## Summary

In this activity I explore the relationship between team performance and team pressure behavior using data from the English Premiere League season 2020-2021. I focus on Manchester City and Sheffield United, respectively the winner and bottom finisher for that season. I describe how points, goals-against (GA) and shots-on-target-against (SoTA) are related to the success rate and the field location of teams' pressure acvitivies, and how these relationships explai the different final placements achieved by high-perfoming and low-performing teams. The analyzed metrics are related to passes-per-defensive action (PPDA), a summary metric of a team's efficiency in applying defensive pressure, but in this note I do not look at this metric. Instead I focus on readily available, first-principles metrics that are nonetheless informative with only a minimum of data processing. While my observations are qualitative, they are supported by quantitative and exploratory analyses performed in Python.

While high-press (applying defensive pressure in the opponent's third of the pitch) is not required for teams to win games, there exist a correlation between winning (points achieved) and using high-press. However, it is not sufficient to simply apply pressure (proximity within 5 meters of an opponent with the ball) in quantity in the attacking third: the quality of the pressure is also important, as measured by the success rate of pressure events (success is winning possession). Furthermore, it is important to also look at the normalized profiles of pressure events across the thirds of the pitch to characterize how a team chooses to distribute its totall pressure effort throughout a match in the three zones: raw counts, even segmented by pitch thirds, are misleading.

For the purposes of analysing a team's pressure effectiveness, metrics closer to the played game such as GA and SoTA are more relevant than points earned. For these metrics there is a stronger correlation with the success rate of pressure and the proportion of pressure applied in the attacking third.

The statistics of Sheffield United (bottom-finisher) and Manchester City (EPL winner), are surprising at first if we only consider points won. Sheffield produced the highest number of pressures, both in total and in the attacking third, but finished last. Manchester City, conversely, had the fewest number of pressures, yet was the winner. The distinguishing characteristic for Man City is the highest success rate of the pressures and its stronger propensity toward the high-press.

Success in pressure depends on many factors. It is not limited to the individual pressure event that leads to winning possession, but it also depends on the teammates covering the spaces or marking 1:1 correctly, applying their chosen pressure structures correctly, being ready on their jumps-to-pressure, and on any dynamic advantage of the individual players. Manchester City possesses more of these team and individual characteristics than Sheffield United and it is likely better able to choose the moments for applying pressure, increasing the efficiency of pressure activities. This, together with the fact that they practice a higher press, contributes to their low GA and SoTA metrics.

## Data

The data was downloaded from FBRef. This exercise is part of the requirements for the course "High-press in Football" from Barca Innovation Hub

# Set up the Python environment, load and prepare data

import pandas as pd
import seaborn as sns
sns.set_theme('talk')
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt


# Read the Squads and Players --> defensive actions statistics


#Keep only what we need
pressure_data = pressure_data[['Unnamed: 0_level_0', 'Pressures']].copy()
pressure_data.columns  = pressure_data.columns.droplevel()


# Calculate the percentage of pressure events by third of the field --> will use it later
# Rounding the numbers for readability
pressure_data['Def 3rd %'] = round(pressure_data['Def 3rd']/pressure_data['Press'] * 100,1)
pressure_data['Mid 3rd %'] = round(pressure_data['Mid 3rd']/pressure_data['Press'] * 100, 1)
pressure_data['Att 3rd %'] = round(pressure_data['Att 3rd']/pressure_data['Press'] * 100, 1)

# Read the Squads and Players --> goalkeepeing statistics

goalkeeping_data.drop(['Penalty Kicks', 'Playing Time', 'Unnamed: 1_level_0'], axis=1, inplace=True, level=0)
goalkeeping_data.columns = goalkeeping_data.columns.droplevel()


# Calculate the total points for the season for each team --> will use it later
goalkeeping_data['Points'] = 3*goalkeeping_data['W'] + goalkeeping_data['D']

# Keep only what we need
goalkeeping_data.drop(['Saves', 'Save%', 'W', 'D', 'L', 'CS', 'CS%'], axis=1, inplace=True)

all_data = pd.merge(pressure_data, goalkeeping_data, on='Squad')
data_table.DataTable(all_data, include_index=False)

Squad Press Succ % Def 3rd Mid 3rd Att 3rd Def 3rd % Mid 3rd % Att 3rd % GA GA90 SoTA Points
0 Arsenal 4685 1331 28.4 1499 1897 1289 32.0 40.5 27.5 39 1.03 128 61
1 Aston Villa 5446 1473 27.0 1888 2277 1281 34.7 41.8 23.5 46 1.21 177 55
2 Brighton 5179 1638 31.6 1732 2164 1283 33.4 41.8 24.8 46 1.21 117 41
3 Burnley 4654 1282 27.5 1381 2041 1232 29.7 43.9 26.5 55 1.45 179 39
4 Chelsea 5376 1668 31.0 1692 2388 1296 31.5 44.4 24.1 36 0.95 103 67
5 Crystal Palace 5700 1502 26.4 2314 2378 1008 40.6 41.7 17.7 66 1.74 173 44
6 Everton 5660 1604 28.3 2220 2364 1076 39.2 41.8 19.0 48 1.26 158 59
7 Fulham 5145 1537 29.9 1720 2157 1268 33.4 41.9 24.6 53 1.39 164 28
8 Leeds United 6661 1972 29.6 2341 2885 1435 35.1 43.3 21.5 54 1.42 189 59
9 Leicester City 5142 1629 31.7 1797 2214 1131 34.9 43.1 22.0 50 1.32 134 66
10 Liverpool 5394 1707 31.6 1339 2329 1726 24.8 43.2 32.0 42 1.11 137 69
11 Manchester City 4560 1462 32.1 1167 2030 1363 25.6 44.5 29.9 32 0.84 89 86
12 Manchester Utd 5041 1490 29.6 1537 2164 1340 30.5 42.9 26.6 44 1.16 135 74
13 Newcastle Utd 5423 1346 24.8 2148 2247 1028 39.6 41.4 19.0 62 1.63 179 45
14 Sheffield Utd 6123 1518 24.8 2080 2631 1412 34.0 43.0 23.1 63 1.66 205 23
15 Southampton 5714 1783 31.2 1970 2500 1244 34.5 43.8 21.8 68 1.79 169 43
16 Tottenham 5871 1643 28.0 2124 2563 1184 36.2 43.7 20.2 45 1.18 144 62
17 West Brom 5491 1531 27.9 2119 2268 1104 38.6 41.3 20.1 76 2.00 235 26
18 West Ham 4989 1342 26.9 1882 2133 974 37.7 42.8 19.5 47 1.24 143 65
19 Wolves 5195 1558 30.0 2105 2187 903 40.5 42.1 17.4 52 1.37 144 45

# Define some functions to help the visualizations
def plot_squads(df, x, y, figsize=(10,10), fontdict=dict(size=10),
title='', xlabel='', ylabel='', x_offset=0.1, y_offset=0.1):
plt.figure(figsize=figsize)
sns.scatterplot(data=df, x=x, y=y)
plt.title(title)
plt.ylabel(ylabel)
plt.xlabel(xlabel)
for _, row in df.iterrows():

def subplot_squads(df, x, y, ax, fontdict=dict(size=10),
xlabel='', ylabel='', x_offset=0.1, y_offset=0.1):
sns.regplot(data=df, x=x, y=y, ax=ax)
ax.set_ylabel(ylabel)
ax.set_xlabel(xlabel)
for _, row in df.iterrows():


# Comparing the total number and success rate of pressure events

The tables below show defensive pressure statistics for teams in the 2020-21 English Premire League, sorted in two different ways: by total number of pressure events and by the team's success rate of the pressure events.

It is immediately obvious that the total number and the success rate do not follow the same, or even similar, order. In fact, in some cases the order is completely reversed: Manchester City had the lowest number of pressure events, but the highest success rate. Conversely, Sheffield United had the second highest number of pressures, yet the lowest success rate.

Order by Total Pressure Events Order by Percent of Successful Pressure Events

We can gain deeper insight by plotting the data and computing summary statistics, as below. From the scatterplot, we can make the following qualitative statements:

• There is a weak relationship between the number of pressure events and the percentage of successful pressures for each team. This could be because each team has an intrinsic efficiency at pressure events which is independent of the number of events they produce, and instead depdends on their ability and style of play. In brief: just because a team produces more pressure events, it does not mean that it also produces successful ones.
• There could be a slightly inverse relationship between pressure events and success rate. A possible reason is that teams with a high number of events could be playing a more defensive style where the pressure is applied closer to their own half of the field. In these cases pressure events prioritize containment of the opponent over winning possession. Furthermore, teams that play more defensively tend to cede ball possession to the opponent. These two factors increase the opportunities of applying pressure but the intrinsic efficiency of the team remains the same, thus overall the success rate is slightly lower.
• At the low end of the number of pressures: Manchester City, Arsenal, and Burnley produced very similar pressure, but Manchester City stands out as having 3.5% higher success
• At the low end of success rate: Newcastle United and Sheffield United have very similar succeess rates, but Sheffield produced 700 more pressures, while Necastle;s pressure events are near the overall average of 5372
• Leeds United stands out as an outlier for number of pressures, 6661, while their success rate of 29.6% is very close the the avearge of 28.9%.
title = 'Percent of successful pressure events vs. total pressure events'
ylabel = 'Percent of successful pressure events'
xlabel = 'Total number of pressure events'

all_data.describe()

Press Succ % Def 3rd Mid 3rd Att 3rd Def 3rd % Mid 3rd % Att 3rd % GA GA90 SoTA Points
count 20.00000 20.000000 20.000000 20.000000 20.000000 20.000000 20.000000 20.000000 20.000000 20.000000 20.000000 20.000000 20.000000
mean 5372.45000 1550.800000 28.915000 1852.750000 2290.850000 1228.850000 34.325000 42.645000 23.040000 51.200000 1.348000 155.100000 52.850000
std 506.83969 165.806355 2.264201 339.620357 228.299497 189.164444 4.480704 1.113305 4.012795 11.251199 0.296019 34.857454 16.887476
min 4560.00000 1282.000000 24.800000 1167.000000 1897.000000 903.000000 24.800000 40.500000 17.400000 32.000000 0.840000 89.000000 23.000000
25% 5116.75000 1470.250000 27.375000 1653.250000 2162.250000 1097.000000 31.875000 41.800000 19.950000 44.750000 1.175000 134.750000 42.500000
50% 5385.00000 1534.000000 29.000000 1885.000000 2257.500000 1256.000000 34.600000 42.850000 22.550000 49.000000 1.290000 151.000000 57.000000
75% 5670.00000 1639.250000 31.050000 2120.250000 2380.500000 1307.000000 37.925000 43.400000 25.225000 56.750000 1.495000 177.500000 65.250000
max 6661.00000 1972.000000 32.100000 2341.000000 2885.000000 1726.000000 40.600000 44.500000 32.000000 76.000000 2.000000 235.000000 86.000000
fig, (ax1, ax2) = plt.subplots(1,2, sharey=True, figsize=(20,10))
subplot_squads(all_data, x='%', y='Points', ylabel='Points', xlabel='Percent of successful pressure events', ax=ax1)
subplot_squads(all_data, x='Press', y='Points', xlabel='Total number of pressure events', ax=ax2)

points_press_corr = all_data['Points'].corr(all_data['Press'])
points_success_corr = all_data['Points'].corr(all_data['%'])

print('Correlation between points and number of pressures: {:f}'.format(points_press_corr))
print('Correlation between points and success rate of pressures: {:f}'.format(points_success_corr))

Correlation between points and number of pressures: -0.279062
Correlation between points and success rate of pressures: 0.448378


# Pressure events by field location

To understand better the pressure characteristics of the teams, we can look at where the teams apply pressure: in their defensive third, middle third, or attacking third (high-press) of the pitch. The table below shows the teams ordered by the number of pressure events in the attacking third. We see that:

• Liverpool produce the most pressures in the attacking third, a difference in rank of +9 compared to their total pressure events.
• Leeds United and Sheffield United are 2nd and 3rd in most pressures in the attacking third, which is consistent with the fact that these two teams produce the most overall pressure events.
• Manchester City are in 4th place, a difference in rank of +16 compared to their total pressure events.

We see that Sheffield and Leeds were among the leaders for pressure events applied in the attacking third, but their final placement in the table is quite different, with Sheffield finishing last, and Leeds in 9th place. Manchester City won the championsip, but had less pressure events overall and in the attacking third than these two teams. The explanation is that we need to look at the distribution of a team's pressure events in the three parts of the pitch, not just at the raw total counts. This gives us a picture of a team's preferred zone of pressure application throughout the match. Thus we look at the normalized profile of the pressure events for each team, not just the raw counts. The following figure shows that there is a stonger correlation between points won and the percentage of pressure in attacking third (0.38), compared to considering the just raw numbers (0.23).

Based on these considerations, and the ones from the previous section, we understand that a team's performance during the season depends on the relative location of their pressure activity and on the quality (success rate) of their efforts.

fig, (ax1, ax2) = plt.subplots(1,2, sharey=True, figsize=(20,10))
subplot_squads(all_data, x='Att 3rd', y='Points', ylabel='Points', xlabel='Number of pressures in attacking third', ax=ax1)
subplot_squads(all_data, x='Att 3rd %', y='Points', xlabel='Percent of pressures in attacking third', ax=ax2)

points_att_pct_corr = all_data['Points'].corr(all_data['Att 3rd %'])
points_att_num_corr = all_data['Points'].corr(all_data['Att 3rd'])

print('Correlation between points and number of pressures in the attacking third: {:f}'.format(points_att_num_corr))
print('Correlation between points and percent of pressure in the attacking third: {:f}'.format(points_att_pct_corr))

Correlation between points and number of pressures in the attacking third: 0.231986
Correlation between points and percent of pressure in the attacking third: 0.378874


# Relationship to goals-against (GA) and shots-on-target-against (SoTA)

In the previous sections we looked at the relationship between a team's defensive pressure characteristics, which we narrowed to pressure success rate and proportion of pressure in the attacking third, and the points earned by the team. We now do the same for the GA and SoTA team metrics. To begin with, let's look at the FBref statistics are in the table below:

Observations:

• Manchester City has the fewest GA (32) and by far the fewset SoTA (168).
• Sheffield United have the 4th highest GA (53) and the scond-highest SoTA (205)

Relating these statistics with the previous section we, see that the team with be best GA and SoTA preformance (Man City) produced the fewest pressure events, but also had the highest success rate and one of the highest proportions of pressures in the attacking third. Conversely, Sheffield United produced the most pressure events, but with low success and more of the events in its own third. while also having some of the worst GA and SoTA metrics. Therefore, it is not the raw number of pressures that makes a difference, but how the pressure is applied: the success rate and, to a lesser but still significant degree, the location of the pressure.

Indeed the plots below and the corresponding correlation coefficients show a strong negative correlation between GA and SoTA and the success rate and the location of the pressure events:

Pressure success % Attcking third pressure %
GA -.56 -.47
SoTA -.44 -.63

GA and SoTA are more closely related to the pressure characteristics than points, because they measure quantities more directly dependent on how the team plays: they are closer to the dynamics of the game. The above results also make intuitive sense: the higher the team's pressure, the less opportunities the opponent will have to take shots on goal, because the opponent is forced to expend effort in their own half and work around the press, away from the team's goal. On the other hand, while effective at reducing SoTA, a high press may not necessarily result in winning possession, so the success rate becomes more important as it relates to GA.

These results, together witht he comments made in the prevous section, explain the difference in performance between Manchester City and Sheffield United.

fig, (ax1, ax2) = plt.subplots(1,2, sharey=True, figsize=(20,10))
subplot_squads(all_data, x='%', y='GA', ylabel='GA', xlabel='Percent of successful pressures', ax=ax1)
subplot_squads(all_data, x='Att 3rd %', y='GA', xlabel='Percent of pressures in attacking third', ax=ax2)

ga_att_pct_corr = all_data['GA'].corr(all_data['Att 3rd %'])
ga_suc_pct_corr = all_data['GA'].corr(all_data['%'])

print('Correlation between GA and success rate of pressures: {:f}'.format(ga_att_pct_corr))
print('Correlation between GA and percent of pressure in the attacking third: {:f}'.format(ga_suc_pct_corr))

Correlation between GA and success rate of pressures: -0.563937
Correlation between GA and percent of pressure in the attacking third: -0.465390

fig, (ax1, ax2) = plt.subplots(1,2, sharey=True, figsize=(20,10))
subplot_squads(all_data, x='%', y='SoTA', ylabel='SoTA', xlabel='Percent of successful pressures', ax=ax1)
subplot_squads(all_data, x='Att 3rd %', y='SoTA', xlabel='Percent of pressures in attacking third', ax=ax2)

sota_att_pct_corr = all_data['SoTA'].corr(all_data['Att 3rd %'])
sota_suc_pct_corr = all_data['SoTA'].corr(all_data['%'])

print('Correlation between SoTA and success rate of pressures: {:f}'.format(sota_att_pct_corr))
print('Correlation between SoTA and percent of pressure in the attacking third: {:f}'.format(sota_suc_pct_corr))

Correlation between SoTA and success rate of pressures: -0.440233
Correlation between SoTA and percent of pressure in the attacking third: -0.633339


# Discussion

I repeat here the summary from the introduction, and conclude with a paragraph on choosing the right metrics.

In this activity I explore the relationship between team performance and team pressure behavior using data from the English Premiere League season 2020-2021. I focus on Manchester City and Sheffield United, respectively the winner and bottom finisher for that season. I describe how points, goals-against (GA) and shots-on-target-against (SoTA) are related to the success rate and the field location of teams' pressure acvitivies, and how these relationships explai the different final placements achieved by high-perfoming and low-performing teams. The analyzed metrics are related to passes-per-defensive action (PPDA), a summary metric of a team's efficiency in applying defensive pressure, but in this note I do not look at this metric. Instead I focus on readily available, first-principles metrics that are nonetheless informative with only a minimum of data processing. While my observations are qualitative, they are supported by quantitative and exploratory analyses performed in Python.

While high-press (applying defensive pressure in the opponent's third of the pitch) is not required for teams to win games, there exist a correlation between winning (points achieved) and using high-press. However, it is not sufficient to simply apply pressure (proximity within 5 meters of an opponent with the ball) in quantity in the attacking third: the quality of the pressure is also important, as measured by the success rate of pressure events (success is winning possession). Furthermore, it is important to also look at the normalized profiles of pressure events across the thirds of the pitch to characterize how a team chooses to distribute its totall pressure effort throughout a match in the three zones: raw counts, even segmented by pitch thirds, are misleading.

For the purposes of analysing a team's pressure effectiveness, metrics closer to the played game such as GA and SoTA are more relevant than points earned. For these metrics there is a stronger correlation with the success rate of pressure and the proportion of pressure applied in the attacking third.

The statistics of Sheffield United (bottom-finisher) and Manchester City (EPL winner), are surprising at first if we only consider points won. Sheffield produced the highest number of pressures, both in total and in the attacking third, but finished last. Manchester City, conversely, had the fewest number of pressures, yet was the winner. The distinguishing characteristic for Man City is the highest success rate of the pressures and its stronger propensity toward the high-press.

Success in pressure depends on many factors. It is not limited to the individual pressure event that leads to winning possession, but it also depends on the teammates covering the spaces or marking 1:1 correctly, applying their chosen pressure structures correctly, being ready on their jumps-to-pressure, and on any dynamic advantage of the individual players. Manchester City possesses more of these team and individual characteristics than Sheffield United and it is likely better able to choose the moments for applying pressure, increasing the efficiency of pressure activities. This, together with the fact that they practice a higher press, contributes to their low GA and SoTA metrics.

Finally, it is important to distinguish overall win/lose-type of statistics, from more descriptive statistics. While a team's overall objective is to win, the objective of a tactical/match analyst is to understand their own team and the opponents: simple winning statistics are not as helpful here. Instead, choosing metrics more closely connected to the actions taken on the field, like GA and SoTA in this case, yields deeper undertanding and more fruitful exchange of ideas.

License You may use and modify this Jupyter notebook under the terms of the BSD license.