As much as stopping and preventing goals is the main task of a goalkeeper, there are a multitude of actions in which they can make their mark. In addition to the evolution of goalkeepers in the game with their feet, there are many actions performed with their hands where goalkeepers, historically, have helped the defense to avoid dangerous situations, because many times, avoiding is a more important task than solving. One of them is to catch aerial crosses, both in corners and in play, an action that in itself does not indicate a failure of the goalkeeper but it can make him a less complete and insecure player.
In a new collaboration with Sky Sport Italia and its 'Football Analyst' section, Driblab provided a graph of its 'Claim Accuracy' metric to try to understand how AC Milan could counter Tottenham's aerial power in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16. To do so, he asked us what the difference was between Mike Maignan, who has been ruled out by injury for the last few months until his comeback against Atalanta, and Ciprian Tătărușanu, the stand-in goalkeeper for the reigning Italian champions. The video clearly shows the difference between the two when it comes to catching crosses that should come out to catch them.
https://youtu.be/GjrXKCxCzxc
- To go deeper into the metric, in this text we explain in depth how it works and where the model comes from.
We are Driblab, a consultancy specialized in the statistical analysis of players and teams; our work is focused on advising and minimizing risk in professional football decision-making in areas related to talent detection and footballer evaluations. Our database has more than 200,000 players from more than 180 competitions, covering information from all over the world. Here you can learn more about how we work and what we offer.
