Quick thread about the importance of context with looking at pass maps/events on a pitch: Specifically, the undervaluing of square passes, and how it doesn& #39;t necessarily tell the whole story.

Below is a pass-map of Thiago from the Champions League final - first all passes made overall, and then those which are horizontal or square. There& #39;s quite a bit of the latter of these types, aren& #39;t there? Without any sort of context, it& #39;d be hard to judge the quality of passing.

However, with the video, we can see that a lot of these "square" passes bypassed pressure, were great switches of play, gave players space to attack with verticality, etc.

(Video made with @MetricaSports).

Simply put, that& #39;s why in my analysis I always try to add video or make things interactive when helping players/staff, etc. Data and on the pitch application need to go hand-in-hand.

It& #39;s also one of the reason I am so interested in the continued growth in event data (specifically defensive metrics/actions) and how it can go together with what we have in the nascent stages of tracking data. All of this used cooperatively can only lead to better analysis.

Final point: anyone who follows me knows how much I harp on about progressive passing - that obviously still applies (they are primary causes of chance creation). But the lack of grasp on how important moving blocks, opening up spaces horizontally, etc. helps create a lot!