Process-Aware Analysis of Event Data in Football

This document is a research article that presents a methodology for analyzing event data in football to discover team playing strategies. It outlines the increasing use of data analytical methods in the sports industry, particularly in European football, where advanced data sources have transformed performance analysis. The paper discusses the significance of event data, which captures detailed on-ball actions during games, and its potential when synchronized with optical tracking data. The study emphasizes the importance of understanding team tactics and strategies, which are often kept confidential by coaching staff. The methodology introduced focuses on using Process Discovery techniques to analyze event traces, aiming to identify common patterns of play and enhance the understanding of team execution and performance. The article also reviews existing Process Mining methodologies and their application in unstructured systems, providing a foundation for the proposed approach. The evaluation of the methodology is based on data from the 2021/2022 English Premier League season.