Blog Posts

  • The Anatomy of an Open Play Shot from Outside The Box or Keepers and Culpability

    Having now recorded all the publicly available shot data (30,000+ efforts) and found little difference between our findings at the 2,000 and 15,000 recorded shots stage, we thought it was time to do something a bit more interesting with the data. What has really intrigued most people and sparked the most debate is the fact…

  • Shot Position Average Model – SPAM

    Last time out we looked at different sectors of the pitch and how many shots it was taking on average to score a goal from there in the EPL this season. We stated we’d continue to collect the data going forward and that we’d go back to previous seasons too. Well, the data now covers…

  • Should footballers lay off anything outside the strike zone?

    One of Differentgame’s favourite passages in the book Moneyball is when Feiny, the guy who cuts videotape for Oakland and A’s hitter, John Mabry, have their ongoing discussion about why Mabry doesn’t get more games in an Oakland A uniform. Feiny tells Mabry to lay off the bad pitches. “You see that coming at you…

  • Things to watch differently in the Premier League this season #4 – Formations

    Being obsessed with football systems here at Differentgame, we wanted to look at how different formations effect teams’ ability to make blocks, make clearances, make tackles, intercept passes, and pick up loose balls. What’s the best football formation to use to win the ball back? We tend to scoff at Harry Redknapp saying things like:…

  • Things to watch differently in the Premier League this season #3 – Referees

    Bored of the diving debate yet? Bored of hearing about Luis Suarez, Gareth Bale, Steven Gerrard and Ashley Young? Isn’t violent conduct in football more serious? Don’t add to the football cliche production line. You never know, these things might all be linked. This article came about when Differentgame looked to see how many fouls…