Detailed Pelé 1970, Maradona 1986, Cruijff 1974 stats

Inspired by this:

The first one will be Pelé 1970.

 

Possible differences with the OPTA widget (now offline):

- OPTA said 52% success rate with dribbles
- OPTA widget said 0/3 successful crosses
- OPTA widget said 38.5% shooting accuracy (10/26) [blocked shots not counted?]
- 3 interceptions, 9 blocks, 9 tackles won
- Won 20 fouls, conceded 23 fouls.
- 6 called offsides

 

Czechoslovakia - 7.39

- Only 19% of his activities took place on his own half. "Relatively attacking compared against his other games in Mexico."
- Not many risky moves. "Chooses more often for horizontal passes as for goal-oriented actions."
- 40% of his solos succeeded
- 8/13 depth passes successful

England - 6.51

- "Most of his actions take place on his own half, and is sloppy."
- All three depth passes from his own half fail. Causes a turnover twice on his own half with an horizontal pass. "Five unforced errors".
- 3/10 solo actions succeed
- The Banks save was his only attempt on target in the match
- One attempted cross
- The game-winning assist (1-0 win)
- But four good depth passes in final quarter
- Lowest grade of all 20 analysed games

Romania - 7.45

- "The depth passes, solos, crosses and interceptions are in 50% of the cases successful."
- But "in the final quarter three of four depth passes are perfect and three of four solos are successful."
- "Pelé makes in the third quarter occasionally a mistake with his horizontal passes, in the final quarter it goes well."
- 4/6 goal attempts on target

Peru - 7.24

- "Does relatively few hard [sic] things."
- 3/10 goal attempts on target
- "Horizontal passes excluded, less than 50% of his actions succeed."
- "Economical in ball-possession." 42/46 horizontal passes successful.
- "Noteworthy: in the third quarter nothing else succeeds, completely nothing. Only the horizontal passes are successful."

Uruguay - 6.86

- With the exception of the horizontal passes and the goal attempts, "everything else is around 50%."
- 2/7 goal attempts on target
- Two brilliant moments in this game versus Mazurkiewicz. The long distance shot and the dummy

Italy - 8.30

- "There he is, the grandmaster, the King of football."
- 52 activities, the lowest of the entire campaign.
- "Plays in large measure at the final quarter and his actions have a high yield."(return, success-rate)
- "He's with his risky passes in great form." 83% is successful.

 

Like OPTA it is not perfect (WhoScored has occasionally doubtful tracking).

Solos are individual actions/take-ons with ball at the feet. Maybe a bit more unclear indeed but it's a bit more encompassing than dribbles (it includes fouls won).

Both Maradona and Cruijff have a number of crosses at the third quarter (unlike Pelé).

In terms of attempted passes: OPTA has 249 while this one has 250.

 

Possible differences with OPTA widget (now offline):

- OPTA said 58% success rate with dribbles
- 262 passes rather than 284 (Pelé 1970 was 249 vs 250 passes)
- OPTA widget said 8/34 successful crosses (23.5%)
- OPTA widget said 59.1% shooting accuracy (13/22)
- 6 interceptions, 0 blocks, 11 tackles won
- Won 53 fouls, conceded 10 fouls
- 11 called offsides

 

South Korea - 8.31

- 95 activities [his average of 83 per match, see final table, compares with the number of 82 released by OPTA]
- Of the 30 easy activities (e.g. own half, horizontal and/or unopposed) Maradona makes only one mistake.
- 17/21 depth passes are good
- 12/18 solos succeed
- Meets 11 times a foul
- 3/10 crosses reach team mate
- 1/4 of the shots are on goal
- "Maybe it is related to the minimal opposition." [Elo rank = 52]

Italy - 7.50

- 65 activities
- "Fewer goal-oriented actions. They are as well of a lesser quality as against South Korea."
- "It is not that Maradona suddenly plays bad, far from it, but his solos fail now almost as often as they succeed."
- "He gives the half amount of successful depth passes [compared with South Korea]. The crosses remain an issue."
- "After half-time both teams show their satisfaction with the scoreline." (1-1)

Bulgaria - 7.36

- "You would say that he plays a better game as against Italy. He is now again more often involved at successful depth passes and solo actions, and the crosses are also (a little bit) better."
- Six unforced errors. "In this method of analysis, where easy horizontal pass mistakes count double, this shows."
- Twelve successful solo moves. "A rare sight."
- 13/19 depth passes successful.
- Meets 3 fouls.

Uruguay - 7.51

- Meets 10 fouls.
- "In the third quarter he is terrific: nearly all of his depth passes find a team mate and his solo actions are generally successful."
- "The opposite is that he finds it difficult in the final quarter." All three depth passes fail. 5/11 solo actions succeed.
- 4/11 crosses are good.
- "Although the grade shows a 7.51, the amusement value approaches a 10."

England - 7.75

- "The English think to strangle Maradona with a tight zonal defense, that they deploy on their own half. But unfortunately for them, Peter Reid is too old for this, Terry Butcher too wooden/stiff and Terry Fenwick simply too worthless. The miracle footballer walks every now and then past them as if they are lampposts. While he was against Uruguay strong in the third quarter, now his strength is in the final quarter."
- Of seven depth passes in the final quarter, five are good.
- 9/12 solo actions in final quarter are successful.
- The easy passes are completely flawless.
- "The crosses are again a problem, but it is more than compensated by deciding the match. First his 'streetfighter mentality' surfaces [...]"

Belgium - 7.87

- 109 activities. 77% of the activities are on the opposite half.
- 21/29 depth passes are good.
- 12/21 solo actions successful.
- "He intercepts eight times a ball, which is for an attacker a large amount."
- Meets eight times a foul.
- Mediocre crosses.

West Germany - 7.41

- Maradona meets "midfield-dynamos." One third of his actions are on his own half.
- "Especially with his solo moves he finds in the Germans a great nuisance, who carry a lot of stamina and 'dueling power'. Of the 18 solo actions that he starts, he loses the ball 12 times." 6/18 are good.
- "His depth passes are generally fine, but the opportunities for goal attempts and crosses are scarce."
- The winning assist [against a tired defense]. "How much greater can you be?"

 

Possible differences with OPTA widget (now offline):

- OPTA said 62% success rate with dribbles
- 332 passes rather than 348 passes (Pelé 1970 was 249 vs 250 passes)
- OPTA widget said 16/55 successful crosses (29.1%)
- OPTA widget said 76.5% shooting accuracy (13/17)
- 13 interceptions, 1 blocks, 9 tackles won
- Won 30 fouls, conceded 13 fouls
- 10 called offsides

 

Uruguay - 7.78

- 105 activities. 98 in opposite half. 60 in the final quarter.
- 16/21 solo actions successful.
- "Also the depth passes reach generally the target." [13/20, 11/15 in the final quarter]
- 1/4 goal attempts on target.
- Just 1 of 11 crosses is really good.

Happens to be on the internet, this one.

Sweden - 8.58

- 102 activities. Only four on his own half. Four horizontal passes, all four good.
- "Because Cruijff makes very few mistakes this day."
- "The grade is not just because of the quality, but also because of the sheer numbers."
- 24 solo attempts.
- 12/20 crosses are good.
- In the final quarter 15/16 solo actions succeed.
- In the final quarter 7/7 depth passes are good.
- "In this zone [final quarter] 78% of all his actions succeed. Maradona never scores higher than 71% in a single match, Pelé never higher than 69%. And then to consider that more than two-thirds of his actions take place in the final quarter, and 80% the actions in this zone are difficult actions."
- "It is a miracle that Netherlands doesn't score."

Bulgaria - 8.96

- 106 activities. 15% on his own half.
- "He makes on his own half only one mistake. An interception of an Bulgarian attack is an unlucky one and the ball arrives nonetheless at an opponent. On the other 16 actions no comment can be made."
- 46% of the activities take place in the third quarter.
- 16/18 horizontal passes in the third quarter are good.
- 7/9 depth passes in the third quarter are good.
- 11/12 solo actions in the third quarter succeed.
- 14/14 horizontal passes in the final quarter are good.
- 4/4 depth passes in the final quarter are good.
- 4/5 solo actions in the final quarter succeed.
- In the match 5/10 crosses are good.
- "Cruijff plays against Bulgaria the best branch of football of his career."

Argentina - 7.78

- He starts to score goals now (2 fine goals) and has left-footed assist too but....
- "He sees the ball a bit less and also the quality of his actions are somewhat lagging behind. Almost half of his [final quarter] depth passes fail (8/15) and the success of his solo actions is significantly less."
- 60% of his solo actions succeed, whereas in the past two games he had 75 and 89 percent respectively.
- Rain....

East Germany - 7.22

- He is 28% of the time on his own half. "Much more as in the previous matches."
- "Significantly fewer solo moves as in all previous matches."
- "In all previous matches never fewer than 100 activities, now 74 activities."
- He only shows 16 times his face in the final quarter.
- Half of his activities are simple horizontal passes. 3/8 of the most difficult passes fail and a bit less than 50% of his crosses are good.
- "This all still makes a calculated grade of 7.22."

Brazil - 7.33

- The goal and assist in a rough match, that left few players unscathed.
- Again only 16 times he pops up in the final quarter.
- Of 7 crosses, six do not meet a team mate. The only good one, was the assist. "The one who looks closely, sees that he is somewhat lucky here with his pass meeting Neeskens".
- 2 goal attempts, both on target.
- They note in a byline that Rensenbrink was offside in the build-up to the second goal.

West Germany - 6.82

- "It is inexplicable that he only appears five times in the final quarter during the first half."
- "Among the 34 actions in the first half 22 are horizontal passes."
- "Almost all of his few difficult actions fail [in the first half]."
- Receives 6 fouls in the first half.
- "After half-time he tries to do it in a different way. But unfortunately, he has lost it. In the final quarter many things go wrong. He gives three horizontal passes here and two go sloppy to an opponent. His only attempted solo action within the final quarter goes wrong, and of the 10 crosses 5 are without success."
- "In the third quarter he is doing better, where an impressive interception with a flying tackle is noteworthy. But one would like to see attacking activities the most."

 

This is an overview with all three next to each other, on alphabetical order.



Edit: in a subsequent issue they corrected themselves, and said that Cruijff his crosses is 39% rather than 33%. Pelé his interception success rate should be 76% rather than 69%. As shown on the individual cards above.

Note that this one does not differentiate by place on the field, which increases the multiplier in the used formula.
They also say that most statistical algorithms favor the forwards and goalscorers (plus assisters to a lesser extent), but they think that it is inevitable and not wrong by definition.

What I was able to find on the internet, is that the 83 activities per match by Maradona, compares with 82 per match according to OPTA.

 

I don't think this is correct by the way. Luis Pereira (number 3) seems to be standing behind. Check the replay (I don't think a link is necessary because various replays are on youtube). Shirtnumber two jumps forward, thinks he plays him offside but it seems Pereira is still holding the same line, before he starts to sprint. The official documentary also provides this impression. @PDG1978

Anyway, this are differences with Bada Bing his round by round ranking (Bada Bing maybe values slightly different things as PDG1978 said here, and what is at the day itself necessary and most valuable for the team is not always clear):

Game 1:
Maradona 86 vs South Korea (=)
Cruijff 74 vs Uruguay (=)
Pelé 70 vs Czechoslovakia (=)

Game 2:
Cruijff 74 vs Sweden (+1)
Maradona 86 vs Italy (-1)
Pelé 70 vs England (=)

Game 3:
Cruijff 74 vs Bulgaria (=)
Pelé 70 vs Romania (=)
Maradona 86 vs Bulgaria (=)

Game 4:
Cruijff 74 vs Argentina (=)
Maradona 86 vs Uruguay (=)
Pelé 70 vs Peru (=)

Game 5:
Maradona 86 vs England (=)
Cruijff 74 vs East Germany (+1)
Pelé 70 vs Uruguay (-1)

Game 6:
Pelé 70 vs Italy (+2)
Maradona 86 vs Belgium (-1)
Cruijff 74 vs Brazil (-1)

Game 7:
Maradona 86 vs West Germany (+1)
Cruijff 74 vs West Germany (-1)

(Bada Bing compares the 1970 final with the 'semi finals' of 1974 and 1986)