Football is constantly evolving, driven by the need to break down defensive structures and create space in increasingly sophisticated ways. One of the most important tactical changes in recent years has been the growing importance of progressive passing and dynamic movement to disorganize opponents. Teams have perfected the art of disrupting defensive structures by being more willing to pass between lines and find the spare man in the empty space, turning defensive solidity into a challenge rather than an advantage. Whether through controlled possession or rapid transitions, the ability to navigate through different defensive lines and exploit available spaces has become a key factor in modern football, prompting clubs and analysts to develop more advanced tools to measure and optimize these aspects of the game.
Driblab has consistently been at the forefront of football analysis, leveraging cutting-edge technology and advanced metrics to provide unparalleled insights into every aspect of the game. As the tactical landscape of football continues to evolve, Driblab remains committed to staying ahead of the curve, constantly refining its tools and methodologies to meet the needs of clubs, analysts, and decision-makers. With a focus on precision and innovation, Driblab transforms raw data into actionable insights, empowering teams to make data-driven decisions that drive success on and off the pitch. This is precisely the spirit of Driblab: providing insights into every second of a match through cutting-edge, precise data, helping clubs and analysts make more informed decisions.
The relevance of Line-Breaking Actions and Balls Into Space
Traditional metrics have provided a general understanding of attacking play, but Line-Breaking Actions and Balls Into Space offer a much more precise view of a team's ability to disrupt defensive lines and create scoring opportunities. With our tracking data system, clubs and analysts can accurately measure when and how players break through defensive lines, whether through passes or ball-carrying ability, and how effective teams are at exploiting space in behind the opposition's defense. This information is crucial for assessing a team's offensive transition, their ability to create chances in tight spaces, and a player’s vision and execution in unlocking defensive structures.
Accuracy and Reliability in Data Collection
Thanks to tracking technology, we at Driblab have been able to develop various models for our Arrigo product. These metrics have been designed with a very high level of accuracy, ensuring that each pressure event is identified and categorized with precision. This eliminates ambiguities in data interpretation and guarantees reliable analysis, which is essential for decision-making in high-performance environments.
Line-Breaking Actions in Arrigo
The Line-Breaking Action metric offers unparalleled insights into a team’s ability to disrupt defensive structures and advance the ball effectively. This metric capture actions that successfully penetrate defensive lines, emphasizing actions that challenge the opposition’s organization and create opportunities for progression.
To evaluate Line-Breaking Actions, we put our focus on identifying defensive lines basing on the positions of defenders along the x-axis. As a result of that, lines are categorized into three groups: the back line (closest to the goal), the middle line (second closest), and the front line (furthest from the goal).
The focus is on active defenders positioned in front of the passer/carrier, ensuring that only relevant defensive players are considered. The direction of the action is analyzed to prioritize defenders who could actively influence the play, while defenders behind the action-maker are excluded to maintain the relevance of the evaluation.
Identifying Line-Breaking Actions
An action is classified as line-breaking if it meets the following criteria:
- The action is successful and ends up with the ball reaching a teammates.
- The ball progresses forward by at least 10 meters.
- The pass or ball-carry intersects a defensive line by moving between two defenders positioned closely or passing behind the last line of defense.
This method provides a consistent way to identify and quantify actions that disrupt the opposition’s defensive structure accordingly.
Driblab’s Line-Breaking Actions Metrics
These sub-metrics break down the tactical significance of Line-Breaking Actions, offering detailed insights into how teams disrupt defensive setups and progress the ball effectively:
- Line-Breaking Actions: Captures all actions that successfully penetrate one or more defensive lines, emphasizing offensive efficiency and tactical execution.
- Line-Breaking Actions Between Forward and Midfielder: Evaluates actions that transition the ball from midfielders to forwards, crucial for progressing into attacking zones.
- Line-Breaking Actions Between Midfielder and Defense: Focuses on actions that connect midfielders with defenders, reflecting build-up play and transitions under pressure.
- Through Balls (Line-Breaking Passes Behind Defense): Highlights passes that bypass the last line of defense, often creating direct scoring opportunities.
- Lines Broken per Action: Measures the average number of defensive lines penetrated by each action, offering insights into the effectiveness of attacking strategies.
Balls Into Space in Arrigo
The Ball Into Space metric provides insights into how players exploit space upon receiving the ball. It measures the distance between the ball receiver and the nearest defender at the moment of control, offering a clear indication of their ability to position themselves in open areas. This metric is particularly valuable for assessing off-the-ball movement, spatial awareness, and offensive potential.
Determining Balls Into Space
We put our focus on measuring space around the receiver.
- Defender Proximity: The distance between the ball receiver and the closest defender is calculated at the moment the ball is controlled.
- Space Threshold: Focuses on passes where the receiver has at least a 5-meter radius of space in the direction of the goal.
- Focus on Offensive Zones: This metric prioritizes passes received in the attacking half, where space utilization has the highest tactical value and potential for offensive impact.
This is a Ball Reception in Space...
This is NOT a Ball Reception Space...
Driblab’s Ball Into Space Metrics
Driblab provides a range of metrics to measure and evaluate both the passer’s ability to execute ball into space and the receiver’s ability to find defender-free positions.
- Attempted Pass to Space: An attempted pass where the receiver is in the attacking half of the pitch and there is no defender within 5 metres in the direction of goal.
- Successful Pass To Space: A completed pass where the receiver is in the attacking half of the pitch and there is no defender within 5 metres in the direction of goal.
- Ball Reception in Space: Pass received in the attacking half and there is no defender in a 5 meter radius towards the direction of the goal.
With the integration of Line-Breaking Actions and Balls Into Space, Driblab provides clubs and analysts with much more advanced tools to measure talent and performance, both individually and collectively, in relation to pressure situations.
More and more clubs are relying on intelligent metrics for decision-making. Having these metrics available allows for more refined filters to determine which players stand out.
If you want to learn more about these metrics or any of our products, contact us at: www.driblab.com/DEMO
