Tactical Explainer: Kognia's support metrics
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 3 hours ago
While traditional event data tells you what happened on the ball, this collection of support metrics from Kognia tells you what happened off it.
We capture the unseen runs and movements that create a passing option for the player in possession, creating coachable, tactical insights that can inform decision-making in professional football.
There are seven distinct support metrics. Each one is a specific type of off-ball action a player performs to help a teammate keep or progress the ball. In this blog we introduce each tactical metric, along with an explanation of why it matters.
1. Vertical Overcoming Support
Definition: A player moves to offer a forward (vertical) passing option that, if found, breaks the opposition line or bypasses an opponent and advances the ball up the pitch.
Coach's words: "He's showing for it between the lines. He gives me a pass that actually beats their midfield and gets us up the pitch." This is the player who turns a sideways passage of play into a progressive one.
So what? Players who consistently show up here are the ones who break pressing structures. In recruitment, a high vertical-overcoming-support count identifies a player who enables their team to progress up the pitch even when teammates are stuck.
The metric carries additional rich context too:
1. Number of opponents the resulting pass overcomes
2. Pass length
3. How much pressure the passer was under
4. Movement length
5. Movement speed
2. Horizontal Overcoming Support
Definition: A player moves to offer a sideways (horizontal) passing option that shifts the ball across the pitch to overcome the opponent's pressure or block, switching the point of attack.
Coach's words: "When one side gets crowded out, that's' the player who comes to receive and switch it”.
So what? This is the metric that can help quantify composure and circulation. It's a common support action across the Kognia dataset, which makes it a strong baseline for positional discipline. For an academy, it flags young players who already understand how to keep a team building rather than forcing it. For recruitment, it identifies the connectors: full-backs, pivots and midfielders who keep possession alive.
3. Emergency Support
Definition: A player moves quickly to offer a safe option for a teammate who is under immediate pressure and at risk of losing the ball.
Coach's words: "My centre-half's about to get pressed into a mistake. Who's the one sprinting back to give an option? That player saves us from turnovers in dangerous areas."
So what? A player with a high emergency-support count is one who reads danger and reacts before the turnover happens. This is crucial for surfacing game intelligence and work-rate that traditional event data completely misses. This metric allows us to identify the players who offer an out under pressure.
Top 10: full backs who reduce pressure with their Emergency Support receptions
Europe’s 'big five' competitions, min. 1000 mins
4. Striker Support
Definition: A movement specifically made to give a forward an option, where it may be dropping in, running beyond, or rotating so the striker can lay it off or combine.
Coach's words: "Is my number 9 isolated, or is someone always arriving to support? The players who feed off the striker and give them a partner are the ones who make us considerably more of a threat."
So what? This metric isolates link-up quality in the final third. For recruiting attacking midfielders, second strikers and wide forwards, a strong striker-support profile shows a player who creates combination play rather than just occupying space, waiting for that final pass to arrive.
5. Finishing Support
Definition: An off-ball movement made to offer a goalscoring option during a finishing situation (whereby a player is in a central position in the final quarter of the pitch).
Coach's words: “Which player is making the movements into the dangerous positions when we are attacking?”
So what? A high finishing-support count flags players who get into goalscoring positions, a crucial trait when looking to understand why a player can be that one who gets into the right positions so frequently.
6. Third-Man Combination
Definition: Involves three players involved in a two-pass combination move. The first passers, the final receiver - and the “support”, the middle player in this sequence, who receives the ball and moves it on to a teammate.
Coach's words: That third-man run is how you play through a compact block. Someone who is anticipating what is next, who is making a run that may not result in the ball arriving, but offers options, and potentially space for the team.
So what? Third-man combinations demonstrate the players’ movement, passing, and ability to move the ball in compact spaces to find players who move into space.
7. One-Two Support
Definition: A player offers themselves for a one-two, and makes the return-pass option for a teammate.
Coach's words: "Who is able to receive a pass, then move it quickly to a player moving forward into space? These players can combine moves, and keep us moving up the pitch, and into dangerous situations."
So what? The one-two is perhaps the simplest line-breaking combination in football, and the players who keep offering it have the timing and intent that make a midfield fluid.
Kognia support metrics allow coaches and analysts within professional football to answer questions that previously weren’t possible.
How does this player make their teammates better?
Does this player offer for the ball in difficult situations?
Do they move beyond their teammates, and offer options that can meaningfully impact the game?
Want to learn more about how Kognia tactical metrics can support your analysis workflows? Get in touch.
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