Player Avatars
At PlaymakerAI, we have developed a machine learning model using football data to detect player roles. We call them Playmaker Avatars. The Avatars are meant to describe players in a more descriptive way than just their position, making scouting easier. We all know that center midfielders could be very different in style of play and the same goes for a full back or forward. This is where the Avatars come in and can give a deeper understanding of the player, is he/she defensive minded? Or is he/she a playmaker?
PlaymakerAI’s player roles are provided on our player reports that can be bought online and will be on our upcoming new platform. The player reports can be used to get a base of potential prospects in recruitment or confirm a scouted player with statistics. The reports can also help players when signing new contracts. Back to the avatars…
PlaymakerAI’s complete set of avatars (player roles)
The avatars are not directly linked to a certain position, but all avatars have a more common position match, for example The Worker and the position forward or The Physical and position center back.
We will take a closer look at where the avatars are acting on the pitch on average, with the help of player data from several nordic leagues.
Avatars for typical defensive positions as CBs & FBs
If we take a look at the avatars matching defenders mostly we have the center back avatars: The Physical, The Playing CB and The Leaders. Whereas The Defensive-minded, The Progressor and the Wingback are more linked to fullbacks.
Avatars for typical central midfielders
The center midfielder avatars are divided into The Regista and The Anchor more linked to balancing midfielders and The Playmaker and The Box-to-box more linked to central midfielders (number 8s).
Avatars for typical attacking midfielders or offensive wingers
The following avatars match mostly to attacking midfielders and offensive wingers. The Creator can be seen as a wide playmaker and the deep threat is a player that runs deep, receives through balls and is strong with carries/dribbles.
Avatars for typical forwards/strikers
Last but not least, we have the avatars that are mostly linked to forwards. The Target and The Poacher that are the most centralized avatars, acting more in the box. Whereas the other 3 are more dropping forward roles.
Additionally it is important to remember that all players are really unique player roles where some players match a certain role perfectly and others are more of a mix of several avatars. That is why we also use avatar spiders to give a deeper understanding on how the player is used and also where the player qualities could be used in another system.
Avatar spider of Victor Edvardsen in Djurgården for the season 2022.
Avatars can also be used in combination with a positional spider, to give a deeper understanding of the player, and which characteristics that are typical for certain avatar.
Spider comparison of Sweden national team players Mattias Svanberg and Jens Cajuste.
If you are interested in knowing more about the avatars don’t hesitate to contact PlaymakerAI and we will tell you more about how this can help you build your roster and scout your opponents.
Example of avatars for Liverpool’s action leaders, based on Premier League data for 2022/23 season.
This project started as a master thesis by Emil Danielsson and Jakob Edberger Persson at Uppsala University.
The thesis can be found here:
Avatar Playing Styles