the scouting desk · talent and data

Data & Metrics

Expected goals, progressive passes and the models behind a recruitment database: which football metrics carry signal and how to read each one per 90 minutes.

4 files in this rubric

Metrics Models

Metrics

Empty half of a football pitch from the halfway line with a goal and net in daylight

Data & MetricsMetrics

Expected Goals Explained: What xG Measures and Misses

xG answers one question well and three badly. What the number really measures, and the parts of a forward game it never sees.

2026-09-26

Empty football pitch seen from high in the stands with crisp white line markings

Data & MetricsMetrics

Progressive Passes per 90: Reading the Metric Right

Progressive passes per 90 is a role statement more often than a quality statement. How the count is built, and what it hides about the player.

2026-09-21

Sports science desk with a closed laptop, stopwatch, tape and small training cones

Data & MetricsMetrics

Advanced Football Metrics: The Numbers Scouts Use

Most advanced football metrics describe the team as much as the player. The handful that hold up when the shirt changes, and how to check them.

2026-09-10

Models

Recruitment meeting room with a long table, closed laptops and empty chairs

Data & MetricsModels

Data Scouting Football: How Recruitment Analytics Works

A database finds candidates, not answers. How data scouting football actually runs inside a recruitment department, from filter to final shortlist.

2026-09-16