Evaluating Soccer Player Movements Using the Attacker-Defender Model
Abstract
The present study investigates the attacker-defender (AD) model proposed by Brink et al. (2023), a motion model that describes the interactions between a ball carrier (attacker) and the nearest defender during ball possession. The model is based on the equations of motion for both players, incorporating resistance, goal-oriented force, and opponent-oriented force. It generates trajectories based on physically interpretable parameters. Although the AD model reproduces real dribbling trajectories well, previous studies have explored only a limited range of parameter values and relied on relatively small datasets. This study aims to (1) enhance parameter optimization by solving the AD model for one player with the opponent's actual trajectory fixed, (2) validate the model's applicability to a large dataset from 306 J1 League matches, and (3) demonstrate distinct playing styles of attackers and defenders based on the full range of optimized parameters.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2512.22596,
title = {Evaluating Soccer Player Movements Using the Attacker-Defender Model},
author = {Takuma Narizuka and Issei Yamazaki},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.22596},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
7 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables. This paper is a revised version of a conference proceedings paper presented at the MathSport International Conference 2025, pp. 124-129. Updated references, revised parameter constraints, clarified event counts and the independent optimization procedure, and corrected defender-quadrant descriptions. Minor formatting changes were made. Main results unchanged