Data scouting: Fullbacks in the I League

Indian football has two top-tier professional leagues that co-exist. The popular one is the Indian Super League that has been in existence since 2014. The other league is the

I-League, which succeeded the National Football League in 2007 and has been active ever since.

Ever since the advent of ISL, I-League has taken backstage in the Indian football ecosystem, but it continues to churn out talented players who end up joining teams playing in the ISL.

The main reason why I chose to write this piece is the lack of coverage I-League gets in the Indian football community. This piece will be the first in a series of pieces in which players from different positions in the I-League will be scouted using data.

So getting back to the topic, I don’t think the role of a fullback in the modern game needs to be emphasised in detail here as it is pretty well known. Let’s delve deeper into the data we have to try and scout the fullbacks in I-League.

I have used Wyscout data and players who have played less than 500 minutes in the league, which concluded recently, have been filtered out. After applying the filter, we got a list of fullbacks who are as follows:

The fullbacks will be judged on a number of categories below

Defending Duels:

Real Kashmir’s Lalrindika Ralte attempts more duels than any other fullback with almost 10.5 per90 while Vikas Saini, of Churchill Brothers, completes the most defensive actions with around 12.2 per90, but he played far less compared to his peers. Huidrom Singh, who plays for the champions Gokulam Kerala, and Jishnu Balakrishnan also stand out here. Abhishek Ambekar, of Sudeva, also comes out well. However, it is important to consider that he played just over 500 minutes, the least in our dataset.

Tackles, interceptions and Aerial duels

Firstly, tackles and interceptions are adjusted for possession. Once again, Vikas Saini stands out with the most sliding tackles with 2.4 per90. Churchill Brothers’ duo Mamit Vanlalduatsanga and Fredsan Marshall excel here with similar stats. Neroca’s Wangkhei Singh, and Safiul Rahaman of Mohammedan also stand out. 17 year old Sajad Hussain Parray, of Indian Arrows, attempts the most aerial duels per90 with 6.65 aerials per90.

Passing- Forward and progressive passing

Roundglass Punjab FC right back Souvik Das attempts the most passes with almost 44 per90 followed by Neroca’s Takhellam Deepak Singh, who attempts just less than 40 passes per90. When it comes to progressive passes, Neroca’s Longjam Singh and Aizawl’s Lalmalsawma aid their team the most in progression via passes when compared to other fullbacks. Another fullback who stands out here is Roundglass Punjab’s Samad Mallick.

Passing into the final third and penalty area:

When it comes to passes to the final third and passes to the penalty area, familiar names appear on the top once again. Lalrindika Ralte(9.94 per90) completes the most entries into the penalty area but in comparison, his passes to the final third numbers look ordinary( this may suggest his primary role in an attacking sense is to cross the ball into box). L. Singh, Lalmalsawma and Samad Mallick( pink dot beside Lalmalsawma) come out on top once again in both passes to the penalty area, and passes to the final third. L Singh completes the most passes to the final third with 9.94 per90

Ball Progression

When it comes to progression through carries, William Pauliankhum of Sudeva FC comes out on top with 2.3 progressive carries per90. As seen earlier, L Singh and Lalmalsawma take the top spot when it comes to progressive passes per90

Chance creation and xA

Safiul Rahaman of Mohammedan and Lalrindika Ralte of Real Kashmir stand out well ahead of others in chance creation metrics. Lalrindika Ralte creates 1.69 shots per90 and has an xA of 0.15 per90, while Rahaman has an xA of 0.18 per90 and creates 1.59 shots per90. Real Kashmir’s Sena Ralte also stands out here. Wyscout’s glossary defines smart pass as a creative and penetrative pass that attempts to break the opposition’s defensive lines to gain a significant advantage in attack. Chennaiyin’s Sriram Bhoopathi leads here with 0.69 such passes per90

Crossing

Jishnu Balakrishnan, Safiul Rahaman, L. Ralte, Lalmalsawma stand out in crossing, Lalrindika Ralte’s name is no surprise considering how he completed a lot of passes into the penalty area whilst not making many passes into the final third, and he also excelled in chance creation. A new name also pops up here and that is Gokulam Kerala right back Sebastian Thangmuangsang. It is pretty clear that the best crosses are the aforementioned names. We need to discount Dharmaraj Ravanan here as he barely attempts any crosses.

Dribbling

Sudeva right back William Pauliankhum, who led the league in progressive runs, is a clear outlier in dribbling too. He completes almost 4.6 dribbles per90. Other names who impress are Sriram Bhoopathi, Hira Mondal(Mohammedan) and Fredsan Marshall.

Shooting

When it comes to shots and accumulated xG per90, similar names pop up once again. Fredsan Marshall, Lalrindika Ralte and William Pauliankhum are well ahead of their peers in these categories with Marshall leading others in both xG per90 and shots per90. Also, William Pauliankhum completes the most offensive duels per 90 with 9.59 per 90. He is also a clear outlier here giving us a clear idea of his attacking ability.

Conclusion

After taking all the categories into consideration, we can come to a conclusion that Lalrindika Ralte, William Pauliankhum, Lalmalsawma, Longjam Singh, Safiul Rahaman and Fredsan Marshall are the best fullbacks in the I-League. When it comes to the younger players, Jishnu Balakrishnan is also a great prospect along with the aforementioned Lalmalsawma and Pauliankhum.

Upon finishing scouting using numbers, the next step is to watch games of these players and analyse them. The next piece in this series will be assessing the central defenders in the I-League