Methodology
How Zauberpass builds its public rankings
Zauberpass does not calculate rankings live in the browser. The public app reads prepared model outputs from the pipeline, where event data, player context, injury context, archetype labels, and similarity features are assembled into role-specific ranking files.
Scope
Big 5 role pools
Ranking, archetype, and similarity all begin with position-specific comparison pools.
Data
Event + context
Opta event data drives on-pitch actions. Transfermarkt adds identity, position, value, and injury context.
Outputs
Score + style + comparison
The public surface combines ranking, archetype labeling, and role-specific similarity tooling.
Data Stack
What feeds the model
Zauberpass is anchored in event data. The model reads passing, carrying, receiving, chance creation, territory gain, defensive actions, and direct attacking output from match events rather than from box-score summaries alone.
Transfermarkt provides the context layer around those actions. That includes player identity, listed position, age, nationality, market value, and injury history. This is what allows the app to separate midfielders, full-backs, and center-backs into meaningful comparison pools.
The public app is therefore a presentation layer for prepared model outputs. It is fast because the heavy work already happened upstream, but the visible scores still reflect the full underlying pipeline.
Guardrails
What the scores are not
The public score is not a universal all-player rating. It is role-specific first.
The archetype label is not a rank. It is a style description derived from a broader standardized feature profile.
The similarity and replacement tools are not final recruitment answers by themselves. They describe same-role fit and should still be read with age, value, injury record, and tactical context in mind.
Role Pools
Every visible score starts with role separation
Midfielders
Attacking midfielders, central midfielders, and defensive midfielders are modeled separately because their baseline jobs differ too much for one blended pool.
Full-backs
Full-backs are evaluated through their own role mix, where passing, progression, dribbling, threat, game-state value, defending, and availability carry different meaning.
Center-backs
Center-backs are scored through defense, passing, progression, aerial command, and availability rather than through midfielder assumptions with a defensive tax added on.
Normalization
Within league first, then onto one shared ladder
Step 1
League-relative standardization
Raw features are standardized within league and within role so players are first measured against their own competitive environment.
Step 2
Pillar construction
Those standardized features are blended into role pillars such as passing, progression, threat, defending, availability, and aerial ability.
Step 3
Cross-league 0-100 rescale
Finished pillar scores are placed onto one shared Big 5 ladder so the public board stays cross-league while still respecting local league context.
Pillars
What the main pillars mean
On-ball value
Passing combines circulation volume, pass security, progressive pass output, longer distribution, and, for full-backs, crossing quality inside the same lane.
Progression captures how reliably a player moves possession forward through progressive passes, carries, final-third entries, box entries, and territorial gain.
Dribbling is a live full-back pillar built from take-ons, carry success, and foot-based progression into advanced zones.
Threat, defense, and durability
Threat blends expected-threat generation from passes and carries with chance creation.
Game State gives more weight to value created while the score still needs changing rather than while a team is already comfortably ahead.
Defensive, Availability, and Aerial Ability reward disruption, trust, durability, and duel command depending on role.
Role Weights
Live weighting schemes
AM
Passing 12, Progression 18, Threat 22, Game State 15, G/A 15, Defensive 8, Availability 10.
CM
Passing 22, Progression 18, Threat 12, Game State 10, G/A 8, Defensive 18, Availability 12.
DM
Passing 24, Progression 14, Threat 6, Game State 10, G/A 4, Defensive 28, Availability 14.
FB
Passing 16, Progression 22, Dribbling 14, Threat 10, Game State 12, Defensive 16, Availability 10.
CB
Defense 32, Passing 18, Progression 18, Aerial Ability 22, Availability 10.
Archetypes
Style families, not second rankings
The archetype layer describes how a player plays, not where he ranks. It is built from a broader standardized style profile inside the same role pool and then grouped into interpretable clusters.
Two players can post similar overall scores for very different football reasons. Archetypes are there to make that visible immediately.
Midfielder Archetypes
Archetype
Creator
Chance-first attacking midfielders who tilt the model through threat, key passes, and final-third invention.
Archetype
Progressor
Midfielders who win value by carrying or passing the ball up the pitch repeatedly and safely.
Archetype
Ball winner
Profiles driven by disruption, regains, and repeat defensive activity relative to opponent possession.
Archetype
Final-third threat
Players whose model shape is pulled upward by goals, assists, box access, and danger near the goal.
Archetype
Controller
Tempo setters who combine pass security, completed volume, controlled progression, and distribution range.
Archetype
Hybrid
Mixed profiles that do not lean overwhelmingly into one lane, but blend multiple midfield jobs credibly.
Full-Back Archetypes
Archetype
Progressor
Full-backs who drive the model through repeat upfield movement, especially progressive passes, carries, and territorial entries.
Archetype
Distributor
Wide defenders whose profile is built on secure circulation, completed volume, long distribution, and delivery quality.
Archetype
Carrier
Ball-carrying full-backs who progress through take-ons, dribble success, and repeated carries into advanced zones.
Archetype
Chance Creator
Final-ball full-backs whose shape is driven by crossing quality, key passes, xA, and attacking delivery from wide areas.
Archetype
Ball Winner
Full-backs who lean most strongly toward regains, disruption, defensive actions, and flank protection.
Archetype
Hybrid
Balanced full-back profiles that contribute across multiple lanes without being dominated by one clear speciality.
Center-Back Archetypes
Archetype
Stopper
Center-backs whose model shape is driven most strongly by defensive interruption, regain work, and repeat duel prevention.
Archetype
Distributor
Back-line passers who lean on circulation volume, pass security, and long distribution from deep.
Archetype
Progressor
Center-backs who move territory through line-breaking passes and calmer carry support from the first line.
Archetype
Aerial Dominator
Profiles pulled most strongly by aerial load, aerial wins, and command of first contacts in defensive spaces.
Archetype
Controller
Balanced on-ball defenders who blend pass security, circulation calm, and stable possession management from the back line.
Archetype
Hybrid
Multi-lane center-backs who contribute across defending, progression, circulation, and aerial control without one dominant extreme.
Similarity
How similarity and replacement are read
Similarity is computed inside the same role bucket and is driven by profile shape, not by headline score alone. The model blends visible pillar resemblance with a wider underlying feature likeness.
Replacement views should be read as a shortlist of stylistic alternatives, not as a claim that every similar player is equally good. Quality, availability, age, and market value still matter after the style match is found.
That is why Zauberpass separates ranking from archetype and similarity instead of collapsing everything into one score.