At what age do players in different positions peak? – The Athletic

They say age is just a number, but in football that number matters a lot.

The concept of a player’s “peak” age – the time when they are at their best – is not a new concept. Most fans recognize when a player is raw, or good, or over. However, putting a number against that is not so simple.

For example, how do you figure out when the peak occurs? And don’t players develop at different rates, with some being early starters and others being late developers? Do players in different positions peak at different points?

It’s all a bit of a headache, but here The Athletic delves into the science of player age, looking at how they are measured and what they are.

To understand how player age affects performance, it’s important to first decide on a good metric to encapsulate performance in the first place.

This is a much easier task in other sports – baseball and basketball in particular – which have better, publicly available top-down stats that can give an overarching concept of the impact. a player’s actions on his team’s ability to win. Metrics such as Win Over Substitution in baseball or Value Over Substitute in basketball have flaws, but mapping a player’s ability to these metrics over the years can reveal The impact of age on performance.

In football, it’s not so simple. First, games are more fluid and roles on the field are very specific, even to the point where players playing in a certain position don’t play the same way as someone who would normally play in that position (yes. , I’m looking at you, Joao Cancelo).