Thread by @Tw3rcazette, I used data to find Arsenal an alternative for Houssem Aouar Essentially, [...]

I used data to find Arsenal an alternative for Houssem Aouar

Essentially, we& #39;re going to be using 2 steps to find Arsenal an Aouar alternative, in the potential case that he& #39;s too expesive.

1. Player similarity model
2. Filtering

PART 1: SIMILARITY MODEL

Firstly, I collected the data for players with 12+ 90& #39;s in a few categories, some included:

% Of passes that were low/high/key/crosses
Tackles/Interceptions
Shots p/ touch
Dribbles attempted p/ touch

Basically an attempt to capture players& #39; styles

I used about 30 metrics in total, all aimed to categorise the players behaviour on the pitch

Then used PCA to turn this large set of metrics into a smaller set of metrics, which represented different play styles amongst the players

So I plotted the 2 new variables against each other, with the distance between each player representing how similar they are.

(Yes, I know this looks dumb, with 1100 players the labels can get a bit messy)

Anyways, below are the 30 most similar players to Auoar based on this process:

I think it passes the eye test pretty well

In the next part we& #39;ll use some stats to filter this list of 30 into a more manageable list of targets

PART 2: FILTERING

Firstly, We& #39;d want to limit the age of all of these potential targets to 26. big wage/age combos have haunted Arsenal for a while so we need to do our best to limit the age of our targets without compromising quality

It leaves us with this:

Also wanted to further filter for creativity. A connecting player from defence to attack is vital, so I wanted to filter players who performed well in this aspect

Upon removing the entirely unrealistic targets, the set of players that remain are:

- Harit
- Neuhaus
- Bamba
- Brandt
- Blas
- Barella
- Zieliński

Based on further analysis and the viability of the transfer, below is a recommendation ranking of the players above.

7th: Jontahan Bamba. A slight positional mismatch, and isn& #39;t as proficient in central areas as Aouar, would not recommend

6th: Ludovic Blas. Promising talent with a good set of skills. A one to watch but I doubt he& #39;s ready for the step up.

5th: Amine Harit. Very promising and currently lighting up the Bundesliga. A unique prospect but definitely needs time.

4th: Nicolo Barella. Definitely good enough but a lack of creativity from him means his isn& #39;t my favourite choice

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="3⃣" title="Tastenkappe Ziffer 3" aria-label="Emoji: Tastenkappe Ziffer 3">Piotr Zielinski:

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇵🇱" title="Flagge von Polen" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von Polen">

Great during the build up and with a nice technical skill-set, he has the tools to be a quality player. Though, it would be a bit of a positional mismatch.

Piotr Zielinski:https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇵🇱" title="Flagge von Polen" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von Polen">Great during the build up and with a nice technical skill-set, he has the tools to be a quality player. Though, it would be a bit of a positional mismatch." title="https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="3⃣" title="Tastenkappe Ziffer 3" aria-label="Emoji: Tastenkappe Ziffer 3">Piotr Zielinski:https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇵🇱" title="Flagge von Polen" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von Polen">Great during the build up and with a nice technical skill-set, he has the tools to be a quality player. Though, it would be a bit of a positional mismatch.">

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="2⃣" title="Tastenkappe Ziffer 2" aria-label="Emoji: Tastenkappe Ziffer 2">Florian Neuhaus:

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇩🇪" title="Flagge von Deutschland" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von Deutschland">

His numbers for a midfielder over the last 2 season are Ramsey-esque, and his ball-carrying from deep makes him incredibly dynamic. Definitely one to watch.

Florian Neuhaus:https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇩🇪" title="Flagge von Deutschland" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von Deutschland"> His numbers for a midfielder over the last 2 season are Ramsey-esque, and his ball-carrying from deep makes him incredibly dynamic. Definitely one to watch." title="https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="2⃣" title="Tastenkappe Ziffer 2" aria-label="Emoji: Tastenkappe Ziffer 2">Florian Neuhaus:https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇩🇪" title="Flagge von Deutschland" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von Deutschland"> His numbers for a midfielder over the last 2 season are Ramsey-esque, and his ball-carrying from deep makes him incredibly dynamic. Definitely one to watch.">

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="1⃣" title="Tastenkappe Ziffer 1" aria-label="Emoji: Tastenkappe Ziffer 1"> Julian Brandt:

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇩🇪" title="Flagge von Deutschland" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von Deutschland">

It& #39;d be a miracle if Arsenal even had half the money to sign him, (if he& #39;s even interested in leaving Dortmund) but Brandt has all the tools to plug the creative hole Arsenal need this summer.

Julian Brandt:https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇩🇪" title="Flagge von Deutschland" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von Deutschland">It& #39;d be a miracle if Arsenal even had half the money to sign him, (if he& #39;s even interested in leaving Dortmund) but Brandt has all the tools to plug the creative hole Arsenal need this summer." title="https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="1⃣" title="Tastenkappe Ziffer 1" aria-label="Emoji: Tastenkappe Ziffer 1"> Julian Brandt:https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🇩🇪" title="Flagge von Deutschland" aria-label="Emoji: Flagge von Deutschland">It& #39;d be a miracle if Arsenal even had half the money to sign him, (if he& #39;s even interested in leaving Dortmund) but Brandt has all the tools to plug the creative hole Arsenal need this summer.">

Thanks for reading

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👍" title="Thumbs up" aria-label="Emoji: Thumbs up">

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