Professor Joel Oberstone.
USF Professor and Wall Street Journal columnist Joel Oberstone — perhaps the world’s leading scholar on the Sports Analytics of top level European professional football (“soccer”) — entered the new season of play with a new role at WSJ Europe. His short, regular columns analyzing statistics and true player value have been expanded in length to allow him time and depth to explore more complex and interesting questions.
The inaugural piece of his new assignment, written with WSJ editor Jonathan Clegg and published on January 10, 2011, took an unconventional look at who is truly the “most valuable player” in advance of the Ballon d’or award which honors the person considered to be “the best player on the planet.” Citing statistical evidence for the value of Barcelona player Xavi Hernandez — known for his expert passing rather than for scoring — Professor Oberstone showed how true value to a team can often by overlooked through conventional thinking.
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