by David Sally
First published 2013
Soccer statistics guru Chris Anderson, a former professional goalkeeper, partners with behavioral analyst David Sally to examine the world's most popular sport through numbers rather than conventional wisdom. They investigate fundamental questions that challenge accepted beliefs about the game. Do corner kicks provide real value? Which goals carry the most weight in determining outcomes? Does ball possession truly dominate match results? How should teams evaluate player worth? Anderson and Sally analyze data to reveal what actually drives winning in soccer, moving beyond surface observations to uncover the mathematical patterns that predict success. Their approach applies statistical thinking similar to baseball's analytics movement and behavioral economics to decode soccer's hidden truths. The book offers readers a new lens for understanding the game, replacing intuition and tradition with data-driven insights about what separates winners from losers on the pitch.
Genres: science, business, sports, non-fiction, mathematics, academic
Vibes: thought-provoking
Tropes: data-driven
400 pages · Paperback · Penguin Books