Passing Networks in Soccer
https://theathletic.com/3346644/2022/06/07/premier-league-pass-networks/
The Athletic released an article outlining the passing network of each premier league team last season. The Premier League is England’s top soccer league and one of the most popular around the world. The Athletic compiled every team’s passing statistics and created an average pass network across all games in the team’s most common starting formation. A team’s passing network says a lot about their style of play, who their most important players are, and how successful the team is. The pass network is comprised of edges and nodes. Nodes are player positions, and the node size is how many passes they complete on average. Edges are passes between player positions, and the color indicates how common this connection is.
Let’s look at Manchester City and Burnley to highlight a few of the most interesting teams and trends. Manchester City was the champion last year and has won 4 of the last 5 Premier League titles. They are an extremely successful team, reflected in their passing network. Of all the teams, they have the most symmetrical and complete passing network. Most other teams make more passes on one side of the field or in sections of the field. This is natural, as certain players and positions dominate a team’s play style. By contrast, Manchester City’s pass network is symmetrical, and passes are distributed evenly. This is due to manager Pep Guardiola’s meticulous and pass-centric style of play. While other teams focus on moving the ball vertically, Guardiola’s teams always rely on having large amounts of possession and creating chances from around the pitch. 9 of 11 players’ nodes are dark green and large, indicating the team dominated possession in most matches, and most players were involved. The two positions not involved as much in passing were goalkeeper and center forward. This makes sense, as goalkeepers are not typically involved in creating chances, but even Manchester City’s goalkeeper was one of the most pass active. Manchester City’s center forward was also not as involved, as their lack of consistent or healthy center forwards was one of their few weak points during the season. By contrast, Burnley was one of the worst teams in the league, and their passing chart reflects this. They had the worst passing average and lowest top passing coefficient. Unlike Manchester City, Burnley works with a limited budget and struggles to attract top talent. Therefore, they must be comfortable letting their opponents dominate possession and capitalize on their few chances to score during the game. Burnley’s passing network is disconnected, as their left-wing only passes between itself; there’s less passing on the right wing. Overall, the Athletics pass network visualizations show how most successful teams have connected networks: the top teams control most of the possession, and worse teams struggle to replicate the same style.