Dear SAFA... I'm looking for a goalscorer (Part Two)

It is not the intention of this article to pick one player over the others but rather to demonstrate their traits, tendencies, strengths and areas to improve. This helps clubs identify whether the player would suit their style, their league, their strategy. So in this post we take a deeper dive into the data to explore our 5 marksmen; in some cases to identify why they have moved to a certain club or league and for others, where there next destination may be. Without doubt, these 5 strikers are going to be on the move (again) very soon as they aim to fulfil their potential over the coming years.

Goalscoring Analysis

Points Won

Not all goals are equal, right? We decided to take show you some of our typical analysis of how we might begin to evaluate a 'goalscorer' rather than looking at generic metrics like 'Goals Scored' and 'Shots on Target'.

Figure One - Points Won:Mins per Goal

Goals per Game:Shots per Game

A really positive start for Hernández and Arezo, unsurprisingly as they are the highest scorers in the data set. Already we start to build a picture of a goalscorer here, Pizarro scores less frequently but wins more points, Borbas scores more regularly but his goals have been less valuable. 

Figure Two - Goals per Game:Shots per Game

Again, Hernández and Arezo out in front. Quite comfortably we see the two clusters here but with Hernández having a slightly better return on his shots than Arezo.

Strength of Opponent

Figure Three - Points Won:Strength of Opponent

We see a slightly different picture here, yes our top two scorers lead the way with points won but Arezo in particular is scoring his goals against much weaker teams. Encouraging signs for Udinese-bound Pizarro who has won moderate points scoring against some of the strongest teams in the league (Average Position: 6th).

Situational Goalscoring

Figure Four - Situational Goalscoring

Some interesting findings here which probably disfavour the players who play in stronger teams in their league, especially Hernández whose side Puerto Cabello only lost 6 times all season. Arezo and Pizarro are of interest here, showing an ability to break the deadlock most frequently and Borbas too, who frequently brought his side back into games with goals from the bench.

Locational Scoring

Figure Five: Locational Scoring

Probably not the dealbreaker when signing a striker but clubs need to consider how they best deploy their assets. For instance, if you had Arezo and Pizarro in your squad, would you start Pizarro more at home and Arezo in your away games? These are conversations we love to have with clubs to interrogate how they best use their data to make informed decisions. 

Conclusions 

Based on some simple data collection and analysis, we can start to build a picture of our goalscorers. Here's a quick review before we bring some more in depth individual analysis your way next week:

Hernández:

• Scores against weaker teams (8th place average, Range 2nd-15th)
• Scores frequently (every 113 minutes)
• Has lots of shots with moderate accuracy (3.1 per game)
• Doesn't score when team are losing (6% of goals)
• Won 18 points from 17 goals

Arezo:

• Scores against weaker teams (9th place average, Range 1st-17th)
• Best points per game (0.8)
• Scores when team are drawing (59% of goals)
• Won 21 points from 17 goals
• Most his goals come away from home (65%)

Borbas:

• Low minutes played, regularly a sub
• Low points per game (0.27)
• Moderate minutes per goal despite being a sub (157 minutes)
• Scores when team are losing (44% of goals)
• 9 points from 9 goals
• Best for shooting accuracy (47%)
• Scores in the second half, 4 of 9 goals coming as a sub

Siri:

• Won 6 points from 7 goals (only player with a negative return)
• Only player to score against higher ranked teams than his own (+1 place average)

Pizarro:

• Scores against stronger teams (6th place average, Range 1st-11th)
• Scores goals when his team are drawing (87%)
• Most his goals come at home (83%)
• Won 12 points from 6 goals