Evaluation of Goalkeepers’ Performance via Grey Relational Analysis Method: Example of Africa Cup of Nations

Abstract

Aim: The aim of the study is to evaluate the technical performance of goalkeepers via the gray relational analysis method. Materials and Method: The sample of the study consisted of 21 goalkeepers competing in the African Cup of Nations 2023. Data was obtained from the official website of the Confederation of African Football and Transfermarkt. Technical performance indicators were determined as “save percentage”, “claimed crosses” and “passing accuracy”. The data were evaluated by the grey relational analysis method among the quantitative research methods. In this context, six steps of the grey relational analysis method were applied respectively. These are "preparation of the data set and generation of the decision matrix", "normalization of the data", "generation of the reference series", "generation of the absolute value table", "generation of the grey relational coefficient matrix", "calculation and ranking of the grey relational degrees". Results: According to the analysis results, the highest technical performance value was calculated as 0.7654, while the lowest technical performance value was calculated as 0.3949. Thus, the top 3 goalkeepers were determined as Ronwen Williams (South Africa), Edouard Mendy (Senegal), and Babacar Niass (Mauritania). The last 3 goalkeepers were determined as Richard Ofori (Ghana), Ibrahim Koné (Guinea), and Baboucarr Gaye (Gambia). Conclusion: According to the results of the research, Ronwen Williams (South Africa), who won the Golden Glove Award and was selected for the team of the tournament at the Africa Cup of Nations, was determined as the goalkeeper with the highest performance. His national team South Africa completed the tournament in 3rd place, despite being ranked 19th among 24 teams in terms of market value. Similar conclusions were obtained for the remained goalkeepers. It is expected that this conclusion will provide significant contributions for stakeholders such as researchers, goalkeepers, coaches, scouts, and trainers.

Keywords

• Goalkeeper Performance
• Grey Relational Analysis
• Africa Cup of Nations
• Performance Evaluation

Kaleci Performanslarının Gri İlişkisel Analiz Yöntemiyle Değerlendirilmesi: Afrika Uluslar Kupası 2023 Örneği

Abstract

Amaç: Çalışmanın amacı, kalecilerin teknik performanslarının gri ilişkisel analiz yöntemiyle değerlendirilmesidir. Gereç ve Yöntem: Çalışmanın örneklemini Afrika Uluslar Kupası 2023’te mücadele eden 21 kaleci oluşturmuştur. Veriler Afrika Futbol Konfederasyonu’nun resmî web sitesinden ve Transfermarkt üzerinden elde edilmiştir. Teknik performans göstergeleri “kurtarış yüzdesi”, “karşılanan orta sayısı” ve “başarılı pas yüzdesi” olarak belirlenmiştir. Veriler nicel araştırma yöntemleri arasından gri ilişkisel analiz yöntemiyle değerlendirilmiştir. Bu bağlamda, gri ilişkisel analiz yönteminin altı adımı sırasıyla uygulanmıştır. Bunlar; “veri setinin hazırlanması ve karar matrisinin oluşturulması”, “verilerin normalize edilmesi”, “referans serisinin oluşturulması”, “mutlak değer tablosunun oluşturulması”, “gri ilişkisel katsayı matrisinin oluşturulması”, “gri ilişkisel derecelerin hesaplanması ve sıralanması”dır. Bulgular: Analiz sonuçlarına göre en yüksek teknik performans değeri 0,7654 iken en düşük performans değeri 0.3949 olarak hesaplanmıştır. Böylece ilk 3 kaleci Ronwen Williams (Güney Afrika), Edouard Mendy (Senegal) ve Babacar Niass (Moritanya) olarak belirlenmiştir. Son 3 kaleci Richard Ofori (Gana), Ibrahim Koné (Gine) ve Baboucarr Gaye (Gambiya) olarak tespit edilmiştir. Sonuç: Araştırma sonucuna göre Afrika Uluslar Kupası’nda Altın Eldiven Ödülü’nü kazanan ve turnuvanın takımına seçilen Ronwen Williams (Güney Afrika) en yüksek performansa sahip kaleci olarak belirlenmiştir. Güney Afrika milli takımı piyasa değeri açısından 24 takım arasında 19. sırada yer almasına rağmen turnuvayı 3. sırada tamamlamıştır. Kalan kaleciler için de benzer sonuçlar elde edilmiştir. Bu sonucun araştırmacılar, kaleciler, antrenörler, gözlemciler ve antrenörler gibi paydaşlara önemli katkılar sağlaması beklenmektedir.

Keywords

• Kaleci Performansı
• Gri İlişkisel Analiz
• Afrika Uluslar Kupası
• Performans Değerlendirme

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