NCAA soccer teams are back on campus and preparing for their season.
As preseason is underway, well shift our attention to the main actors in the show, the players.
Using data collected from Wyscout, this data analysis is the last of our trilogy on NCAA D1 mens soccer. The first piece used statistics to formulate styles of play within the college game, and the second analysis was a how to on incorporating data in a college soccer program (or even a cash-strapped professional team that doesnt have an analysis department).
The final article of the series digs into the data to build a preseason team to watch. One point for consideration is that Wyscout filters limited a direct comparison of the players to non-conference matches. The percentile ranks are calculated based on performances in non-conference play, but youll find that there was little differentiation between conference and non-conference play for the majority of these players.
In terms of the tactics, we selected the players based on a 1-4-3-3 system and stuck to a starting XI for the article.
Without further ado, heres your NCAA D1 2023 Preseason Team to Watch.
Goalkeeper and defenders
Well start at the back with our player selections. First up is the goalkeeper, followed by his backline.
Overall, the backline featured many players who are either strong attackers or strong defensive players. Thats especially the case with the centre-backs. There were a lot of good players, but few with consistent marks across the board. Sorting through the data, we found those players.
Goalkeeper: Michael Statham, Sophomore, Old Dominion
This was perhaps the closest positional battle as Statham just edged out Henrik Weiper, the sophomore from Brown University and former Mainz 05 academy player. Ultimately, we just couldnt overlook Stathams involvement in Old Dominions tactics. Statham is a product of the Nottingham Forest youth academy.
He received some of the top marks in the goalkeepers action categories and was highly involved in Browns tactics. While his passing efficiency numbers arent as impressive as Weipers, theres far more usage for Statham and the average pass length data does give an indication of stylistic differences in the game models employed with the two teams. Statham is one of the most complete goalkeepers in Division 1 and pivotal to Browns success this season.
Outside-back: Jahlane Forbes, Senior, Wake Forest
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