Unlocking Soccer Tactics: The Science Behind Team Formations

Soccer formations are like secret codes that teams use to outsmart their opponents. These codes have been studied for over twenty years, using data from games and player movements. But what exactly are formations? They are the patterns that teams create on the field, like a dance routine that helps them move the ball and score goals. These patterns have a rich history, evolving over time to suit different playing styles and strategies. The journey to understanding formations starts with preprocessing. This involves breaking down games into smaller parts and normalizing player locations. Think of it like translating a complex map into a simpler one that's easier to read. Once the data is ready, it's represented in different ways. Some methods use average locations, while others use hand-engineered features or even graphs. This is like having different lenses to view the same picture. At the team level, formations are identified using templates or clustering. Templates are like pre-made shapes that you match against the team's positions. Clustering, on the other hand, groups similar positions together. However, both methods have their drawbacks. Templates can't handle teams with fewer players due to injuries or red cards, and clustering can miss out on new, emerging formations. One big challenge is that current methods rely too much on spatial data, ignoring the flow of the game over time. This is like taking a snapshot of a movie and trying to understand the whole story. Another issue is that formations are often based on a fixed number of players, which doesn't work when teams have fewer players on the field. Additionally, different phases of play, like set pieces, can confuse the data and make it harder to identify formations. Existing templates also struggle with formations that don't fit the traditional mold, like a 6-3-1 setup. And clustering can be too rigid, forcing new formations into old categories. This is like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Lastly, there's a lack of reliable ways to evaluate these methods, making it hard to know which ones are the best. Despite these challenges, studying formations is crucial for understanding soccer tactics. It helps coaches and analysts make better decisions and improve team performance. By identifying the assumptions, consequences, and drawbacks of current methods, researchers can pave the way for more accurate and practical formation identification in the future.