Football: 11 Player Comparison Tips in Modern Era

Football is an actually fantasy, because everyone gets to create their own reality in their heads, give life to it and then face no consequences, even if the idea is worth entertaining.

In this aspect of life, real knowledge isn’t actually common knowledge, because an average football fan never easily convinced of adopting a new notion, even when they have the evidence right in front of them.

The aforementioned is as a result of the blind feeling of indebted loyalty that fans have for their favourite clubs, players, or even managers, so much that they don’t really see beyond the thought they’ve grown to fond of.

Unlike individual sports where two individuals can go head to head in real life, football presents no avenue of such as it is a team sport, hence the difficulty in unanimously agreeing to a notion that one individual is better than another.

Comparison is as early as man, and it is one of the highlights of the days of Adam. But this article is not about tales, but of a subject that will never end, as long as man exists. So, shall we begin ?

Football : Player comparison in the modern era

As it is the most heated aspects of sports, to aid comparison, the sporting world has evolved from mere stats (goals, and assists) to metrics (a more complex performance index).

Thanks to the help of data analytics and the opportunities given to them in the sporting world, comparison in sports has been made easier, the truth is established, even if it not always beyond the doubt of the unreasonable.

On its own, football has evolved dramatically over the past few decades, with advances in tactics, technology, training, and data analytics reshaping the game. This evolution has created a unique challenge in comparing players across different positions, playing styles, and time periods.

Nevertheless, individuals has different approaches to which they go about their businesses, even those who play in the same position. Despite these, there is always the need to compare them due to several reasons. Awards, suitability for transfer and plenty others.

The evolution of football has seen a shift in playing styles that have profoundly impacted how players are assessed. In the past, traditional roles like the “number 10” playmaker or the “box-to-box” midfielder had more rigid definitions. Chances creation and dazzling displays were enough to win hearts then, even though they might be hurting the team for somethings they do not do.

However, modern football tactics have blurred these lines, with players expected to be more versatile and adaptable. For example, strikers are now judged not only on their goal-scoring prowess but also on their ability to press, create space, and link up play. The evolution threatened the No.9s as well but they were able to beat it off almost from the onset.

Recently, traditional “number 9s” like Erling Haaland, Robert Lewandowski, Victor Osimhen, Victor Gyokeres and others have showned why they are not to be extinct. A few years back, strikers of the Roberto Firmino and Gabriel Jesus prototype were becoming more appreciated as they combine different traits, which make them contribute more to team play.

However, they were almost immediately undone by the goal-scoring prowess of the traditional strikers. Even Pep Guardiola has laid to rest the attempts to move on from a traditional striker seeing how easily Erling Haaland makes his job.

Midfielders like Kevin De Bruyne and Luka Modrić are admired not just for their passing range or chances creation but also for their tactical intelligence, defensive work rate, and leadership qualities. Unlike the Mesut Ozil type of midfielder, who appeared to be more talented, and added more finesse, but not as imposive as the formers.

In a bid to shed more light and ease the steess of player comparison, our analyst, Hassan Afolabi takes us through some of the most prominent factors that make player comparison in the modern era complex yet intriguing.

Different football analysis metrics as basis for comparison

Player comparison in the modern era goes beyond mere statistics and highlight reels. It involves understanding the evolution of football, the tactical roles of players, and their overall impact on team performance.

While comparison is a subject that will forever divide opinions, it is imperative to appreciate the unique qualities that each player brings to the game. Ultimately, the beauty of the beautiful game lies in its diversity, and comparing players from different backgrounds, positions, and eras only enhances our appreciation of the sport.

Unfortunately, when you make comparison between two entities, the idea is to convince that one is better than the other, but in doing so, you consciously or subconsciously appear to undermine the abilities of the other, albeit that was never the intention. Thankfully, modern football has device means for justification of every claim.

Various metrics provide insights into different aspects of the game, allowing coaches, pundits, analysts, and fans to understand the nuances of player contributions beyond traditional statistics. Here’s a breakdown of some of the most important football analysis metrics:

1. Expected Goal (xG)

The Expected Goals model measures the probability of an on-target shot resulting in a goal. Shots aimed at the corners are generally more likely to score than those aimed at the middle. An xG of 0 means the shot is expected never to score, while an xG of 1 means it is expected to score every time.

A striker is able to generate a higher xG because of several reasons, but only a few of them is actually dependent on their individual ability. Positioning is one of those factors and traditional strikers are more intelligent and intentional in their movements.

Manchester City as an example in this case. When Gabriel Jesus was the striker, the Brazilian tends to spend more time roaming outside the opposition box, exchanging passes, creating chances, dribbling and doing all sort of things. He was seen as another player in the team, even though the primary duty of a striker is scoring goals.

With Erling Haaland, sometimes he takes less than 20 touches in a game and he scores a hat-trick. He is not bothered about being overly involved in play. He positioned himself higher up to pitch to pounce on every opportunity to have a go at the defenders and goalkeepers.

Erling Haaland is able to generate more xG than Gabriel Jesus given the probabilities of him getting the ball in the final third is higher, hence, he is most times in a position to generate more pressure at the opposite goal, than another player who will need several touches before getting into the opposition box.

2. Expected Assist (xA)

For the attackers, one metric is always dependent on another. The higher the quality of chance created, the higher the chances of a recipient of the pass scoring a goal. It also determins the chances of the passer of the ball getting credited with an assist.

Expected Assists (xA) measures the quality of a pass that leads to a shot, estimating the likelihood that the pass will result in a goal. It evaluates the creativity and playmaking ability of a player.

Expected Assists helps in assessing a player’s ability to create goal-scoring opportunities for their teammates, providing a deeper look at midfielders and forwards who contribute to goal creation beyond just recording assists. Just like that of the xG, An xA of 0 means the pass is never expected to result in an assist, while an xG of 1 means the recipient of the pass is expected to score every time.

These days, a very quality chance is otherwise known key pass, unlike before, when the word “chance created” generalize everything. A player leaving the ball on the platter for their teammate to score, e.g, tap-ins, generates a higher xA, just as the probability of the striker to score is also very high.

It is a different case where a player scores a long-range shot. The final passer of the ball gets credited with an assist albeit the intention was never to create a goal-scoring opportunity. Both the xA and xG are low in this case, but it does highlight the proficiency of the goalscorer, rather than the final passer of the ball.

The higher the xA, i.e the quality of chance created, the higher the xG, i.e the probability of the striker putting the chance away.

3. Key Passes

Mentioned in the xA explanation above. High quality chances are regarded as key passes and they are expected to result in an assist most of the time, whether or not the recipient of the pass is clinical.

Key pass is a chance created with better assurance for the striker to score from it as they directly lead to a shot on goal. This is one of the best metrics to measure a players creativity.

4. Through Balls

A through-ball is a pass into open space between two defenders for an attacker to receive the ball behind the defenders. Similar to key passes, but different in that it may not necessarily lead to a direct shot on goal.

Most of the times, it leads to a pre-assist, with the teammate recieving the ball going on to set-up the eventual goalscorer. This demands a high level of expertise from the player making the pass. Midfielders are in most cases rated for their completion rate of through balls.

Lionel Messi is one the master of the trade. The Argentine (37) has the most accurate through balls in Europe’s top five leagues over the precious two seasons, despite playing in one of the seasons.

Kevin De Bruyne has the best through-ball accuracy (81.8 per cent) of the 86 players to attempt ten or more through balls, in Europe’s top five leagues last season.

5. Pressures and Pressing Efficiency

These metrics help explain possession won and the art of it.Pressure and Pressing measure the number of times a player applies pressure to an opponent who is receiving, carrying, or releasing the ball in a bid to force turnovers or mistakes. Because defenders most times have to maintain positional discipline, these metric is more applicable to midfielders.

For example, in the UEFA European Championship 2024, the five players with most possession won were all midfielders. Fabian Ruiz, Rodrigo Hernandez, Declan Rice, Toni Kroos and Giorgi Kochorashvili.

The metrics are essential for evaluating defensive contributions, especially in high-pressing teams. For scouting purpose, they help identify players who excel in regaining possession or disrupting the opponent’s play. Strikers are also demanded to press high when the opposing team plays out from the back.

Modern football has become so tactical that a simple pass allowed a goalkeeper to his defender could lead to a dangerous attack in the other half in split seconds, which is why hardworking players are appreciated for their pressing and pressure applied to halt the opponent’s from building up.

Possession won could be in different sections of the pitch, which is divided into three. The defensive third, the middle third and the final third. Winning possession in these three thirds of the pitch highlight different contributions, though all is categorized as defensive.

While winning in final third means contributing to attack, as it helps keep the opponents pinned in their own half, or have a quick attack when if it is close to goal. Possession won in defence is contributing to defence, as it ends a potential attack for the opponent, while in the middle-third means breaking down the opponent’s play, which could be in settled play or transition.

6. Ball recoveries

Interceptions, Tackles, Distance covered

Tackles and interceptions define the actions of recovering possession. Interceptions occur when a player anticipates an opponent’s pass and takes possession of the ball. Tackles are defensive actions where a player successfully challenges an opponent for the ball.

These metrics measure a player’s defensive contributions, particularly for midfielders and defenders. High numbers of interceptions and tackles indicate good positioning, awareness, and timing.

When it comes to pressure and pressing, the workrate of players are put to test. In the Premier League last season, Bruno Guimaraes was named the hardworking player and this wasn’t down to his goals, assists or anything else but that he covered more distance than no other, 423.1km.

While Guimaraes stands tall in number one on this metric, Rodri is placed at number ten. And when comparison is made between the two players, Rodri is unarguably the better player. However, when it comes to scouting, selection is made based on the demand of the team, and style of play.

Rodri does not have the legs to cover distance and Bruno Guimaraes would, though he does come out on top in other aspects. But when it comes down to workrate, you’ll easily find fans who argue for Rodri, because they’ll have him ahead of Guimaraes to suit their own narrative.

Joao Palhinha, also known as duel monster for his tenacity, made 152 tackles in the Premier League last season, the most of any player in all of Europe’s top seven leagues. Little wonder Bayern Munich returned for him in the summer, after a failed move a year ago.

The durability to travel the distance and not get tired easily help footballers to carry out the pressing and applying pressure to force turnovers. This is an important asset scouts lookout for in players, most especially midfielders, that ordinary fans do not care about.

N’Golo Kanté, Claude Makalele and currently Declan Rice are great specimen for hardworking players. They were/ are able to commit their entire body to the game, with the way they play. Making tackles and interceptions became easy for them.

7. Aerial and Ground Duels

Aerial describes the tussle for the ball when it is up in the air and could either be for defensive or offensive reasons. Aerial duels won are crucial for evaluating defenders, goalkeepers, and target men up front. Dominance in the air can be key for winning headers, defending set pieces, or creating goal-scoring chances.

Duel is also very key to regaining possession, and winning fouls.

8. Progressive Passes

Passing is the most basic metric of football and is the building block of the game. Progressive passes are passes that move the ball significantly forward, breaking lines and advancing play closer to the opponent’s goal. They have come to be because many players record large percentage of pass completion without really impacting the game.

Passing sideways makes it easy to complete them, although certain managers prefer their players playing it safe in order to retain possession and steadily breakdown the opposition. However, no manager will frown at a single pass that takes out four to five players.

This metric is crucial for evaluating midfielders and defenders who contribute to the buildup play, highlighting players who consistently advance the ball in a meaningful way. While it is also a cheap way to give the ball away, it separates quality from quantity.

Midfielders like Kevin De Bruyne and Toni Kroos excel in progressive passes, showcasing their ability to drive the team forward. However, Jorginho is a player that is constantly criticized for playing the simple passes most times.

9. Shot-Creating Actions (SCA) and Goal-Creating Actions (GCA)

Shot-Creating Actions measures the two offensive actions (passes, dribbles, fouls won) leading to a shot, while Goal-Creating Actions tracks the two actions leading to a goal. These provide a clearer picture of a player’s offensive contributions, highlighting those involved in the buildup to shots and goals.

In some play, whether or not it leads to a goal, a certain player, who neither gets the goal or assist, maybe heavily involved, even playing more important roles than the aforementioned two. In case of cases like this, the SCA and GCA metrics have been developed to credit individuals for the brilliance that would have gone unnoticed.

10. Goals prevented

Goals Prevented is used to assess a goalkeeper’s performance in preventing goals based on the quality of shots faced. While a goalkeeper may face many shots in one game, the combined probability of those many shots hitting the back of the net may dwarf just one, faced by another goalkeeper in another game.

For example, after three Premier League games this season, Brentford goalkeeper Mark Flekken has recorded the most saves, 17 out of 21 faced, conceding four goals. Out of his 17 saves, he was able to ammase a combined 0.52 goal prevented. Whereas, Liverpool’s Alisson Becker has made seven saves, and prevented 1.67 goals.

The goalkeeping department is a very crucial position in the game of football. And the performances of men between the sticks is very important, some decide the outcome of games for their teams. Whether it’s a point-blank save or an easy save from a less fierce shot, they both go down as saves but the quality of those attempts determine the efforts put in by the goalkeepers to prevent a goal.

11. Expected goals conceded (xG conceded)

More of a collective metric, xG conceded is a defensive metric that estimates the number of goals a team or goalkeeper is expected to concede based on the quality of shots they face. It uses factors such as shot location, shot type, and whether the shot was from open play, a set piece, or a counter-attack to assess how likely each shot is to result in a goal.

The defence of the defending team is expected to perform actions that reduce the probability of a potential shot taken beating their goalkeeper. However, it does eventually counts when the shot finds its way to the goalkeeper.

The higher the quality of the shot, the closer it is to goal, the farther it is from the position of the goalkeeper, the higher the expected goal conceded by the team from that particular shot.

These metrics are put together to determine the true qualities a player possess. Given minute played isn’t always even amongst players, these statistics, and others are on the average of 90 minutes, thus giving each player a neutral ground for comparison.

Metrics to compare players based on position

Goalkeepers

Shot-stopping: This should not be on the basis of number of shots saved but by the quality of the saves, which is measured in xG conceded and goals prevented.

Defensive actions: Anticipation of dangers, though there is no particular metric that measures it presently but the frequency of how they do, and the effectiveness when they do is what can be used as an instrument.

Aerial: Cross claiming is a very good trait for goalkeepers. Not only do they ease the pressure on the outfield players especially during corner kicks and other set-piece, but they can also start attack when the opposition is unsettled.

Exits: This is when goalkeepers come off their lines to do several things. It could be to take part in build-up, make a defensive clearance, claim the ball or punch it, or maybe play a long pass. The time to make the decision is always short so credits is always given for those that get their decisions spot on.

Passes: Gone are the days when goalkeepers are not necessarily needed to be good with the ball in their feet. Today, it is very essential as they are needed to start play from the back, whether to calm proceedings or force the opponents to commit men forward.Goalkeepers are rated for their passing accuracy, be it long or short.

Center Backs

The major metrics for rating defenders include Defensive actions, which encompasses a lot of information, categorized into two. The conservative actions e.g ball retention, blocks, clearances, and interceptions, and the aggressive actions, e.g tackles, dispossession, ground and aerial duels, and awareness.

Center backs are also rated for their pass accuracy and passing range. The astonishing pass made by Virgil van Dijk to Mohamed Salah in the build-up to Diogo Jota’s goal against Ipswich Town is an example of how a world class defender solves attacking problems.

Ball carrying, the ability to confidently progress the ball out from defence is also highlighly rated as it reliefs pressure on the team when the opposing team press high. In comparison, these are not necessarily considered but they make good defenders, capable of dictation the outcome of games.

Full-Backs

They also share the same comparison metrics with center backs but full-backs are are also rated for their playmaking prowess, given that they are expected to create a lot of chances by making underlapping and overlapping runs outside and inside their wingers.

Many of their chances creation is executed in the form of crossing, whether low or high and cutbacks. Their decision making to pick out their teammate in a sea of players in the box makes one rates higher than the other. In summary, expected assist is a metric for defenders, too.

Midfielders

Duels, tackles, interceptions, passing accuracy, ball recoveries, ball carrying, progressive passes, key passes, defensive actions, through balls, expected assists, percentage of forward passes are measurable metrics.However, awareness and positioning, which is also important for center backs are not measurable.

Wingers

Crossing accuracy, chances created, dribble success rate, carries, box entries, touches in the opposition box, duels, fouls won, speed, expected assists, expected goals, key passes, big chances created, pass accuracy, positioning, interceptions, tackles, possession won in final third, non-penaly goals, pressing and pressure applied.

Strikers

Expected goals, expected assists, touches in the opposition box, passes into the opposition box, possession won in final third, non-penaly goals, key passes, pressing and pressure applied, positioning, beating offside flag.

Modern football analysis metrics provide a comprehensive view of a player’s performance, going beyond goals and assists to capture their overall influence on the game. It is imperative to note that the comparison is not about number of goals scored but the amount of expected goals generated, not about the number of saves but amount of goals prevented, not about number of dribbles but amount of successful dribbles per 90 minutes, and so on.

Despite players having to be strong in the mentioned metrics for their position, they are also needed to possess qualities of other areas, even if not a handful. Versatility is a very appreciated asset in football. It is not only when a player has to be deployed in a new position but their adaptation to in-play changes, such as when an attacker found himself in a defensive position, or a defender presented with a big chance to score at the other end.

Overall, it is more dependent on the environment of a player. At Manchester City, Erling Haaland flourishes in the company of Kevin De Bruyne and both players are getting recognition for what they do by benefitting from the expertise of another.

Sometime around December in London, when Arsenal played host to Wolves in the Premier League, Martin Ødegaard created three big chances and expected assist of 0.73 but failed to register an assist due to poor finishing of his teammates, whereas in the Gameweek before that, Pascal Gross registered two assists in Brighton’s win away to Nottingham Forest, from a total of 0.23 expected assists.

Last season in Laliga, Alexander Sorloth agonizingly finished behind Artem Dovbyk in the race for the Pichichi. The Norwegian scored 23 goals from an xG of 12.7 while Dovbyk, who was more fortunate, scored 24 goals from 24.3 expected goals. It was clear who the better striker is looking from these angles and not on the number of goals scored.

Although the ability to generate more xG is a good quality of attackers, putting them away makes the striker more proficient. Sorloth, who also scored all his goals from open play, and played less than a hundred minutes compared to Dovbyk, who scored seven of his goals from the penalty spot, proved better.

Understanding these metrics allows for a deeper appreciation of the various roles and contributions players make on the pitch, helping analysts, coaches, and fans to make more informed evaluations of players and teams. Below are sources of football analytical websites to aid player comparison:

Squawka, Datamb, WhoScored, Fbref, One-versus-one

Some of the above are selective and have their area of specialization, but they do help understand the knowledge of how players can be compared.

Hope you find this article helpful. Drop your takes in the comment section below.

Hassan Afolabi