The referees are sorry, and honestly, who could blame them? According to the Premier League's official statement, VAR overlooked an extremely offside Enzo Fernández on the goal that decided last month's Manchester derby because officials were too busy watching Erling Haaland. The man is captivating in slow motion. As Josko Gvardiol scooted up the opposite side of the box, Haaland adjusted each stride to stay perfectly level with the ball. When Gvardiol curled the cross around Patrick Dorgu some 30 yards away, Haaland was, by the best modern measurement, three centimeters behind the line of Dorgu's big toe.
Attackers with a special knack for staying onside often don't get the love they deserve. The most famous was probably AC Milan striker Filippo Inzaghi, whose high-wire style inspired Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson to joke that the "lad must have been born offside." Inzaghi shot back: "Thankfully I was born a meter onside, otherwise I wouldn't have scored most of my goals."
Yet for an ability that can decide games or even titles, we've never had an objective way to separate the Enzos and Haalands of the world. Counting offside flags doesn't work, since Haaland has been flagged 25 times in the Premier League, the same as Crystal Palace winger Ismaïla Sarr. Comparing flags to goals is more revealing, showing that Haaland has piled up goals while being offside slightly less than Nottingham Forest wing back Daniel Muñoz. Simple ratios fail too: Jorginho scored 21 goals for Chelsea and Arsenal while being offside zero times.
A better approach uses detailed data on every touch of the ball. A relatively simple model called x Offside can assess each pass in context and predict how likely it was to be flagged. Longer, faster passes, chipped balls, and balls played straight ahead are more likely to be offside, offering a clearer way to measure onside skill, and the value of that skill, across the league.
Source: ESPN Soccer · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing