  This paper presents a novel framework for evaluating players in association
football (soccer). Our method uses possession sequences, i.e. sequences of
consecutive on-ball actions, for deriving estimates for player strengths. On
the surface, the methodology is similar to classical adjusted plus-minus rating
models using mainly regularized regression techniques. However, by analyzing
possessions, our framework is able to distinguish on-ball and off-ball
contributions of players to the game. From a methodological viewpoint, the
framework explores four different penalization schemes, which exploit
football-specific structures such as the grouping of players into position
groups as well as into common strength groups. These four models lead to four
ways to rate players by considering the respective estimate of each model
corresponding to the player. The ratings are used to analyze the 2017/18 season
of the Spanish La Liga. We compare similarities as well as particular use cases
of each of the penalized models and provide guidance for practitioners when
using the individual model specifications. Finally, we conclude our analysis by
providing a domain-specific statistical evaluation framework, which highlights
the potential of the penalized regression approaches for evaluating players.
