The Kognia advantage: player evaluation with ecological physics and advanced tactical data

The story of integrating event data with tracking data is one that has been told many times in recent years, and one that does not need to be told again in this article.

However, in the context of Kognia tactical data, it is important to share further information that helps explain how we perceive the game.

The fundamental principles are underpinned by the concept that the actions of an individual do not happen in isolation. The discipline of ecological physics, in which Kognia co-founders Maurici A. López-Felip (CEO) and Henry Harrison (CTO) focused their groundbreaking PhD research, is concerned with the interconnectivity between action, perception, and dynamic systems. 

Essentially, the individual and their environment should be considered inseparable, and perceived as one dynamic system.

In the case of Kognia, these principles, and the subsequent in-depth research conducted by both Maurci and Henry, are applied to football tactical data. In addition, through Maurici’s role as Head of Research of the Methodology Department at FC Barcelona (2016-2019), these principles were assessed and explored further at one of the most decorated football clubs in Europe.

Applying ecological physics to football

When we apply this to Kognia’s tactical data, the organisms are the players, and the environment is the pitch, which conveniently brings clear markings (touchline, penalty box, etc) and the consistency across the world (i.e. the laws of the game) provides us with clear governing rules and behavioral objectives (to score a goal, to win the game).

This means we have:

1. A core belief that a player and team’s environment are crucial to their intentions and actions

2. An environment with clear rules, that ensures behaviour is not “random”

3. An extensive set of tactical behaviours 

The subsequent result is the implementation of artificial intelligence technology to automatically detect specific movements and actions - covering teams and players, and on and off-the-ball moments.

The output here is not focused on specific, isolated actions (such as a pass, or a cross), but considers multiple variables that impact the action, and helps quantify the subtler differences.

Example: assessing Fermín López with additional context

Fermín López is an attacking midfielder who performs well in attack. Focusing exclusively on event data, we can draw the following conclusions:

• He is a participatory central midfielder, making an optimal number of passes and often looks to take on opponents. 

• He also looks to frequently shoot 

• His “lost balls” are above average, but we are aware this isolated number brings little context. We know nothing of the receiving players, the type of passes, for example.

We do know that Fermín López is a very complete attacking midfielder. Based on Kognia tactical metrics, we can draw the following new and more rounded conclusions, as we can further apply metrics that consider the wider context of the game.

• López is a player who performs well in high-pressure situations, identifying passing lanes 

• He is an attacking midfielder who constantly seeks to get on the ball, receiving passes between the lines frequently

• He is a vertical, versatile and deep attacking midfielder, as he not only plays and contributes positionally, but also attacks the spaces and the back of the opposition's defensive line (70th percentile), managing to receive the ball in advantageous areas to create danger (85th percentile). 

• He is an attacking midfielder who gets into dangerous positions, occupying areas to shoot inside the box (92nd percentile), which explains his ability to shoot regularly. 

Knowing contextualised variables related to the development of the game and tactics helps to provide more information about a player's performance, but above all, it helps to make better and more confident decisions. 

Get in touch to learn more about Kognia tactical data and how these insights can inform decision-making across player evaluation, player pathways and match analysis: info@kogniasports.com