Ranking Soccer Players By Following the Bouncing Ball

sciencehabit excerpts from an interesting report on statistics for soccer, in the stats-obsessed world of sports: "Only a handful of soccer ranking systems exist, most of which rely on limited information: the number of goals scored in a match, the number of goals assisted, and some indices of a match's difficulty and importance. ... So researchers turned to an unlikely source: social networks. Applying the kinds of mathematical techniques used to map Facebook friends and other networks, the team created software that can trace the ball's flow from player to player. As the program follows the ball, it assigns points for precise passing and for passes that ultimately lead to a shot at the goal. Whether the shot succeeds doesn't matter. Only the ball's flow toward the goal and each player's role in getting it there factors into the program's point system, which then calculates a skill index for each team and player."

Um ...

[WrongSizeGlass]

Points for not scoring? Isn't that the same as a woman telling you that she just wants to be friends because your friendship means more than a relationship would?

Re:incomplete metrics

[fiannaFailMan]

Moving across a zone or defender to clear space for someone who actually handles the ball?

Handle the ball? Someone like Thierry Henry?

Re:News for nerds?

[supertrinko]

The fifa world cup, it infects everything. Especially those bloody vuvuzel-BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

For the benefit of World Cup viewers

[DuranDuran]

For the benefit of World Cup viewers, this may seem more familiar:

"Only a handful ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ exist, most ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ information: the ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ match, the number ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ a match's ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ So researchers ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ Applying ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ the ball's ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ultimately ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ball's flow toward the goal ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ for each team and player."

Bouncing balls...

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought it was going to be a story about testicles...

Re:Um ...

[Eevee]

If NFL football is chess, soccer is go.

I don't recall Go masters diving to the ground and writhing in fake agony every time the opponent's hand gets them.

Re:Um ...

[MrHanky]

You've obviously never seen an Italian Go master at the top of his game.