
Who can replace Xavi? A passing motif analysis of football players - raattgift
https://arxiv.org/abs/1506.07768
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raattgift
From this paper's reference [5] (
[http://arxiv.org/abs/1409.0308](http://arxiv.org/abs/1409.0308) )

"We introduce the the concept of "flow motifs" to characterize the
statistically significant pass sequence patterns. It extends the idea of the
network motifs, highly significant subgraphs that usually consists of three or
four nodes. The analysis of the motifs in the pass networks allows us to
compare and differentiate the styles of different teams. Although most teams
tend to apply homogenous style, surprisingly, a unique strategy of soccer
exists. Specifically, FC Barcelona's famous tiki-taka does not consist of
uncountable random passes but rather has a precise, finely constructed
structure."

