Off-target shots: How the rise of the ‘good miss’ is aiding talent ID in football

“Off-target shots are football’s missed opportunity, in more ways than one. As the analytics revolution began to sweep through the sport in the early 2010s, shots on goal quickly became a key area of interest, with the aim of identifying the game’s most ruthless finishers firmly in mind. Some years after expected goals (xG) came expected goals on target (xGOT) — a metric that estimates the quality of on-target shots, taking into account factors such as the angle from which the shot was taken from, and its placement within the goal frame, to give an indication of how likely the subsequent effort was likely to find its way in. …”
NY Times/The Athletic