Talent is fleeting, class is eternal – and also very valuable in modern football. The PFA Team of the Year includes an enviable line up of talent but are they really the players who are giving their clubs the best value? According to player indexing specialists, Brandtix, the answer is largely ‘no’.
Through this groundbreaking analysis, players can now be tangibly valued – in real time – for their worth based on on-pitch performance as well as their popularity with fans, measured through social media reach and online fan sentiment. This means whilst Jamie Vardy may well have done a great job for club and country, since he is only on Twitter, sponsors (budgetary considerations aside) can derive better reach with a different player. Even Harry Kane, who benefits from just over one million followers across social media, offers limited value relative to veterans such as Wayne Rooney.
Whilst real-time on-pitch player indexing isn’t new, the latest generation of metrics are truly innovative since they can calculate sentiment – therefore marketing clout - too. Brandtix, which is leading the field in football indexing for teams and players, generate their rankings using over 100 metrics. On-pitch performance statistics are generated by Opta Sports Data, whilst players’ social media reach is monitored from Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. As well as the players’ official accounts, their official associated brands are also included in all calculations. Lastly, fan sentiment is taken from Lexalytics, a social sentiment analysis tool, and reviews what is being said by both quantity and quality. Included in this are fan channels too, as well as any interaction with fans on players’ accounts.
The PFA Team of the Year is selected by footballers so is based on the one thing that really matters to them – the quality of a player’s football. For the money men in today’s world, sadly that is no longer enough.
Brandtix Team of the Year
Goalkeeper: Gomes
Defenders: Koscielny, van Dijk, Azpilicueta, Monreal
Midfielders: Mahrez, Ozil, Kanté, Willian
Forwards: Kane, Aguero
