DATA HUNTING I-LEAGUE II: Scouting centre backs in the I- League

This piece is the second in a series of articles, where I will scout outfield players playing in the I-League. In the first piece, fullbacks playing in the I-League were analyzed using data and in this article, we will focus on the center-backs who played in I-League 20/21.

Firstly, judging players solely on data will not give us a complete outlook of their game. There are a lot of intangibles like positioning, anticipation, off the ball movement among others, which cannot be quantified using data. But one can get an idea of these intangibles while watching games. So the right mix of eye test and data scouting is necessary before judging a player.

The aforementioned holds for center-backs and goalkeepers more than other positions because these intangibles play a more prominent role in a center-back and a goalkeeper’s game. Additionally, a central defender in a possession-based system or a high line will have different roles compared to someone playing in a low block.

This article by Tiago Estevao (He is amazing, make sure to follow him) gives us nice insight on the importance of intangibles while assessing players.

So getting back to the topic, I will use data and try to scout the center-backs playing in the I-League but do keep in mind that it is incorrect to judge players solely on data.

I used Wyscout data to filter out center-backs who played less than 400 minutes in the I-League 20/21. Upon filtering, we got a list of 32 center backs who had played more than 400 minutes and these are the ones who will be assessed here.

The following is the list of the centre backs who are under consideration:

The following criteria are used to evaluate the players:

1. Defensive duels
2. Aerial duels
3. Defensive actions
4. Passing and ball progression

DEFENSIVE DUELS

Aizawl’s PC Laldinpuia attempts more defensive duels per 90 than any other center back in the league. His 73.08% success rate in defensive duels takes him to the top in successful defensive duels per 90. His 23-year-old Aizawl teammate, Vanlalzuidika Chhakchhuak also comes out well here winning 63.81% of the 8.88 duels he attempts per 90. Sudeva’s Sairuat Kima(23), Mohammedan’s 26-year-old Asheer Akthar, and 20-year-old Hormipam Ruivah, of Roundglass Punjab, also fare well in this metric. Sixteen-year-old Indian Arrows defender Abdul Hannan wins the highest percentage of his duels but he does not attempt too many per 90.

AERIAL DUELS

When it comes to aerial duels, 26-year-old Real Kashmir center-back Marcus Robertson is a clear outlier. He attempts 11.5 aerial duels per 90 winning 61% of them. Chennai City’s Serbian defender Elvdein Skrijelj and Brazilian Helder Lobato of TRAU attempt the next highest number of aerial duels per90. Helder Lobato wins a higher percentage of aerial duels compared to the Serbian. Sairuat Kima and P Laldinpuia attempt more aerial duels than other Indian center backs while Keenan Almeida( Churchill Brothers), Abdul Hannan (Indian Arrows), and Pawan Kumar (Real Kashmir) win the highest percentage of aerial duels.

DEFENSIVE ACTIONS

Once again, PC Laldinpuia and Sairuat Kima come out on top here in the number of defensive actions per 90. The Aizawl center-back makes 13 successful defensive actions per 90 while making a total of 10.53 tackles and interceptions. Sairuat Kima, meanwhile, makes 12.63 successful defensive actions per90 and around 10.77 tackles and interceptions per 90. Other common names like Abdul Hannan, V Chhakchhuak, and H. Ruivah do well here. Seventeen-year-old Roundglass Punjab defender Bikash Yumnam also excels here.

Tackles and interceptions used here are adjusted for possession

Next we move on to passing and progression. I have used a variety of metrics here. They are as follows:

1. Passes p90
2. Forward passes p90
3. Progressive passes p90
4. Passes to the final third p90
5. Pass length(m)(both short and long passes)
6. Short/Medium passes p90
7. Long passes p90
8. Progressive runs p90

Twenty-six-year-old Mohammed Irshad of Roundglass Punjab attempted the most passes per 90 but he played just 484 minutes in the league last season, significantly lesser than the next best which happens to be his teammate Hornipam Ruivah. P Laldinpuia comes third in passes attempted per 90 but he makes the most forward passes per 90 with 23.26 forward passes per90. Chennai City duo Shankar Sampingiraj and Elvedin Skrijelj do well here and so does Sairuat Kima. The Chennai City duo and P Laldinpuia have the highest forward pass to pass ratio.

PASSING PROFILE

While Sairuat Kima, V Chhakchhuak, and Mohammed Irshad tend to make a higher number of short/medium passes per90, P Laldinpuia, H. Ruivah, and S.Sampingiraj have a balanced ratio of short and long passes. P Laldinpuia, who attempts the most forward passes in the league, also makes the highest number of long passes in the league averaging 10.26 long passes per90. Gursimrat Singh Gill, of Sudeva, attempted 8.99 long passes in the league, next only to Laldinpuia.

PASS DISTANCE PROFILE

Real Kashmir trio Bijay Chettri(19), Marcus Robertson, and Pawan Kumar make longer passes than their peers with the average pass length being 28.67, 27.71, and 26.23 respectively. Mohammed Irshad, who attempts a lot of short passes, has an average pass length of 21.6m per pass. When it comes to the length of long passes, Chettri comes out on top followed by Helder Lobato.

Progressive passes and passes to the final third

P Laldinpuia is the clear outlier in both progressive passes attempted per 90 and passes to the final third per 90 with 12.28 and 7.8 per 90 respectively. Once again, names mentioned earlier like V. Chhakchhuak, Elvedin Skrijelj, and Asheer Akthar come out well. One new name that pops up here is 28 years old Deepak Devrani, from champions Gokulam Kerala FC who makes 6.76 progressive passes and 5.66 passes to the final third per 90.

Ball progression

As we saw earlier, P Laldinpuia makes the most progressive passes per90 followed by E. Skrijelj. But when it comes to progressive runs per90, N Meitei (27), of Churchill Brothers, carries the ball forward more than any other defender. He is followed by H Ruivah and D Devrani.

However, Laldinpuia makes the most progressive actions per90 followed by the likes of E Skrijelj, H Ruivah, and V Chhakchhuak.

CONCLUSION

One thing I noticed while making these visualizations and writing this piece is the same names come out on top in almost every field. Names like P Laldinpuia, H Ruivah, Sairuat Kima, E Skrijelj excel everywhere while Abdul Hannan excels in every defensive metric. Most of the Indians who do well also happen to be youngsters. P Laldinpuia, who looks like a real gem, is 24. H Ruivah, Abdul Hannan, V Chhakchhuak, Bijoy Chettri, Sairuat Kima, and Gursimrat Singh Gill are all aged 24 or under. This bodes well for the future of the Indian national football team as they are a variety of options worth considering.

However, as mentioned in the beginning, data scouting alone may mislead us. Watching these players play will, undoubtedly, help us assess them better. The next piece in the series will focus on central midfielders.

I have also added a link to Wyscout Glossary in case you need reference.