Off-ball positioning reveals how a player relates to the game around them:  where they choose to receive, and how their movement manipulates space, time and relationships. Yet it has long escaped measurement: common event data captures the pass that was played, but overlooks the players showing up away from the ball who may never receive at all.

Passing Options close that gap. 

Rather than only counting completed actions, they capture opportunity: the moments a player makes themselves a viable target for the ball-carrier. In doing so, they reveal both a player's preferred spaces to receive — their function — and how dangerous those positions are — their quality of positioning and movement. 

Each line-breaking option is described by the opposition line it influences (first, second-last or last) and the block shape: through or around.

For the full picture, see Episode 1.

Here, we focus on the penultimate line of pressure — usually the opposition's midfield — and the ways a player can beat it.

Applied Use Case

Wide or Inverted Wingers 

A winger's positioning tells how they want to influence the opposition. 

Mapping Option Through Second-Last Line against Option Around Second-Last Line splits the players who drift inside to find pockets between the lines from those who stay high and wide to stretch play beyond them.

In the below chart we can see (top-left quadrant] wingers who score high for options around the penultimate line but below average through it: players who offer out wide but rarely in the pockets. 

In the top-right quadrant are those above average on both axes, making themselves available between the lines and out wide alike. 

In the bottom-right quadrant, the reading flips. High through the penultimate line but low around it: players who come inside to receive more than they hold the touchline.

Metric Definition 

Option Through Second-Last Line is the number of times a player was in a position to receive a pass inside the opponent’s second-last line of pressure. More specifically, it represents the number of times a player was positioned between the widest players of the opposition's penultimate defensive line.

Option Around Second-Last Line is the number of times a player was in a position to receive a pass outside the opponent’s second-last line of pressure. This represents the number of times a player was positioned beyond the widest players of the opposition's penultimate defensive line.

In SkillCorner's Game Intelligence framework, a Passing Option is an off-ball Dynamic Event: it captures the moment a player makes themselves available to receive a pass from the current ball-carrier, recorded whether or not the pass is actually attempted or completed. It logs a teammate positioning themselves or moving to open up a passing lane, creating a viable target. It is never a simple yes/no, as each option carries a set of contextual flags (Phases of Play, xT, xP, and many more).
Far from a traditional event, a Passing Option captures opportunity rather than outcome. By mapping every option available to the ball-carrier against the choice they actually made, it opens the door to deeper analysis of positioning and decision-making.

Passing Options are one of the key contextual metric groups that make up our Game Intelligence suite, combining on and off-ball insights for more precise performance and stylistic profiling. Get in touch to learn more.