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The other School of Science...

Whilst mindlessly perusing the internet for all things Everton, I came across a WalesOnline piece concerning how science is being applied to football transfers. (I am merely the messenger — so please do not shoot me for what follows, or if you attempt to, do it in the fashion of Tony Hibbert.)

It concerned The International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES — Centre International d'à‰tude du Sport if you're a fancy Dan), based in Switzerland and backed by FIFA. (Okay, they're already losing face...)

Paraphrasing their website, it states that since 2013 the CIES Football Observatory has developed a powerful approach to estimate on a scientific basis the transfer value of professional footballers. It says it has produced an algorithm that has been based from analysis of close to 2,000 previous transfers over the past seven years, with such factors as player and club performances, international status, experience, book value, contract terms, age and position helping to provide an accurate and realistic value.

The module presents the performance level of all players from the big five leagues in Europe (Serie A, the Bundesliga, Ligue 1, La Liga and the Premier League) in six areas of the game over the last 1,000 minutes played using data provided by OptaPro. It also includes statistics on players' careers.

The recourse to statistical analysis techniques has allowed CIES to construct six Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) covering all of the essential actions that outfield players must accomplish in order to enable their team to win. The KPIs developed are composite indicators that are perfectly comparable both spatially (between leagues or clubs) and temporally (between seasons). They combine systematically the number of actions carried out (productivity) and their outcome (efficiency). (Phew — are you still with them?)

The six areas they break down are:-

From a defensive point of view, rigour highlights players who are most able to hamper the ability of the opposing team to become dangerous thanks to a strong presence in duels, both in the air and on the ground. This is an area that notably foregrounds the most skilled footballers in marking. The latter ability relies on qualities such as physical strength and timing.

Also part of defending, recovery measures the ability of players to minimise the opportunities of their adversaries through proficient interception work. This area showcases footballers who are best at anticipating the offensive intentions of their opponents. Qualities such as a sense of position and tactical intelligence are of crucial importance here.

The third area, distribution, highlights players who are best able to pass the ball. This skill is very important insofar as it allows teams to keep a grip on the game. With rare exceptions, dominating clubs have more possession than lesser performing teams. From the point of view of individual qualities associated with this area, technique and vision are of primary importance.

When it comes to attacking, take on measures the ability of players to create dangerous situations by successfully challenging adversaries. Without a numerical advantage, it becomes difficult for each team to create opportunities. Take on also increases the chances to score from set play by obtaining free kicks and corners. Aside from technique, a player needs to take risks and be explosive in order to excel at take on.

Chance creation defines the ability to put teammates in a favourable position to shoot. This area highlights players who are most skilled at making the final pass. These footballers combine aforementioned qualities such as technique and vision, while being also particularly gifted at the levels of decision-making and swiftness of execution.

Finally, the domain of shooting measures the capacity of footballers to target successfully their opponent's goal. In a sport such as football, where the number of goals is very low, having players that are able to take advantage of opportunities is a luxury that few teams can afford. Apart from the above-mentioned skills, shooting relies heavily on accuracy and self-composure.

The wealth of a club and its need to purchase certain types of player (and the selling club's knowledge of this need) also affect (as do many other things) the price clubs are willing to pay in any given transfer.

So, I put our squad in to their system and these are what the Profs think of our Pros (all prices in millions of Euros and in no particular order):-

Williams — 12
Baines — 4.8
Coleman — 6.7 (perhaps taking the leg break into account?)
Bolasie - 13
Deulofeu — 18
Jagielka — 3.2
Gueye — 14.9
Funes Mori — 16.9 (yeah, I know!)
Schneiderlin — 15.2
McCarthy — 11
Besic — 5.2
Davies — 24
Lookman — 13.1
Calvert-Lewin — 7.5
Holgate — 9.2
Barkley — 30.7
Barry — 1.9
Pickford — not valued for some reason. (Perhaps as a comeback for stealing one of the Profs glasses / cardigan / open-toed sandals or packed lunches? Or maybe dissing a bum fluff beard?)
Mirallas — 8.8
Klaassen — not valued as he came from outside the ‘big' leagues.
Tarashaj — 4.6
Lukaku — 105.4 (so we're not completely delusional) And last and probably least:-
Niasse — 3.6 (I can't recall if the million sign was placed here or not...)

I put in a few of our supposed targets just to see:-

Sigurdsson — 21.9
Sandro — 13.8
Keane — 23
Gray — 12.1
Brozovic — 24.8
Dembele — The Scottish League (— the Profs thought this to be a temperance movement and duly signed themselves up).

Even if all the above seems ridiculous — it is at least fairly interesting to see what boffins think player X is currently worth. (The ‘X' in this case could possibly be a forgery of Jordan Henderson's signature).

If you are interested in seeing their valuations of any players — or other parts of their site — try this link to the Football Observatory.

As I'm sure you know, it's probably all a pile of shite. Which reminds me of the old joke:—

"What did the constipated mathematician do? — He worked it out with a paper and pencil!"

Sorry.

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