Cluster 14- Modern RfCBs
Where We Left Off:
Modern RfCBs: What makes them different?
The players in cluster 14 are very similar to the players in cluster 13. Unfortunately, the only differentiating factor between the two seems to be their dominant foot (cluster 14 is right foot dominant, cluster 13 is left foot dominant). Looking back, I should have filtered out right-footed passes and left-footed passes in order to prevent the clustering model from finding this easy way out. However, it’s still done its job with CBs, for the most part, because not all CBs got put into one of these two clusters. It’s clear that cluster 13 and cluster 14 CBs are superior at their position and the clustering model just failed to find a big difference between the two (besides their dominant foot). So, in a way, you could look at clusters 13 and 14 as almost one bigger, combined cluster. That being said, cluster 14 players are strangely much better goal scorers than cluster 13 CBs though I see it as just a coincidence.
Disclaimer
All the statistics used (and their description) can be found on fbref. Keep in mind that specific players’ key stats and age may have changed slightly since the writing (not publishing) of this article. If you are subscribed to the newsletter and the email isn’t reaching your inbox, you may want to add my substack email (davidsajdak@substack.com) as a contact to prevent it from going to spam or promotions.
Strengths (cluster rank):
Progressive passes per 90 (7)
Pass completion% (1)
npG per 90 (7)
Passes completed per 90 (1)
Touches per 90 (3)
Weaknesses (cluster rank):
None
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Notable Cluster 14 Players
Virgil Van Dijk
Team: Liverpool FC
FBREF Position: CB, left (Center back)
Key Stats:
Harry Maguire
Team: Manchester United FC
FBREF Position: CB, left (Center back)
Key Stats:
Sergio Ramos
Team: Paris Saint-Germain FC
FBREF Position: CB, left (Center back)
Key Stats:
Notable Young Talents (u23)
Ronald Araujo
Team: FC Barcelona
FBREF Position: CB (Center back)
Age: 22
Key Stats:
Jules Kounde
Team: Sevilla FC
FBREF Position: CB, right (Center back)
Age: 22
Key Stats:
Dayot Upamecano
Team: Bayern Munich
FBREF Position: CB (Center back)
Age: 22
Key Stats: