PHILADELPHIA — Soccer is perhaps at its most exciting when its biggest stars — think Neymar, Messi and Luis Suárez — are dribbling through the defense and firing shots into the net from any conceivable angle and position. What most fans likely don’t notice is how those players are set up for opportunities by the rest of their team.
Will Spearman wants to change the perception that only the player with the ball matters. At OptaPro’s first North American event last week, Spearman, a data scientist at Hudl with a background in physics, presented his preliminary research on Off-Ball Scoring Opportunities — what he defined as scoring chances a player, not in possession of the ball, creates by getting into open space in “dangerous” areas.