Analysis of the Performance of Football Teams via Entropy-Gray Relational Analysis Method: Turkish Super League Model

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the score performances of football teams competing in the 2018-2019 season of the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) Super League via entropy gray relational analysis, one of the multi-criteria decision-making methods. In the study, eight criteria in relation to physical and technical qualities (total running distance, sprint running distance, running distance, getting the ball in the air, shot on target, shot pass total, crossing the ball into penalty, retrieving the ball) were taken as the standard. All matches played in the league throughout the season by engaging teams were included within the scope of this research and were evaluated on the basis of their per-match averages. Obtained data were weighted via the entropy method in order to determine the overall performance, physical performance, and technical performance of football teams. By implementing the gray relational analysis method overall, physical and technical performances of every single team was respectively analyzed. The performance ranking and actual ranking of the 2018-2019 football season were compared with each other, and obtained results were then interpreted. It was concluded that analyses via the entropy method suggested that the most significant criteria in measuring the overall performance of the teams were getting the ball in the air, shot on target, crossing the ball into penalty, and total pass; for physical performance, the criteria vital standards were getting the ball in the air and for technical performance criteria, shot on target played a major role. Based on the gray relational analysis method, it was concluded that the overall performance and the physical and technical performances of the teams failed to represent their actual rankings.

Evaluation of Goalkeepers’ Performance via Grey Relational Analysis Method: Example of Africa Cup of Nations

“…This study provides significant contributions to the scientific field. Primarily, GRA was applied to a more specific unit (GKs) of football industry while previous studies were focused on units (Aydoğan, 2022;Kevser & Doğan, 2022;Ecemiş et al, 2021;Pradhan et al, 2017;Oral, 2016;Ecer & Böyükaslan, 2014;Sakınç, 2014;Bin et al, 2011) such as national teams or clubs as a whole. Secondarily, this study increases the limited number of studies that utilized GRA to evaluate and rank GKs (e.g.…”

“…Karaatlı & Dağ, 2015). GRA was generally used in the football field for purposes such as evaluation of technical performance of teams (Ecemiş et al, 2021;Bin et al, 2011) or financial performance of clubs (Aydoğan, 2022;Kevser & Doğan, 2022;Pradhan et al, 2017;Oral, 2016;Ecer & Böyükaslan, 2014;Sakınç, 2014).…”