Matthew Benham

Matthew Benham

Matthew Benham

Matthew Benham

Matthew Benham

This almost certainly didn't happen but..

I'd like to think Matthew spent yesterday in some bar shack in St Lucia, dressed in Brentford training stash with intermittent wifi updating bbc sport every 15 seconds. Conversations with oblivious Leeds and Villa fans (in full kit) and Man Utd fan (from Dorking) about all things Brentford, good little stats club who sacked Warburton etc.
 

Matthew Benham

Darren J said:
This almost certainly didn't happen but..

I'd like to think Matthew spent yesterday in some bar shack in St Lucia, dressed in Brentford training stash with intermittent wifi updating bbc sport every 15 seconds. Conversations with oblivious Leeds and Villa fans (in full kit) and Man Utd fan (from Dorking) about all things Brentford, good little stats club who sacked Warburton etc.
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He probably had a direct tv feed to watch for himself. :)

But the above would be a good story. :)
 

Matthew Benham

Matthew Benham

Happy Birthday, Matthew.

One more year to the half century
 

Matthew Benham

malagakid said:
Interesting that according to journalists Michiel de Hoog, Thomas Tuchel gets weekly reports from Matthew Benham.
https://twitter.com/michieldehoog/status/864898021536014338

Also fascinating reading about 'Packing Rate' which Rasmus touched on a few months ago and in a way justifies my over enthusiasm for McEachran's stats and how Sawyers, KK and McLeod can be important players for us.
http://bundesligafanatic.com/impect-packing-the-future-of-football-analytics-is-here/
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MB was after Tuchel - when he was just a coach - before Marinus took charge. So has kept in touch, no doubt.
 

Matthew Benham

malagakid said:
Interesting that according to journalists Michiel de Hoog, Thomas Tuchel gets weekly reports from Matthew Benham.
https://twitter.com/michieldehoog/status/864898021536014338

Also fascinating reading about 'Packing Rate' which Rasmus touched on a few months ago and in a way justifies my over enthusiasm for McEachran's stats and how Sawyers, KK and McLeod can be important players for us.
http://bundesligafanatic.com/impect-packing-the-future-of-football-analytics-is-here/
Click to expand...

It's interesting that German TV is displaying Packing Rate as a match stat; I guess, like here, you'll still get "get in in the box", from sections of the crowd! It's quite simple, really, as the article suggests, it's not that a player makes a pass but how many defenders does he take out with the pass... now, where do I see that?
 

Matthew Benham

jlove said:
It's interesting that German TV is displaying Packing Rate as a match stat; I guess, like here, you'll still get "get in in the box", from sections of the crowd! It's quite simple, really, as the article suggests, it's not that a player makes a pass but how many defenders does he take out with the pass... now, where do I see that?
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That drives me nuts. Yeah, let's lump it into the box that's filled with big lump defenders, who'll lap it up all day long :banghead:
 

Matthew Benham

BlueJayBee said:
That drives me nuts. Yeah, let's lump it into the box that's filled with big lump defenders, who'll lap it up all day long :banghead:
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There was some old footage from '97 on the Brentford Facebook page the other day (Bees vs Bristol City iirc) where Robert Taylor (an old hero of mine) and Marcus Bent scored and I was staggered at how basic our football was back then compared to now. As soon as the defenders got it, it was lumped as hard and high as possible for Taylor to win the knock-down. It was as if (they probably were) terrified of being in possession of the ball and our only tactic was hit and hope.
 

Matthew Benham

malagakid said:
Interesting that according to journalists Michiel de Hoog, Thomas Tuchel gets weekly reports from Matthew Benham.
https://twitter.com/michieldehoog/status/864898021536014338

Also fascinating reading about 'Packing Rate' which Rasmus touched on a few months ago and in a way justifies my over enthusiasm for McEachran's stats and how Sawyers, KK and McLeod can be important players for us.
http://bundesligafanatic.com/impect-packing-the-future-of-football-analytics-is-here/
Click to expand...

I'm a little surprised by that. I wonder whether SmartOdds would work for another English club. Obviously from an Brentford perspective I'd prefer they refused.
 

Matthew Benham

jbee said:
I'm a little surprised by that. I wonder whether SmartOdds would work for another English club. Obviously from an Brentford perspective I'd prefer they refused.
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Isn't Thomas Tuchel the Borussia Dortmund manager? :confused:
 

Matthew Benham

jbee said:
I'm a little surprised by that. I wonder whether SmartOdds would work for another English club. Obviously from an Brentford perspective I'd prefer they refused.
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There's a significant difference between selling data and knowing what to do with it.
 

Matthew Benham

Happy bithday Matthew.
Thanks for making us brilliant
 

Matthew Benham

Wouldn't the highest "packing rate" come from a goalkeeper's drop kick high into the opposing penalty area where a forward scores with a single touch? The pass would have effectively taken out ten outfield players! Presumably the deeper you play the more opposing players are likely to be ahead of you and the higher the opportunity to score a high packing rate. Hoofball, it seems to me, is bound to get higher packing rates than tika-taka?

I'm struggling to see what useful information this statistic conveys?
 

Matthew Benham

Full Metal Jacket said:
I'm struggling to see what useful information this statistic conveys?
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A simple one is the comparison with 'passes completed'.

We have players who complete a lot of passes... sideways; the packing rate for these passes is 0 or 1. On the other hand, a player that doesn't just recycle the ball but passes through the opposition, for example McEachran or Sawyers, may score 3 to 5, and those passes are more likely to give the receiver - or the next receiver - a true scoring opportunity. A player who sits and moves the ball from side-to-side may complete 20 or 30 passes over the course of a game but score 15, whereas a player who makes fewer 'killer' passes, say only 4 'completed', may score 16 and his team are more likely to score from them. Obviously, your example of a 'keeper's punt is an exception!
 

Matthew Benham

jlove said:
A simple one is the comparison with 'passes completed'.

We have players who complete a lot of passes... sideways; the packing rate for these passes is 0 or 1. On the other hand, a player that doesn't just recycle the ball but passes through the opposition, for example McEachran or Sawyers, may score 3 to 5, and those passes are more likely to give the receiver - or the next receiver - a true scoring opportunity. A player who sits and moves the ball from side-to-side may complete 20 or 30 passes over the course of a game but score 15, whereas a player who makes fewer 'killer' passes, say only 4 'completed', may score 16 and his team are more likely to score from them. Obviously, your example of a 'keeper's punt is an exception!
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In England terms David Batty was a 0, Gazza 16
 

Matthew Benham

jlove said:
A simple one is the comparison with 'passes completed'.

We have players who complete a lot of passes... sideways; the packing rate for these passes is 0 or 1. On the other hand, a player that doesn't just recycle the ball but passes through the opposition, for example McEachran or Sawyers, may score 3 to 5, and those passes are more likely to give the receiver - or the next receiver - a true scoring opportunity. A player who sits and moves the ball from side-to-side may complete 20 or 30 passes over the course of a game but score 15, whereas a player who makes fewer 'killer' passes, say only 4 'completed', may score 16 and his team are more likely to score from them. Obviously, your example of a 'keeper's punt is an exception!
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Presumably if a team subscribed to the "position of maximum opportunity" philosophy then defenders would have a high packing rate too as the objective is to get the ball in the opposition danger area ASAP?
 

Matthew Benham

kevalutonbee said:
Presumably if a team subscribed to the "position of maximum opportunity" philosophy then defenders would have a high packing rate too as the objective is to get the ball in the opposition danger area ASAP?
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We're getting way off topic here (Have a great birthday, Mr. Benham, by the way) but - as I said before - it's not the statistics but how you use them. If your tactic is for the defenders to get the ball quickly to the creative passers in your team, then No; if your tactic is for your receiving players, generally the front 3 or 4, to work to make space to receive and who actually get the ball to them is the job of everyone behind, then Yes. If you are looking to recruit a player and passing forward is one of the key attributes, then the comparison of passes completed to the packing stat is invaluable but there are many other attributes to take into account.
 

Matthew Benham

The big 50 for MB next year......so what better present than promotion to the Prem around the time :)
 

Matthew Benham

Have a great day Matthew, your one of us , and thank you so much for giving all of us fans a team to be proud of. A real legend in my eyes.
 

Matthew Benham

And a mahoosive happy birthday to the main man who makes dreams come true - MB
 

Matthew Benham

kevalutonbee said:
Presumably if a team subscribed to the "position of maximum opportunity" philosophy then defenders would have a high packing rate too as the objective is to get the ball in the opposition danger area ASAP?
Click to expand...

Well yes. I can't see how that wouldn't be the case. To put it bluntly, long ball=potentially high packing rate. So, a high PR by itself doesn't tell you much unless you delve into the playing style and see what the stats actually mean.

Sorry for going off-piste but it's an interesting topic. The whole football stats business is fascinating.

Happy birthday MB!
 

Matthew Benham

A very Happy Birthday Matthew.
Thank you.
 

Matthew Benham

A very happy birthday to the legend that is MB, what on earth would we have done without you, National League status no doubt, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you :beer:
 

Matthew Benham

Happy birthday...it's easy to support a team that's run in such an imaginative, honourable and caring way. Thanks many millions
 

Matthew Benham

Happy birthday chief! We are all indebted to you for your love of and commitment to Brentford FC.
 

Matthew Benham

We are on the verge of something special and lets face it, it is all down to one man. Thank you MB.

I remember fondly in the close season after our first season back in the Championship how some fans dared criticised MB (with Warburton leaving and some star names leaving) but it has taken 4 years for the DoFs to get a team/ squad now that are serious contenders for a top 2 place.
 

Matthew Benham

Some good chanting from him in ER, rightly so.. would have enjoyed that game.. first half especially
 
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