Analysis of Super Mario performance in 2018 World Cup

In my blog mini-series, I talked about Data Science and different field that is used in our lives. One of these fields is football as it can be used for performance evaluation and discovering new talents. Today, I will demonstrate a mini-challenge provided by Uppsala university's Football Mathematical Modeling course.Mario Mandzukic was the one who scored the second goal that sent Croatia to the 2018 World Cup final but goals is not everything. Let's analysis his performance by plotting actions such as pressure,passes and carries in order to support or contradict two hypotheses I came up with during my analysis of his match vs England but before I start if anyone want to take part in this course. Here is the official link to the course's website and here's the prerequisites you will need in order to take a part of this course: Getting Started

So, here's my two hypotheses

1. Mario Mandzukic played as a false No. 9 by dropping to the center of the field to open space to either Rebic or Persic to cut inside and receive a cross inside the box
2. When England had the ball near their penalty area, Mandzukic will apply pressure to the ball holder(either Cbs or GK) so they would make mispass so Croatia would regain possession in a dangerous position  

 

Actions that I should plot to test my hypotheses

1. A carry map so we would see Mandzukic's movement with the ball 
2. A pass map to look at his passing pattern (where he passes and to where on the field)
3. A pressure map to see where Mandzukic applies pressure the most

Without further ado here is the plots:

Carry map of Mario Mandzukic

Pass Map of Mario Mandzukic

Pressure Map of Mario Mandzukic

Thoughts on the plots:

1. The carry map contradicts my first point as Mandzukic plays as Center Forward that drifts wide more than a false No.9, but my second point holds up as you see most of Mandzukic's passes were in the England's half moving towards the center of the box
2. The pressure map also supports my third and final point as we see Mandzukic usually applying pressure near the penalty area even applying pressure on the goalie inside the box

And that's a wrap for this part of football data science. Next week, I will focus on identifying the style of play of teams in 2018 World Cup using passing patterns and trying identify key players in each team. You want to know how I am going to do that tune in for next week.