Searching for a Unique Style in Soccer

TL;DR

This paper introduces a method to quantify and compare soccer team styles using pass network motifs, revealing that despite common homogeneity, some teams like FC Barcelona have distinct, finely structured playing styles.

Contribution

The paper proposes 'flow motifs' to analyze soccer pass networks, providing a novel way to identify and differentiate team playing styles based on pass sequence patterns.

Findings

Most teams have homogeneous styles

FC Barcelona's tiki-taka has a unique, structured pattern

Pass motifs can effectively differentiate team strategies

Abstract

Is it possible to have a unique, recognizable style in soccer nowadays? We address this question by proposing a method to quantify the motif characteristics of soccer teams based on their pass networks. We introduce the the concept of "flow motifs" to characterize the statistically significant pass sequence patterns. It extends the idea of the network motifs, highly significant subgraphs that usually consists of three or four nodes. The analysis of the motifs in the pass networks allows us to compare and differentiate the styles of different teams. Although most teams tend to apply homogenous style, surprisingly, a unique strategy of soccer exists. Specifically, FC Barcelona's famous tiki-taka does not consist of uncountable random passes but rather has a precise, finely constructed structure.