BiscuitChaserFC

Since the last blog I have listened to the @PureFitbaw  podcast which features Ram Srnivas who works in player recruitment. He outlined a basic methodology around recruitment, the use of data and traditional scouting methods. I will look to apply this here (on a very basic level!) Now Cadden has departed, Oxford are left with Sam Long. On the surface Long has different attributes to Cadden, however that doesn't diminish the impact Long could make (this will mainly look in League 1&2). Firstly establishing Oxford's playing style. ( Some boring stuff: I normalised the team data for the individual metrics on a scale 0-1 - the deep purple = in a higher percentile compared to the other teams. For example, looking at the first 'Crosses P90' column, it is clear Rochdale are the lowest rank in the League. In comparison, Portsmouth are the highest. In the PPDA (Passes Allowed Per Defensive Action) metric a lower rank = a high pressing team. Ipswich are the fore runn...

Welcome to BiscuitChaserFC. This could be great, or it could be another thing I start but don't quite follow through with. It could be stat-sy, could be Oxford related, could document my trip through football analytics...anyway toughest bit is to start, right!? Anyway, as its January and we all get excited about transfers I thought it might be interesting to take a look at the Oxford squad and answer a few questions: How does the squad currently look? What are the issues? Where can improvement be made in this transfer window and future? Average age based on Transfermarkt data Looking at the above it documents the average age of each squad in League One (A word of caution - Transfermarkt have Oxford's squad at 26 players including Kevin Berkoe, Sam Allardyce and Oussama Zamouri (who today left the club)). Oxford have on average the 7th youngest squad - a few players bring this average up, however Oxford sit amongst teams in Peterborough who have a strong recruitm...