We should start here with an insight into how to use data when looking to recruit players for your club. In no way should data be used as the definitive and only source of information when looking to take new players into your club. Data has to be combined with video and live scouting as well as with background checks on a player before you can have enough information to decide whether you are going to sign that player or not.
Why then is data so important as a first team in the recruitment process? Using and filtering data allows you to narrow and filter your search range to a point that is manageable. The purpose of this piece, for example, is to identify central defenders for Arsenal. The London club has the financial means to recruit from every market in the World but scouting all players in those markets, either via video or live, would be extremely time-consuming. So, instead, we use data to narrow our shortlist and identify players that we feel fit the playing style of the club that we are working for.
Why central defenders? Well, it’s quite simple really. Since Mikel Arteta took charge of Arsenal we have seen the immediate implementation of a more possession-based style of play with the central defenders taking responsibility for playing vertically to progress the ball into the opposition half. At the moment the options available to Arteta are somewhat limited. David Luiz has impressed, to a point, and Sokratis Papastathopoulous and Shkodran Mustafi are serviceable. None of those three feels like a medium to long term option under Arteta though. Rob Holding has shown potential but only in limited periods. We also should acknowledge that the club finalised a deal for the 18-year-old French central defender William Saliba last summer although the Frenchman is spending the 2019/20 season on loan back at St-Etienne. So with Saliba coming in next season and Holding showing promise we can assume that the club will choose to keep one of Luiz, Sokratis or Mustafi but they must then recruit at least one, if not two, central defenders to make a push on the Champions League places next season.
Before we consult the data though we need to understand what Arteta is likely to expect from his central defenders going forward. Firstly we know that Arteta prefers to play with a four-man backline and not back three. So far the Spaniard has shown a preference for playing a double pivot in midfield with the overall structure of the side being 4-2-3-1. The defensive line is relatively high and as such any central defenders that are signed will have to be capable of defending in space and when isolated against attacking players. In possession the central defenders have been specifically told to not release their passes until an opposition player moves to engage the ball.
In order to form our initial shortlist therefore we will be using two sets of data. First, we will consider the defensive line of the game and look for central defenders who perform well in terms of defensive duels. Secondly we will consider how they perform in possession by considering the amount of progressive runs or passes they make per 90 minutes.
In this data analysis, we will initially filter our data to only consider players under the age of 25 who have played a minimum of 1000 first-team minutes this season.
The initial data check
Here we see the initial data check for players plotting their defensive duels per 90 minutes and their % of defensive duels won. Initially when running these checks you are looking for any outliers or high performers who stand out in order to add them to your scouting shortlist. For the purpose of this article, however, I am combining the data with prior knowledge to identify players within the data set that I believe would fit with Artetas preferred style of play.
The first name that stands out and performs best in the data is actually an English player. Ben White is currently playing in the English Championship on loan from Brighton and his performances so far this season have led to him being widely regarded as one of the most promising young English players. In terms of playing style we know that Arteta has learnt a lot from his time working with Pep Guardiola and Guardiola, in turn, lists Marcelo Bielsa as one of his primary influences. Ben White is currently learning under Bielsa at Leeds and he is expected to defend when isolated on a regular basis. The next player that I have picked out is Clement Lenglet of Barcelona. The 25-year-old central defender is currently on the books of Barcelona and he plots just below the average line in the bottom right quadrant. Just below Lenglet is something of an outlier as I have highlighted the statistical output of Takehiro Tomiyasu of Bologna. The 21-year-old Japanese international is capable of playing as a right-back or as a central defender. he has been identified as he offers flexibility within the squad. Next is another English player and another who is on the books at Brighton in the 25-year-old Adam Webster. Brighton only signed Webster last season from Bristol City but he has already shown himself more than capable of playing at the top level. The final player that we are identifying from this dataset is the 21-year-old Stade de Reims defender Axel Disasi.
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