Welcome
Issue number 30. I remember with The Kid changed his number to 30 in Cincinnati to honor Senior. Those red pinstripe sleeveless jerseys were a must-purchase. Then I spilled something resembling mustard on it, which never really washed out, and now it sits in a box waiting for me to clean and display it. Maybe I should do that.
The majority of articles this week are soccer-related, including an MLS G+ zone difference review, a video on how a coach implemented a "Player Friendly Game Model," and a tutorial using R and FBref. With bowl season kicking off today, a metric to identify the best games to watch is included, and then we wrap it up with how Logan Webb performed so well this season.
Cheers
This Week's Lineup
A Metric For Watching Bowl Games
BEAST, the Bowl Enjoyment and Attractiveness System for Television. Consisting of Stakes, Quality, Style, and Familiarity. The best? Cotton and Orange bowls. The worst? Camellia bowl.
After a rough start, Logan Webb has arrived
A big reason to include this one is due to someone in my fantasy baseball league who made a trade for Webb this year, and we all laughed. He laughed last. What was the change from last year? He focused on a three-pitch mix that didn't include his four-seemer.
Possession, Pressing, and Personnel in MLS
This piece digs into Bob Bradley and how he has put together attacks. Also included is a neat little graphic that shows MLS teams with the best G+ difference in each of the 30 zones on the pitch.
Soccer Analytics Tutorial: Using R and FBref Data
This is the first part of a series of posts that will illustrate how to install R, set up RStudio, and go from a table with some football-related metrics to a compelling visualization to analyze English Premier League teams' performance.
Creating and utilizing a "Player Friendly Game Model" to Coach Your Team
University of Nebraska Women's Soccer head coach John Walker developed a player-centric coaching philosophy that has produced success for players and his teams. Included is a video of how he implemented this approach.
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Unexpected Points Added is curated and maintained by Patrick Hayes. If you have questions or suggestions for the newsletter, just reply to this email. I answer every single one.