By Kokoy Severino
Through over two decades in public service as an educational leader, I can't say that analyzing data was one of my more thrilling responsibilities, but it was one of the most important. In disaggregating data, educators were able to get quantifiable insight into their strengths and weaknesses as an academic community. "Data-driven" was one of the catch phrases of the day, as a directive from the state government requiring schools to design programs using their analyses of achievement and demographic data, centering largely around - for better or worse - standardized test results. School leaders underwent extensive training on data disaggregation, and in turn trained faculty. As part of principal's certification programs, candidates were required to take an entire master's level college course on data analysis. Disaggregating data helped me validate the community's need for a competitive interscholastic soccer team as a gang-intervention after-school incentive program in a high-poverty urban school district with a proportionately significant recent immigrant population.
Over the years, I have come to particularly enjoy disaggregating football data in various contexts - in this case, the three Philippine clubs in the pan-Asian competitions that completed their first cycle of group stage matches - Kaya Iloilo vs Shandong Taishan in the AFC Champions League, and Stallion Laguna vs Bali United and Dynamic Herb Cebu vs Phnom Penh Crown in the AFC Cup. The Asian Football Confederation tracks and compiles some detailed statistics in their match reports. Analyzing the data can shed some further light into where the Philippine football system currently stands in the broader scale.
Philippine clubs were outscored 11 goals to three in this first series of matches for a ratio of 3.67:1. The time stamp for each goal is recorded. Sectored into match quadrants, the data shows that Philippine defenses consistently shut out the opposition in the first quadrant of play. All goals scored against them occurred in the second to fourth quadrants, including one in the 95th minute. An overwhelming majority, precisely eight of the 11 goals were scored in the latter quadrant of the half. Significantly, the Philippine club facing arguably the strongest opposition, Kaya Iloilo, was not scored upon until the third match quadrant. For 137 out of 298 total minutes played, Philippine clubs kept the score even, 45.3% of game time. In fact, the data shows that the home sides spent a majority of game minutes tied or down by only one goal, certainly not an insurmountable deficit by any stretch of the imagination. The Philippine teams only let the game get away from them in the latter match quadrant.
Figure 1:
 |
First round of group stage matches in 2023-24 AFC continental tournaments
|
Figure 2:
Examining the position of each goal-scorer, the data shows that opposing offenses were able to penetrate deep into the Philippine defensive third. Nine of 11 opposition goals were struck from within 12 yards of goal (including the penalty). Five of the goals came from within the six-yard box, including one off a corner kick.
Figure 3: Position of goal-scorer at point of strike, first round of group stage matches in 2023-24 AFC tournaments
Goals scored against Kaya Iloilo
Goals scored against Stallion Laguna
Goals scored against Dynamic Herb CebuPhilippine clubs defended corner kicks quite effectively, allowing only one goal out of 18 total taken against them. Corner kick evidence shows, however, that the Philippine sides were successful in threatening deep in the offensive third, logging four more taken than the opposition.
 |
First round of group stage matches in 2023-24 AFC continental tournaments
|
Offensively, Philippine sides ended the series with a cumulative 64% passing accuracy, completing 507 of 793 passes attempted. In comparison, the opposing teams completed 913 of their 1200 for a 76.1% accuracy. These numbers suggest the extent of the opposition's domination of ball possession, completing more passes than Philippine total pass attempts. It also reflects the more direct style preferred by Philippine clubs, using longer passes to get the ball downfield in a hurry, a strategy requiring fewer passes and inevitably producing a lower completion percentage. Interestingly, the teams facing off in the third match of the series, Phnom Penh Crown and Dynamic Herb Cebu, posted the highest and second-highest pass completion rates respectively at 85% and 74%.
Figure 5:
 |
| First round of group stage matches in 2023-24 AFC continental tournaments |
In terms of shooting, Philippine offenses were on target with 11 of their 39 shots taken on goal for a 28.2% accuracy. The opposition finished with a 42.8% accuracy logging 18 strikes on target out of 42 attempted. In hard numbers, Stallion Laguna's 17 shots on goal were the most attempts out of all six teams and they posted the most on target with seven, which is an amazing statistic considering Stallion maintained possession of the ball only 39.5% of their game, which is right below the average 40.4% of the three Philippine sides. Consequently, Bali United's Brazilian goalkeeper Adilson Maringa was the busiest of the week, scored upon twice and forced to make five saves.
Figure 6:
Based on the data presented, the coaching staffs of the three Philippine sides in the ongoing Asian continental club competitions are likely addressing the following needs they have in common as Match Day 2 approaches:
- Increase ball possession time. By possessing the ball more, the opposing team's possession and scoring opportunities are reduced. Raising ball possession minutes also slows the pace down, allowing more efficient use of energy, clearly problematic in the latter match quadrants.
- Improve finishing. Philippine offenses were successful in generating opportunities. However, an overwhelming majority of their shot attempts were off target. Higher percentage of on-target shots should in turn increase goal production.
Knowing the high quality of coaching now exercised in the modern Philippine club system, the three representatives of the country on the continental stage no doubt have been doing their own disaggregation, and have designed their respective data-driven courses.
This has been a watershed year for Philippine football in many different aspects. As the various squads traverse through this history-making journey, they will continue to achieve threshold upon threshold along the way. As we gather more and more data with experience, we can only expect that the evidence will show steady and constant improvement, eventually leading to a return to the glory days of Philippine football.
References:
Kaya Iloilo FC vs Shandong Taishan FC
Stallion Laguna FC vs Bali United FC
Dynamic Herb Cebu FC vs Phnom Penh Crown FC
Kaya-Iloilo FC results and fixtures in AFC Champions League Group G (all kickoff times local at venue):
September 19 – Kaya Iloilo FC 1, Shandong Taishan 3 @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila
October 3 – vs Incheon United @ Incheon Football Stadium, Incheon, South Korea 7:00 pm
October 25 – vs Yokohama FM @ Yokohama International Stadium, Yokohama, Japan 7:00 pm
November 7 – vs Yokohama FM @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila 8:00 pm
November 28 – vs Shandong Taishan @ Jinan Olympic Stadium, Jinan, China 8:00 pm
December 13 – vs Incheon United @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila 4:00 pm
Stallion Laguna FC results and fixtures in AFC Cup Group G
September 20 – Stallion Laguna FC 2, Bali United 5 @ Biñan Football Stadium, Biñan, Laguna
October 4 – vs Central Coast Mariners @ Industree Group Stadium, Gosford, Queensland, Australia 7:00 pm
October 26 – vs Terengganu FC @ Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia 8:00 pm
November 8 – vs Terengganu FC @ Biñan Football Stadium, Biñan, Laguna 4:00 pm
November 29 – vs Bali United @ Captain 1 Wayan Dipta Stadium, Bali, Indonesia 8:00 pm
December 13 – vs Central Coast Mariners @ Biñan Football Stadium, Biñan, Laguna 4:00 pm
Dynamic Herb Cebu FC results and fixtures in AFC Cup Group F:
September 21 – Cebu FC 0, Phnom Penh Crown 3 @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila
October 5 – vs Macarthur @ Campbelltown Sports Stadium, Sydney, Australia 7:00 pm
October 26 – vs Shan United @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila 8:00 pm
November 9 – vs Shan United @ Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon, Myanmar 6:30 pm
November 30 – vs Phnom Penh Crown @ Smart RSN Stadium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia 7:00 pm
December 14 – vs Macarthur @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila 8:00 pm
Kokoy Severino is a career educator and Secretary of the Football For Peace Movement in the Philippines. He has coached junior high school soccer in the public school system of the Greater Houston area for over 20 years. He holds a National Youth Diploma and a Goalkeeping Coaching Certification from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and United Soccer Coaches, two coaching certifications from the United States Soccer Federation, and a Master's in Educational Leadership from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. His research focuses on the relationship between interscholastic competitive soccer and the academic success of at-risk economically disadvantaged students. Kokoy returns regularly to his native country of the Philippines and works with fellow soccer coaches to conduct training sessions for underserved youths in impoverished neighborhoods. He is also a member of Initiatives and Hearts for Indigenous People, a collective of soccer coaches in the Philippines who use the beautiful game to mentor youths out of poverty, particularly focusing on marginalized indigenous communities.
Kokoy is a lifelong traveler and has been documenting soccer matches through photographs in his native country of the Philippines, his adopted home state of Texas, as well as in Singapore, Vietnam, and Washington State, plus more parts of the world to come.
Read and view Coach Kokoy's blog about implementing the beautiful game as an academic and social-emotional intervention at an inner-city junior high school for new immigrants to the United States - Coach Kokoy's Las Americas Soccer Blog.
"Life is not a journey, but a pilgrimage..."
- Kokoy Severino has been in a constant state of travel since he was four years old.
 |
| Photo by Dad. |
No comments:
Post a Comment