Team Ranking Research Articles

The Relationship Between Playing Formations, Team Ranking, and Physical Performance in the Serie A Soccer League

The influence of playing formations and team ranking on the physical performance of professional soccer players is an open question that needs to be explored. The present study aimed to investigate the impact of these factors on the physical exertion of Serie A soccer players. We analyzed match data from 375 players, categorizing teams based on their final ranking and comparing performance across different playing formations. The Kruskal–Wallis test and the Dunn test with Bonferroni adjustment revealed that high-ranking (HR) teams exhibited a higher percentage of high-intensity (HI) accelerations compared to mid-ranking teams, suggesting the critical role of HI efforts in achieving favorable match outcomes. Moreover, the 4-3-3 playing formation was associated with greater acceleration demands than other formations, particularly in HR teams. Our study also established benchmarks for various performance metrics, enabling coaches to assess player performance and identify potential signs of overtraining. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the physical demands in soccer and offer practical implications for coaches and players in optimizing training and performance strategies.

An Improved Point System for Cricket’s World Test Championship

With the advent of formats of limited overs in cricket like the One Day and Twenty-20 Internationals, test cricket, the longest-running version of the game, has witnessed a significant decline in popularity. The World Test Championship (WTC) was launched in 2019 by the International Cricket Council to reignite interest in test cricket. However, the initial point distribution system devised for the inaugural WTC had several shortcomings, which include allocating points based on the outcome of the entire series rather than the number of test matches played, the absence of rewards for teams winning matches away from home, failing to take into consideration the margin of victory (MOV) and not accounting for the relative strength of competing teams. Considering these shortcomings, this article proposes a new point system, thus providing an alternative to the existing one. The point system uses the Elo rating system, including factors such as home-field advantage, impact of the toss and MOV. Statistical analyses were conducted to validate the home-field advantage and toss impact. Subsequently, the proposed model developed was named the points won per match system. The team rankings in the WTC are established based on this proposed model and compared with the actual one.

Overdog Team, Underdog Team and the Philosophy of Soccer Team Ranking

La méthode de Ramanujacharyula [1964], appliquée dans le domaine sportif, permet de déterminer le rang d’une équipe en tenant compte à la fois de la force des équipes qu’elle bat, ainsi que de la force des équipes qui l’ont battue. Nous analysons les changements dans les classements finals de cinq championnats de football (Angleterre, France, Allemagne, Italie et Espagne), induits par l’utilisation de la méthode de classement de Ramanujacharyula au cours de la période 1946-2016. La mesure de Kemeny est ensuite appliquée pour établir une méthode de classement qui refléterait au mieux la philosophie promue par la méthode Ramanujacharyula. Nous montrons que la règle de classement (2 points pour une victoire, 1 point pour un match nul et 0 pour une défaite) est ce que nous considérons comme la meilleure méthode. JEL Classification Numbers: Z20; D71

Technical and tactical performance in professional female futsal players: a descriptive analysis depending on teams level and playing group

ABSTRACT Among the many factors that can affect women’s futsal performance, technical and tactical actions can obscure relevant game data, even affecting specialists in both the programming and design of training tasks. This study describes the technical and tactical actions in elite futsal teams, analysing performance measures according to the playing group and team ranking level. One hundred and twenty-eight games from an Elite League in the 2020/2021 season were observed. The variables analysed were grouped into three groups: “Goals and Rules”, “Attack” and “Defence”. The two-way mixed ANOVA analysis revealed significant effects in attacking variables such as Shots to the Post (STP) variable (F1.2 =19.13, p = .04, η2 = .90) and Throw-in For (TIF) variable (F1.2 =75.00, p = .01, η2 = .97), as well as in defensive Interception (INT) variable (F2.4 = 8.74, p = .03, η2 = .81) in the playing group condition. This study observed how consistently those teams positioned at the top developed a higher goal average compared to those teams further down the ranking. The study highlights the significance of the offensive part and the number of goals in the game system and how achieving good numbers in this area can influence. Coaches and athletes can use the intraclass correlation coefficient to demonstrate how specific technical and tactical actions impact performance.

HRIDM: Hybrid Residual/Inception-Based Deeper Model for Arrhythmia Detection from Large Sets of 12-Lead ECG Recordings

Heart diseases such as cardiovascular and myocardial infarction are the foremost reasons of death in the world. The timely, accurate, and effective prediction of heart diseases is crucial for saving lives. Electrocardiography (ECG) is a primary non-invasive method to identify cardiac abnormalities. However, manual interpretation of ECG recordings for heart disease diagnosis is a time-consuming and inaccurate process. For the accurate and efficient detection of heart diseases from the 12-lead ECG dataset, we have proposed a hybrid residual/inception-based deeper model (HRIDM). In this study, we have utilized ECG datasets from various sources, which are multi-institutional large ECG datasets. The proposed model is trained on 12-lead ECG data from over 10,000 patients. We have compared the proposed model with several state-of-the-art (SOTA) models, such as LeNet-5, AlexNet, VGG-16, ResNet-50, Inception, and LSTM, on the same training and test datasets. To show the effectiveness of the computational efficiency of the proposed model, we have only trained over 20 epochs without GPU support and we achieved an accuracy of 50.87% on the test dataset for 27 categories of heart abnormalities. We found that our proposed model outperformed the previous studies which participated in the official PhysioNet/CinC Challenge 2020 and achieved fourth place as compared with the 41 official ranking teams. The result of this study indicates that the proposed model is an implying new method for predicting heart diseases using 12-lead ECGs.

Evolution of passing network in the Soccer World Cups 2010–2022

ABSTRACT This study investigates the evolution of passing networks (PN) at both team and player levels in the FIFA World Cups (WC) from 2010 to 2022. Analyzing 256 matches (7328 player observations) using a multiple-camera tracking system across four WCs, we considered six playing positions: goalkeeper (n = 521), central defender (n = 1192), fullback (n = 1223), midfielder (n = 2039), winger (n = 1320), and central forward (n = 1033). We used 17 network metrics and considered contextual variables such as team formation, and team ranking. Linear mixed-effect models analyzed differences in team and player PN parameters by year and team strength. Results showed a shift from possession-play to direct-play from the 2010 to 2018 WCs, with possession-play returning in 2022. Specifically, high- and low-quality teams significantly decreased their density, average degree (AD), modularity, and average path length in 2018 (p < 0.05). High-quality teams showed increased density, AD, and average weighted degree in 2022 (p < 0.05). Midfielders and central forwards exhibited significantly lower centrality parameters, whereas central defenders and goalkeepers showed increased centrality parameters (p < 0.05). This study highlights the evolutionary trends of passing relationships from a network analysis perspective over twelve years, providing insights into the changing dynamics of team interactions and positional prominence in elite soccer.

Favoritism under multiple sources of social pressure

AbstractWhen social pressure leads to favoritism, policies might aim to reduce the bias by affecting its source. This paper shows that multiple sources may be present and telling them apart is important. We build a novel and granular dataset on European football games and revisit the view that supporting crowds make referees help the host team. We find this bias to remain unchanged even in stadiums closed due to Covid‐19. Instead, influential host organizations emerge as the source of social pressure. This has an adverse effect on maintaining the ranking of influential teams and hindering the progress of smaller teams.

How to Conclude a Suspended Sports League?

Problem definition: Professional sports leagues may be suspended because of various reasons, such as the recent coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. A critical question that the league must address when reopening is how to appropriately select a subset of the remaining games to conclude the season in a shortened time frame. Despite the rich literature on scheduling an entire season starting from a blank slate, concluding an existing season is quite different. Our approach attempts to achieve team rankings similar to those that would have resulted had the season been played out in full. Methodology/results: We propose a data-driven model that exploits predictive and prescriptive analytics to produce a schedule for the remainder of the season composed of a subset of originally scheduled games. Our model introduces novel rankings-based objectives within a stochastic optimization model, whose parameters are first estimated using a predictive model. We introduce a deterministic equivalent reformulation along with a tailored Frank–Wolfe algorithm to efficiently solve our problem as well as a robust counterpart based on min-max regret. We present simulation-based numerical experiments from previous National Basketball Association seasons 2004–2019, and we show that our models are computationally efficient, outperform a greedy benchmark that approximates a nonrankings-based scheduling policy, and produce interpretable results. Managerial implications: Our data-driven decision-making framework may be used to produce a shortened season with 25%–50% fewer games while still producing an end-of-season ranking similar to that of the full season, had it been played. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2022.0558 .

Medical residents’ perceptions of group biases in medical decision making: a qualitative study

BackgroundSystematic biases in group decision making (i.e., group biases) may result in suboptimal decisions and potentially harm patients. It is not well known how impaired group decision making in patient care may affect medical training. This study aimed to explore medical residents’ experiences and perspectives regarding impaired group decision making and the role of group biases in medical decision making.MethodsThis study used a qualitative approach with thematic analysis underpinned by a social constructionist epistemology. Semi-structured interviews of medical residents were conducted at a single internal medicine residency program. Residents were initially asked about their experiences with suboptimal medical decision making as a group or team. Then, questions were targeted to several group biases (groupthink, social loafing, escalation of commitment). Interviews were transcribed and transferred to a qualitative data analysis software. Thematic analysis was conducted to generate major themes within the dataset.ResultsSixteen interviews with residents revealed five major themes: (1) hierarchical influence on group decision making; (2) group decision making under pressure; (3) post-call challenges in decision making; (4) interactions between teamwork and decision making; and (5) personal and cultural influences in group decision making. Subthemes were also identified for each major theme. Most residents were able to recognize groupthink in their past experiences working with medical teams. Residents perceived social loafing or escalation of commitment as less relevant for medical team decision making.ConclusionsOur findings provide unique insights into the complexities of group decision making processes in teaching hospitals. Team hierarchy significantly influenced residents’ experiences with group decision making—most group decisions were attributed to consultants or senior team members, while lower ranking team members contributed less and perceived fewer opportunities to engage in group decisions. Other factors such as time constraints on decision making, perceived pressures from other staff members, and challenges associated with post-call days were identified as important barriers to optimal group decision making in patient care. Future studies may build upon these findings to enhance our understanding of medical team decision making and develop strategies to improve group decisions, ultimately leading to higher quality patient care and training.

Exploring Premier League Clubs Performance and Home-Away Differences Based on Passing Network Analysis

Abstract Whereas many studies have investigated the home advantage in football, only few studies focused on different passing patterns of home and away teams. Therefore, the aim of this study was to use two holistic indicators of social network analysis to explore potential differences: transitivity and density. As these metrics are not born in sport science, a further contribution of this study was to evaluate if these can serve as performance indicators. Based on a sample of the complete 2017/18 Premier League season, this study shows that higher ranked teams show significantly higher values for density (Z = 12.00; p &lt; .001; r = 0.795) and transitivity (Z = 7.08; p &lt; .001; r = 0.469) with large effect sizes. The differences of the teams’ performances for home and away games were not pronounced, and only with a small effect size (density: Z = 5.20; p&lt; .001; r=0.267; transitivity: Z = 1.73; p = 0.084; r=0.089). Overall, results contribute to the current knowledge base in two ways: First, we could show that density and transitivity are correlated with performance, which makes sense as they can be interpreted as a team’s coopration variability. Second, we could show that the degree of successful collaboration is not significantly higher for matches played at home.

Cricket data analytics: Forecasting T20 match winners through machine learning

In the ever-evolving world of cricket, the T20 format has captured the imaginations of fans worldwide, intensifying the anticipation for match outcomes with each passing delivery. This study explores the realm of predictive analytics, leveraging the power of machine learning to alleviate the suspense by forecasting T20 cricket match winners before the first ball is bowled. Drawing on a rich dataset encompassing factors such as past team performance and rankings, a diverse ensemble of predictive models, including logistic regression, support vector machine (SVM), random forest, decision tree, and XGBoost, is meticulously employed. Among these, the random forest Classifier emerges as the standout performer, boasting an impressive prediction accuracy rate of 84.06%. To assess the real-world applicability of our predictive framework, a post-case study is conducted, focusing on the high-stakes World Cup T20 matches of 2022, where England emerges as the triumphant team. The dataset underpinning this study is meticulously curated from ESPN CricInfo, ensuring the robustness of our analysis. Moreover, this paper extends its contribution by offering a comprehensive comparative analysis, scrutinizing performance metrics such as accuracy, precision, recall, and the F1-score across benchmark machine learning models for cricket match prediction. This in-depth evaluation not only validates the efficacy of our models but also sheds light on their superior execution time and statistical robustness, further bolstering their utility in the realm of cricket outcome forecasting.

Assessing the Match Physical Responses of International Referees for Footballers with Cerebral Palsy: A Tournaments and Halves Comparative Analysis.

Similar to conventional football, the modality dedicated to footballers with cerebral palsy (CP) requires referees who cope with the physical demands imposed during competitive matches to apply the rules of the game. While a significant body of research has explored the physical demands on referees in mainstream football, there is a noticeable lack of data regarding CP football. This study aimed to examine the physical response of international referees participating in different levels of world competitions for footballers with CP. Thirteen international referees, who officiated 49 matches in the men's 2022 World Cup (1st to 15th ranked teams) and 2022 World Championships (16th to 30th ranked teams), participated in this study. A cross-sectional design was used to determine the physical responses and compare the 1st and 2nd halves and the performance in the different tournaments, recording physical variables throughout the matches. Significant higher physical responses were observed in the World Cup in comparison to the World Championship. Overall, high-level tournaments have been shown to elicit more intense physical responses from referees officiating CP football matches compared to lower-level tournaments. For the World Cup, a significantly higher number of accelerations and decelerations were registered in the 1st half compared to the 2nd half. This information may be useful for the strength and conditioning coaches of referees to plan weekly training sessions more specifically and adjust the periodical training load and post-match recovery protocols.

A new hierarchical composite indicator model for ranking the top 20 European football teams

The rankings of football teams are crucial to assess their sportive and non-sportive performances and allow fans and investors to have a measure of the health of the teams. The current literature lacks rankings that jointly consider the economic, sporting and popularity aspects, and our proposal aims to fill this gap. The paper proposes a new conceptual framework with the ultimate goal of building a global ranking for football teams by assessing their overall performance. Therefore, this article applies this new conceptual framework to the top 20 European teams by detecting both four specific composite indicators, corresponding to the main aspects of a football team performance, and the general composite indicator which combines the specific ones into a single index. A reflective model-based approach, based on a higher-order factor analysis, is used in order to build the composite indicators, whereas a multi-group analysis and an analysis of means are applied to test the presence of several models for the performance of football teams in the different leagues, and to test the existence of subgroups with different performances for both the scores of the general and the specific composite indicators.

Using simulations to compare the current Davis Cup ranking system to Elo.

The Davis Cup is the premier men's team event in tennis, run by the International Tennis Federation and in which over 130 nations compete. It uses a merit-based ranking system that allows nations to gain a pre-determined number of points when they win. The rankings are integral to the competition structure and used in the draws of every round. Therefore, it is essential that the ranking method performs well with respect to required performance criteria of the International Tennis Federation. The Elo rating method is a commonly used method of rating and ranking participants in a competitive exercise and is used by FIFA for the ranking of male and female national teams. The performance of the current Davis Cup ranking method and Elo rating were compared using a simulation of the Davis Cup competition structure. Four criteria were used for the comparison: Finishing Order Correlation, Skill Level Correlation, Responsiveness, and Protection. Such a comparison has not previously been published. The two methods were comparable across three of the criteria, with the Davis cup easily outperforming Elo in responsiveness. Indeed, the Elo method had such poor responsiveness that improved performance may not be fully recognised within a player's career. An alternative method of optimising the Elo K-factor parameter was developed and this improved the performance of Elo to match the current Davis Cup method. In conclusion, the current Davis Cup ranking method is performing at a standard that cannot be matched by typically optimised Elo but can be matched when an alternative optimisation method is used. Therefore, no evidence was found to suggest that the current Davis Cup ranking method could be improved upon by using Elo. However, alternative K-factor optimisation methods should be considered when applying Elo to a competition.

Relationship between team ranking and physical fitness in elite male handball players in different playing positions

The aim of this study was to identify the key physical indicators that affect game performance of male team handball athletes in national team handball tournaments and explore them further in relation to playing positions. A total of 150 male handball athletes were tested before a national tournament, using squat, bench press, 30-m sprint, vertical jump, pull-ups and abdominal endurance testing. Correlation analysis was used to examine the potential relationship between fitness level and tournament ranking. The results revealed significant differences in fitness variables among different playing positions (p < 0.05), excepted abdominal endurance and vertical jump (p > 0.05). 1RM squad performance was associated with team rankings (r = 0.289, p < 0.05). For individual playing positions, bench press of backs correlate with rankings (r = 0.354, p < 0.05). For goalkeepers, ranking was significantly positively correlated with 30-m sprinting (r = 0.604, p < 0.05). No other correlations were found (p > 0.05). To conclude, fitness level is to some extent related to team ranking with higher ranked teams having better scores in some of the fitness tests for all playing positions. The key predictors of performance in sport vary from position to position and practitioners need to differentiate between them to organize strength and conditioning training more precisely. More specialized fitness tests are also needed to assess athletes' competition ability.

Effect of the phase of the season and contextual variables on match running performance in Spanish LaLiga football teams.

This study aimed to examine the intra-season variation and the effects of contextual variables on total distance (TD), high-intensity running distance (HIRD) and high-speed distance (HSD) covered by Spanish football teams. The sample included 20 professional teams that competed in the Spanish LaLiga during the 2021-2022 season. Data were recorded using the TRACAB (ChyronHego, New York, USA) multicamera computerized optical tracking system. Multilevel linear mixed models were used to examine the effects of five contextual variables (1: phase of the season in six periods, 2: match location, 3: opponent ranking, 4: team ranking and 5: congested schedule) on TD, HIRD and HSD. Teams increased the running performance from period 1 to 5 of the season in TD (+2.2%; P < 0.05) and from period 1 to 4 in HIRD (+7.2%; P < 0.05), while a declining effect was found in period 6 for both TD (-1.2%; P < 0.05) and HIRD (-5.8%; P < 0.05). More HIRD (+1.5) and HSD (+5.3) were covered at home (P < 0.05), and more TD and HIRD were covered when playing against opponents ranked in the first (+2.4% and +5.3%, respectively; P < 0.05) and second quartile (+1.2% and +5.0%, respectively; P < 0.05), compared to teams from the fourth quartile. Football coaches and fitness specialists should note that running performance of Spanish teams increased throughout the season, but it declined during the last matches of the competition. Additionally, home matches and highranked opponents elicited higher running demands.

A multilayer network framework for soccer analysis

In this paper, we define a novel methodology for analyzing soccer matches and teams using spatial multilayer networks. Departing from a segmentation of the pitch into h×v regions, we create 2-layer networks that capture the exchange of ball possessions between teams throughout a match. To assess the significance of each node, we employed eigenvector centrality measures within the constructed multilayer network. Furthermore, we introduce three additional metrics, namely the leakage, recovery and switching factor, which quantify the possession transitions between layers. Finally, we apply our methodology to analyze the performance of Spanish soccer teams over an entire season, using the aforementioned multilayer parameters, and discuss the relation with the playing style and ranking of soccer teams.

Perception of Players on the Coach Competence and Team Performance in the Kenyan National Soccer and Volleyball Leagues

Purpose: The purpose of the study examine whether perception of players on the coach competence predict team performance in the Kenyan national soccer and volleyball leagues.&#x0D; Methodology: The study adopted Cross-Sectional survey design. The target population for the study included players and in the Kenyan soccer and volleyball national leagues in the 2020/21season. The population of the study was 878 players from the 53 teams including 288 females in the 16 teams of 18 players, and 168 males in the 12 teams of 14 players and 98 females in the 07 teams of 14 players in volleyball respectively. The study included players who were consistent in the respective leagues for the immediate last five years. The coaches and players were both male and female. The study used Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 22) for data analysis. Chi-Square and Fisher’s Exact test were used.&#x0D; Findings: Results above showed that soccer players perception on training and instruction had no significant effect on team ranking (P=0.000). In addition, volleyball players perception on training and instruction had no significant effect on team ranking (P=0.000). In addition, soccer players perception on democratic behaviour had no significant effect on team ranking (P=0.354). Further, volleyball players perception on democratic behaviour had no significant effect on team ranking (P=0.095). Further soccer players perception on autocratic behaviour had a significant effect on team ranking (P=0.000).&#x0D; Unique contribution to theory, policy and practice: The study focused on the Kenyan national leagues which are composed mainly of African race players. There is need to conduct a similar study in other leagues like in North Africa and middle east which consists of players mainly of Arab race, Asian continent which consists of players of Asian descent and the European and American leagues composed of players of mixed descents including the Negroid, Caucasoid and the Mongoloids

Hierarchy selection: New team ranking indicators for cyclist multi-stage races

In this paper, I report some investigation discussing team selection, whence hierarchy, through ranking indicators, for example when “measuring” professional cyclist team’s “sportive value”, in particular in multistage races. A logical, it seems, constraint is introduced on the riders: they must finish the race. Several new indicators are defined, justified, and compared. These indicators are mainly based on the arriving place of (“the best 3”) riders instead of their time needed for finishing the stage or the race, — as presently classically used. A case study, serving as an illustration containing the necessary ingredients for a wider discussion, is the 2023 Vuelta de San Juan, but without loss of generality. It is shown that the new indicators offer some new viewpoint for distinguishing the ranking through the cumulative sums of the places of riders rather than their finishing times. On the other hand, the indicators indicate a different team hierarchy if only the finishing riders are considered. Some consideration on the “distance” between ranking indicators is presented. Moreover, it is argued that these new ranking indicators should hopefully promote more competitive races, not only till the end of the race, but also until the end of each stage. Generalizations and other applications within operational research topics, like in academia, are suggested.

Physiological parameters of professional football players in teams of various levels

Background and study aim. Soccer is a demanding sport which, in addition to technical and motor characteristics, also requires exceptional functional abilities of athletes to play at a high level. The aim of this study: 1) To analyze the disparities in physiological parameters among professional soccer players in teams of varying levels. 2) To explore potential connections between team ranking positions and the physiological attributes of professional soccer players. Material and Methods. 91 professional soccer players who compete in Serbian Super league (age 24.14±5.15) were included in the study. Participants were classified into two groups. The first group consisted of players from teams that were ranked from third to sixth place at the end of 2021/2022 competitive season (n=49). The second group of participants consisted of the players of the teams that were ranked in the last two places at the end of the above-mentioned season (n=42). Maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max), as well as running speeds and heart rates at first and second ventilatory thresholds (VT1 and VT2) were obtained by performing maximal cardiopulmonary exercise test. Results. The results showed a statistically significant difference in terms of VO2max values, running speeds and heart rates at VT1 and VT2 when the top and bottom ranked teams were compared (p &lt; 0.001). Conclusion. The results of the study imply that playing high-level soccer requires exceptional functional abilities, which go beyond technical and tactical characteristics. These exceptional abilities enable players to continuously perform at high intensities during the games in order to achieve top results. Coaches should be aware of the importance of high aerobic capacity for achieving top results, especially if the team consists of less talented players.