Table 6 Description of tactical analysis key variables as reported in the literature [26, 30, 32]
Tactical measurement | Description |
|---|---|
Collective behavioural variables | |
x-axis centroid | Mean longitudinal position of all players |
y-axis centroid | Mean transverse position of all players |
Length | Distance between the most forward and most backward player |
Width | Distance between the two most lateral players |
Surface area | Total space covered by a single team |
Passing network variables | |
Average path length | Average number of passes that occur between all possible pairs of players |
Betweenness centrality | The extent to which a team’s passing network relies on particular players |
Closeness centrality | How well-connected and central a player is within the teams passing structure |
Clustering coefficient | The extent to which a player passes with a particular set of players |
Degree centrality | The number of players that each player within the team has a direct (i.e. 1 pass) connection to |
Entropy | The unpredictability of who a particular player will pass to |
Edge count | Total number of interactions between players via effective passes |
Edge density | Number of connections between players via effective passes, relative to the total number of possible connections |
Eigenvector centrality | Dependence of a team to rely on a small group of players that have a large number of interactions with a large number of other players |
Out-degree (in-degree) | Number of different players a particular player has either passed to or received a pass from |
Out-strength (in-strength) | Number of passes (made or received) made by a player |
Transitivity | The number of triads in a team, in proportion to the total possible number of triads. A triad represents the concept that two players are connected via a third player |