Unlocking Football Player Profiles with MatchMemo®: Beyond Basic Positions

In football, categorizing players by their standard positions—defender, midfielder, attacker—provides structure but often oversimplifies reality. Players are nuanced, with unique styles that transcend traditional labels. At MatchMemo®, we’ve introduced an innovative feature that captures exactly that: the distinct playing style of every player across Europe’s Top-5 leagues. Soon, we’re planning to extend this insightful feature to additional leagues and competitions.

How does it work?

Every season, MatchMemo® gathers comprehensive performance data from each player in Europe’s Top-5 leagues—La Liga, Premier League, Bundesliga, Serie A, and Ligue 1. We standardize these statistics to a per-90-minute basis, ensuring fair comparisons irrespective of playing time.

Players are then grouped by specific positional roles to maintain relevancy and accuracy:

• Centre-backs (CB, DEF)
• Full-backs (LB, RB)
• Central Midfielders (DM, CM)
• Attacking Midfielders (AM)
• Wide & Wing Players (LM, LW, RM, RW)
• Strikers (ST, CF)

Within each positional group, we calculate percentiles for performance metrics. But what exactly are percentiles?

Understanding Percentiles

Percentiles indicate how a player’s statistics compare with others in their positional group. A percentile rank of 90, for instance, means a player’s performance surpasses 90% of peers playing in the same role. This helps quickly identify standout abilities, highlighting strengths and weaknesses with precision.

Why These Four Key Categories?

As commentators, analysts, or scouts, it’s crucial to have clear and concise information. We’ve distilled player data into four fundamental performance categories essential for insightful analysis:

Defensive (EN: def / GER: Def)

• Measures how actively a player engages in defensive duties.
• Metrics included: Blocks, Clearances, Interceptions, Fouls, and Total Duels. While these stats show defensive involvement, the quality of engagement matters greatly, hence “Duels Won” significantly influences higher ratings.

Aerial Strength (EN: aer / GER: Luft)

• Highlights a player’s prowess in air battles.
• Metric included: Aerial Duels Won.
  

Creativity/Progressiveness (EN: cre / GER: Kre)

• Critical for players expected to influence attacking build-up.
• Metrics included: Big Chances Created, Assists, and Key Passes.
  

Goal Threat (EN: gth / GER: Torgef)

• Directly assesses a player’s offensive danger.
• Metrics included: Goals, Total Shots.

How are players rated?

We simplify complexity with a clear rating scale:

• ++ indicates exceptional performance (top-tier percentile rank)
• + shows above-average strength
• • represents average competency
• – highlights below-average areas
• — identifies significant weaknesses compared to positional peers

For example, a rating like “def • / aer ++ / cre — / gth -“ vividly illustrates a player’s style: solidly average defensively, dominant in the air, notably lacking creativity, and somewhat weak offensively.

Elevate Your Analysis with MatchMemo®

With MatchMemo®’s player profiles, you quickly grasp the essence of a player’s style, beyond traditional positions. Whether you’re preparing for commentary, scouting players, or simply deepening your football insight, our player style ratings offer unparalleled clarity and depth.

Explore the distinctive profiles of Europe’s elite—and soon, players worldwide—with MatchMemo®.