3 ms·
9 own goals since the 1970s, and 11 own goals this year! Now that’s a wild stat. I didn’t find any of the explanations convincing except possibly that teams h
by christophilus 5y ago
9 own goals since the 1970s, and 11 own goals this year!
Now that’s a wild stat.
I didn’t find any of the explanations convincing except possibly that teams have used analytics to increase the efficacy of their crosses.
- Deukhoofd 5y agoNot just that, but only 2 before 2000, then 1 in 2000, 2 in 2004, 1 in 2012, and 3 in 2016. It's a rather strange trend.
- notahacker 5y agoAdding World Cup data shows a similar uptick but makes the series messier (last few World Cups in reverse order: 12, 5, 2,4, 3, 6, 1). World Cup has more participating teams and usually more mismatches which partly explains the larger numbers. The Euros added more games in 2016 and back in 1996, and only had four teams participating pre-1980, which plays a large role in why so few own goals were scored back then, but size alone can't explain the jump in 2018/2021 tournaments. Either it's a statistical anomaly or tactics
- sarsway 5y agoIt definitely seems soccer is becoming more and more efficient. The games of the EM in particular feel like watching one brick wall against another, goals mostly happening by sheer brute force and stacking probabilities in ones favor. May be it's just imagination, but I think in the past there used to be more fun, elegant plays. Kinda reminds me of online games when a meta has settled and at the highest level everything is purely optimized for winning.
- Vinnl 5y agoI think that's why I've been enjoying women's football more (well, that, and my country only recently starting performing well): it's still at an earlier stage with more variance. Or I think that that's the reason for it.