SPACE-TIME
BALL POSSESSION
Introducing Space-Time Ball Possession (STBP), a revolutionary metric that redefines how football dominance is measured. Unlike the traditional ball possession metric that merely tally the time each team controls the ball, my advanced model delves deeper. Space-Time Ball Possession considers the specific areas of the pitch where possession occurs, evaluating the risk value per zone area based on distance and angle from both goals. This comprehensive approach not only measures possession per zone area but also captures overall dominance in a single metric. This metric offers insights into how advantageous or disadvantageous the team's ball possession was throughout the game compared to their opponents.
METRIC REVIEW
Here is some exciting feedback on my innovative metric, from Jack Farrelly, First Team Lead Analyst at Altrincham Football Club in 2023/24 season.
Altrincham FC achieved their highest league position since 1995, finishing 4th in the English National League 2023/24 season and just missing out on promotion to League Two in the play-offs. As part of his journey, Jack Farrelly integrated our Space-Time Ball Possession model into his analysis toolkit.
Here's what Jack had to say about our metric:
"I was able to clearly see where we or the opposition were dominating possession, and where we were potentially lingering on the ball too much or being exposed."
Thank you Jack for your invaluable feedback and for putting our model to the test during such a successful season. We're proud to support you and Altrincham FC and look forward to contributing to more record-breaking performances in the future!
Here is an example of how the model can be coded on Hudl Sportscode, Nacsport or a similar performance analysis software :