Cultural evolution of football tactics: strategic social learning in managers’ choice of formation

Mesoudi, Alex

doi:10.1017/ehs.2020.27

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Our results agree with the analysis of Mesoudi (2020) which observed that the 4.2-3.1 was the most frequent TF in the top five European leagues, followed by 4.3.3 and 4.4.2 TFs. In line with our findings, this study also observed a descending trend of the 4.2-3.1 TF over the years, while the 4-4-2 TF and especially the 4.3.3 TF increased.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…For this specific case, the 4.2-3-1 can be considered a variant of the 4.5.1. However, it is crucial for the study to consider that the use of the 4.2-3.1 formation is more frequent than the 4.5.1 itself, as well as this TF is one of the most used in the five top European leagues ( Mesoudi, 2020 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One of the key decisions of soccer coaches is to determine the tactical team formation (TF) of their team as a part of a whole match strategy to beat the opposing team ( Mesoudi, 2020 ). The TF creates a collective organization that defines the spatial arrangement of players by grouping them usually into four tactical lines (goalkeeper, defenders, midfielders, and attackers) ( Konefal et al, 2019 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evolution of Tactics in Professional Soccer: An Analysis of Team Formations from 2012 to 2021 in the Spanish LaLiga

González-Ródenas¹,

Moreno-Pérez²,

Campo³

et al. 2023

Journal of Human Kinetics

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The aim of this investigation was to explore the evolution of team formations (TFs) in a top national professional soccer league. A comparative analysis of a total of 3420 matches was performed in 32 professional soccer teams that competed from the 2012/13 to the 2020/21 season in the Spanish LaLiga. The frequency distribution of TFs across seasons presented a statistically significant change (p < 0.001). A 4.2-3.1 TF was most common from 2012/13 to 2016/17, while a 4.4.2 TF was most used from 2017/18 to 2020/2021. TFs such as 4.3.3 and 4.5.1 showed a relatively stable trend over the seasons. Overall, there was a reduction of TFs with 5 midfielders and an increase in the frequency of 2-forward formations (p < 0.001). When the ranking of teams was considered, a 4.3.3 TF was implemented with higher frequency by the Champion and teams that qualified for the Champions League (p < 0.05). However, a 4.2-3.1 TF was most frequent for teams qualified for the UEFA Europa League or teams that got relegated to an inferior category (p < 0.05). These findings highlight that teams competing in LaLiga evolved from the implementation of very few TFs led by the 4.2-3.1 TF, towards a more diverse scenario with a greater variety of tactical positional structures.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evolution of Tactics in Professional Soccer: An Analysis of Team Formations from 2012 to 2021 in the Spanish LaLiga

González-Ródenas¹,

Moreno-Pérez²,

Campo³

et al. 2023

Journal of Human Kinetics

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“…Our model complements other recent work on measuring the strength of transmission biases in cultural datasets of competitive activities, such as the studies by Beheim et al [9] on Go, Miu et al [49] on programming contests and Mesoudi [50] on football strategy. Beheim et al [9] employed multilevel logistic regression to study social and individual learning involved in the board game Go.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 55%

Cultural transmission of move choice in chess

Lappo,

Rosenberg,

Feldman

2023

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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The study of cultural evolution benefits from detailed analysis of cultural transmission in specific human domains. Chess provides a platform for understanding the transmission of knowledge due to its active community of players, precise behaviours and long-term records of high-quality data. In this paper, we perform an analysis of chess in the context of cultural evolution, describing multiple cultural factors that affect move choice. We then build a population-level statistical model of move choice in chess, based on the Dirichlet-multinomial likelihood, to analyse cultural transmission over decades of recorded games played by leading players. For moves made in specific positions, we evaluate the relative effects of frequency-dependent bias, success bias and prestige bias on the dynamics of move frequencies. We observe that negative frequency-dependent bias plays a role in the dynamics of certain moves, and that other moves are compatible with transmission under prestige bias or success bias. These apparent biases may reflect recent changes, namely the introduction of computer chess engines and online tournament broadcasts. Our analysis of chess provides insights into broader questions concerning how social learning biases affect cultural evolution.

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“…It is crucial to mention that the different subspaces of the SDO must be adapted depending on the competition format (7-a-side vs. 11-a-side) and tactical formation. Figure 3 shows the different subspaces according to the most used defensive tactical formations both in 7-a-side and 11-a-side [ 46 , 47 , 48 ]. In addition to the invasive space, the “defensive pressure” is the other dimension related to opponent interaction that reflects the closeness and behavior of defensive players in relation to the attacker with the ball when receiving the ball possession.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Design and Reliability of an Observational Framework to Evaluate the Individual Offensive Behavior in Youth Soccer—The INDISOC Tool

et al. 2022

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Despite the great development of match analysis in professional soccer during the last decade, very few studies have assessed the individual technical and tactical behaviors of youth soccer players. The purpose of this paper was to design and assess the reliability of an observational instrument to evaluate the INDIvidual offensive behavior in competitive 7 and 11-a-side SOCcer (INDISOC). A total of eight experts in soccer training and analysis were included in the design of the tool by means of meetings and exploratory observations. This process involved design and re-design steps of the INDISOC tool to its final format which includes twelve dimensions related to the spatial, technical, and tactical constraints of individual behavior in soccer. The unit of analysis was the individual ball possession (IBP), described as the time that starts when a player can perform an action with the ball, and which ends when the IBP for another player begins. In the INDISOC tool, the IBP is analyzed taking into account three temporal moments: (1) receiving the ball, (2) processing the ball, and (3) culminating the individual action. Inter-observer and intra-observer analyses were performed and the kappa (K) coefficients were calculated to test the instrument reliability. The K values showed optimal inter (7-a-side: 0.73–0.95; 11-a-side: 0.76–0.98) and intra-observer (7-a-side: 0.84–1;11-a-side: 0.79–1) reliability levels. These results support the notion that the INDISOC observational tool could be a suitable instrument for analyzing the individual offensive behavior in competitive youth (7-a-side), junior and senior (11-a-side) soccer.

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Cultural evolution of football tactics: strategic social learning in managers’ choice of formation

Abstract: Abstract

Cited by 8 publications

References 26 publications

Evolution of Tactics in Professional Soccer: An Analysis of Team Formations from 2012 to 2021 in the Spanish LaLiga

Evolution of Tactics in Professional Soccer: An Analysis of Team Formations from 2012 to 2021 in the Spanish LaLiga

Cultural transmission of move choice in chess

Design and Reliability of an Observational Framework to Evaluate the Individual Offensive Behavior in Youth Soccer—The INDISOC Tool

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