hipólito Reis (Manuel Maria Strecht Ribeiro Hipólito Reis)

Supervisors:

José Rui De Matos Figueira (José Rui De Matos Figueira); Francisco João Duarte Cordeiro Correia dos Santos (Francisco Correia dos Santos)

Published in

December 5, 2022

Abstract

Network Science and Graph Theory can contribute to football analysis, providing valuable tools that allow describing the interactive behaviour of teams more consistently than the traditional analysis, which is based on the individual performance of players. Few research works have studied the relationship between a team's attacking strategy (possession play or direct play) and the characteristics of the network and how these affect the team's overall performance. On the other hand, the impact of the systems of play on the network's characteristics is still unclear. Therefore, this study analysed the passing sequences and networks of the national teams that competed in the UEFA EURO 2020. Verifying that most of the teams' distributions of passes completed tend to follow the power law, an innovative way to describe the general strategy of the play was proposed, through the power law exponent,-α. Thus, teams with a possession game have a lower value of α, whereas teams with a direct play have a higher value of α. The results of statistical studies suggested that the teams that adopted a direct play, characterised by executing fewer passes and fewer passes completed, generating networks with a lower density and average clustering coefficient, were less successful, i.e., eliminated in the tournament's first stage. Finally, the clustering analysis was inconclusive in revealing how playing systems affect the networks’ characteristics. In summary, this study provides relevant insights that can aid the coaching staff’s work, enhancing the value of Network Science and Graph Theory in football analysis.