Network analysis reveals difference in soccer styles

MIT Technology Review : Spanish soccer team FC Barcelona is renowned for its implementation of a style of soccer known as tiki-taka, which is characterized by short passes and control of possession. Laszlo Gyarmati of the Qatar Computing Research Institute and his colleagues have now used network theory to analyze the style of play of FC Barcelona and the rest of the top-tier teams in England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. Using data collected during the 2012–13 season, they determined how often each team used one of the five possible three-pass combinations (denoted by ABAB, for two players passing back and forth; ABCA, ABAC, and ABCB for three players; and ABCD for four players). Gyarmati’s analysis revealed that Barcelona used significantly fewer ABCD and ABCA patterns and significantly more ABAB and ABCB patterns than the average of the teams in the Spanish league as well as of the teams in Europe.