Blog Post 6: Matchweek 26

The #BPL is back on Saturday - which of the weekend's 10 matches are you most looking forward to? pic.twitter.com/OgULVUeRGt
— Premier League (@premierleague) February 21, 2015

Player of the week:

Branislav Ivanovic (Full-back, Chelsea)

For a second straight matchweek, I have named a member of league-leading Chelsea a player of the week. Ivanovic has been one of Chelsea's most dependable players so far this year, having not missed one minute of this year's Premier League campaign. This week, he played the full 90 against a struggling Burnley side at the Bridge. Like his fellow Serb and Chelsea teammate, Nemanja Matic, Ivanovic also plays a position that doesn't show up on the scoresheet too often. However, it is what Ivanovic is doing so well getting forward, whist still tracking back on defense that makes him such a great player.

The responsibilities of a full-back are both offensive and defensive. Offensively, full-backs can provide width and service into the box. Defensively, full-backs are responsible for preventing attacks down their flank. Overall, the responsibility of a full-back is to control their wing of the pitch.

These are the statistics that I feel show how the responsibilities of a full-back are fulfilled (Ivanovic v Burnley):

• Tackles (1)
• Interceptions (0)
• Fouls (0)
• Pass completion percentage (82.1%)
• Assists (0)
• Dribbles (2)
• Dispossessions (3)
• Unsuccussful touches (2)
• Key passes-passes that lead to a scoring opportunity (2)
• Passes (39)
• Shots on target (1)
• Shots (3)
• Goals (1)

via WhoScored

Before turning all of these stats into percentages, I decided to sort them into three different categories: defense, build-up, offense. I decided to do this to make it easier to group the statistics and turn them into percentages so they can go into the formula. Here is how the categories line up for this position's statistics:

Defense: tackles, interceptions, fouls

Build-up: pass completion percentage, dribbles, dispossessions, unsuccessful touches

Offense: passes, key passes, assists, shots, shots on target, goals

The statistics I will put into the formula are (weight in the rating):

• Tackles + interceptions / foul: 100% (35%)
• Pass completion percentage: 82.1% (30%)
• Dispossessions + unsuccessful touches / dribble: 250% (15%)
• Key passes(x2.5) + assists(x5) / pass: 12.82% (10%)
• Shots on target + goals(x5) / shot: 200% (10%)

Step-by-Step:

1. 100 X 0.35 = 35
2. 82.1 X 0.3 = 24.63
3. 250 X 0.15 = 37.5
4. 12.82 X 0.1 = 1.28
5. 200 X 0.1 = 20
6. 35 + 24.63 + 37.5 + 1.28 + 20 = 118.41
7. 118.41 ÷ 14 = 7.89

As it turns out, my hypothesis that the number to divide the sum of all percentages, after they were weighted, is one less than the original number of statistics was proven to be untrue. Chelsea v Burnley was one of the games I watched this week, and I believe Ivanovic's rating should have been between 7 and 8.5. The high number that the sum of all the weighted percentages provided allowed for a lot of options to divide it by, and I felt 14 gave Ivonovic the appropriate rating.

Ivanovic's Rating: 7.89

To verify:

Benjamin Mee (Full-back, Burnley)

To be sure my full-back formula is accurate, I decided to test it on Benjamin Mee, another goal-scoring full-back, who played against Chelsea this week. I estimate his rating should be between 6.5 and 8.

Mee celebrates on the right

• Tackles + interceptions / foul: 0% (35%)
• Pass completion percentage: 64.7% (30%)
• Dispossessions + unsuccessful touches / dribble: 100% (15%)
• Key passes(x2.5) + assists(x5) / pass: 7.35% (10%)
• Shots on target + goals(x5) / shot: 600% (10%)

Step-by-Step:

1. 0 X 0.35 = 0
2. 64.7 X 0.3 = 19.41
3. 100 X 0.15 = 15
4. 7.35 X 0.1 = 0.74
5. 600 X 0.1 = 60
6. 0 + 19.41 + 15 + 0.74 + 60 = 95.15
7. 95.15 ÷ 14 = 6.80

Mee's Rating: 6.80

Success!