QATAR STARS LEAGUE
At Stactically we are proud to announce that we have included the Qatar Stars League in our database in order to offer our advanced analytics and data processing services to clubs from the Asian country.
We are proud to be able to count on the possibility of collaborating with clubs in this league since we believe that it is a competition in an upward dynamic in which the clubs are not only focused on signing experienced players from various European leagues but they are also investing in raising young talents.
Our services can help any team in this league to take a step forward by delegating their data analysis tasks to us.
QSL EXPERIMENT
To celebrate this announcement, at Stactically we have decided to carry out an experiment in which the main objective is to design an ideal 11 full of players with a market value less than $ 1.5 Million (market value determined by Transfermarkt). To develop this experiment we have relied on certain parameters and metrics specifically designed by us in order to weigh the options we have in each position.
This experiment has three essential conditions to be able to design the ideal 11 “Low cost”.
a) Each chosen player cannot be worth more than $ 1.5 Million.
b) This ideal 11 should have at least 1 future prospect with great potential. The player must be under 23 years of age.
c) ALL players except the young prospect must have played more than 500 minutes in the competition so far.
ABOUT THE QATAR STARS LEAGUE
The Qatar Stars League (QSL) is the most important football competition in the country. It is made up of 12 teams and the current champion is Al-Sadd.
*Current standings
The league is currently known for having players such as Raúl González, Juninho Pernanbucano, Mario Mandzukic … At the moment, other footballers of great reputation such as Santi Cazorla among many others, participate in this league.
SOME CURIOUS DATA…
*Xavi Hernández giving instructions *AL-ARABI players celebrating a goal.
CLEAN SHEET %
The CS percentagel is a very simple measure that helps us to study the defensive aspect of the teams throughout the season. In this section we can observe that the team with the highest % of matches with an unbeaten goal is Al Ahli SC Doha, which has kept a clean sheet on the 44% of the games they have played, although it is at the same time one of the teams that greater amount of goals tends to receive in case of defeat, Its goalkeepers have been Ivanildo Rodrigues and Yazam Naim, with Ivanildo being usually the starting goalkeeper.
PLAYER ANALYSIS AND SELECTION
Let´s remember the conditions of the experiment.
a) Market value less than $ 1.5 million on Transfermarkt.
b) Find a player with great potential (U-23).
c) All the players except the young talent must have played at least 500 minutes so far this season.
DEFENSIVE PLAYERS
We have designed some parameters in order to analyse the productivity of each player depending on their position. To choose the goalkeeper and the center-backs, we have relied on purely defensive aspects, although to define the full-backs positions we have added some offensive factors that can be key to their productivity index.
1.FAHAD BAKER (GK) – AL RAYYAN
26-year-old goalkeeper who has kept a clean sheet on the %33 of his time on the field, conceding an average 0.67 goals per 90 minutes.
Transfermarkt Value: $ 330,000
2.YOUSUF MUFTAH (RB) – AL-GHARAFA
Experienced 32-year-old player who has currently played 1402 minutes in 13 games delivering 2 assists.
Transfermarkt Value: $ 125,000
3.SULTAN AL-BRAKE (LB) – AL DUHAIL
At only 24 years old, he is one of the best full-backs in the championship, he has distributed 3 assists so far in the league and is among the players with highest performance index both offensively and defensively.
Transfermarkt Value: $ 350,000
4.PEDRO MIGUEL “RO-RO” (CB) – AL SADD
The Qatar International is the key defensive player for the leader, Al Sadd. His team concedes an average of 0.66 goals per game when he is on the field. He has given 2 assists this season.
Transfermarkt Value: $ 800.000
5.DAME TRAORÉ (CB) – AL RAYYAN
At 34, he continues to participate at the highest level with good defensive averages when he is on the field. The most relevant data for this player is that when he is on the field, his team has left the goal to 0 in %21 of the time.
Transfermarkt Value: $ 75.000
MIDFIELDERS AND OFFENSIVE PLAYERS
In this section we have taken different parameters mixing different “datapoints” in order to achieve the “offensive productivity index” that helps us determine the influence that different players have on the attack comparing them with the rest of the players in the same league. In this section, we have decided to choose these players:
6.MEHDI BERRAHMA (CM) – QATAR SC
Midfielder with good ball control and great ability to add something positive in the attack. He has helped Qatar SC to be at the top at this stage of the season with 2 goals and 1 assist.
Transfermarkt Value: $ 500.000
8.AHMED FATHY (CM) – AL-ARABI
He has distributed 6 assists so far in the league, he is one of the most creative players in the entire competition. He is expected to produce or be involved in at least 1 goal in the next two games.
Transfermarkt Value: $ 350.000
10.RODRIGO TABATA (CAM) – AL SADD
At his 40 years of age, he is one of the most productive players in the league, he has managed to score 7 goals and 1 assist so far in the championship, having great influence in the Al Sadd team.
Transfermarkt Value: $ 500.000
7. HASHIM ALI (RW) – AL SADD *Young prospect
At 20 years of age and despite not having as many minutes as the rest of the players in this selection of players, the U23 with Qatar scores an average of 0.49 goals or assists per 90 minutes and is one of the future stars of the country .
Transfermarkt Value: $ 150.000
11.KAYKE MORENO (LW) – UMM SALAL SC
He is a versatile attacker who can play both as a winger and as a forward. So far in the championship, the attacker has a great “Offensive Productivity Index” since he has scored 5 goals and 1 assist.
Transfermarkt Value: $ 700.000
9. NABIL EL ZHAR (FW) – AL AHLI
He is a forward with experience in important leagues like the Spanish one. He has currently scored 10 goals in 16 games, which is half of the goals scored by his team, with an average of 0.68 goals per 90 minutes. It is expected that in the next game he will participate in at least one goal.
Transfermarkt Value: 1.100.000$
CONCLUSION
After an exhaustive analysis, we have been able to obtain the 11 most profitable line-up of the Qatar Stars League, despite having low market value, these players are performing at a level above their value and showing that the Qatar Stars League is not only nurtured from stars with past experience in major European leagues and international competitions, but it also has high-level players who can perform perfectly on any stage despite their low market value.
