xGenius: Expected Goals and the Science of Winning Football Matches

"xGenius" explores how elite football teams are using Expected Goals (xG) to win more matches, challenging traditional notions of the sport. It looks at the interplay between analysis, tactics, and decision-making, and how xG is being used to develop new tactics and strategies. The book also covers recruitment, where xG is used to sign players, and how players are being trained to calibrate subconscious xG models in their heads. xGenius will change the way fans watch football, as it reveals the insights of top-level football analysis.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 272 pages
Publication date: 01 August 2024
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Eye-opening. An essential read for any football fan – Jamie Carragher xGenius takes a tour of the world's most pioneering football clubs, uncovering how elite teams are using xG to win more matches. Any club not adopting this model will be left behind. The concept of Expected Goals – or xG – has changed how we understand football. Every fan will have heard of xG, many will understand what it is, but few will know exactly how it's being used by football teams to improve their chances of winning matches. xGenius explores the interplay between analysis, tactics, and decision-making. It seeks to put the sport of football under the microscope with the aim of getting closer to the ultimate truth of what makes players, managers, and teams successful. What, ultimately, wins matches? The book looks at the model which every club should adopt, one which has allowed teams like Liverpool, Arsenal, Brighton, and Brentford to punch well above their financial weight. It starts with the owners, who are restructuring their clubs to allow advanced analytics to come to the fore. We then knock on the door of the manager's office. Head coaches are developing new tactics and strategies based on xG insights. Crosses are bad, set pieces are undervalued, and a very specific type of chance creation has emerged supreme. Recruitment is perhaps the most important application of xG. Would you rather sign a striker who's scored 10 goals from 20.00 (xG), or 20 goals from 10.00 (xG)? How was xG utilised to sign the most fearsome attacking front three in Premier League history? Players, themselves, are being trained to calibrate subconscious xG models in their heads, which has led to shot distances across Europe plummeting. Expected Goals is changing the way the game is played out on the pitch. xGen.

Weight: 340g
Dimension: 206 x 423 x 22 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781399411554
Edition number: Unabridged ed