Global Soccer Network is a stat-driven scouting program that surveys over 340,000 soccer players in the world. They use a variety of tools to analyze players and provide an overall rating for a player, called the GSN Index. The GSN Index is centered on four different stats. Pulled from their site, they are:
1. SRC - Soccer Related Characteristics. The basis for the GSN Index is the evaluation and rating of different characteristics (over 70) which are essential for players. Every player will be evaluated by several scouts independently, in order to achieve the most possible objectivity. The assessment includes technical, tactical, mental and physical characteristics.
2. +/- statistic - Based on their performance data players receive plus scores for positive actions during the game (goals, assists, penalties saves, complete passes etc.) For negative actions players receive minus scores (own goals, red cards, incomplete passes etc.) The 100 value represents a balanced +/- statistic. If the value is higher than 100 then the player has had more positive actions than negative actions. If, however, the value is smaller than 100, then the player has had more negative than positive actions.
3. Potential - Various factors are taken into consideration which influence the development of the player, such as the quality of coaches and football education, learning ability and age, just to name a few. Starting value is 0.00 (no further development in the future). The scale is open at the top. The higher the value the higher the potential.
4. Level of Play - With our system it is possible to rate and analyze every match a player has played in his entire career. Every match gets rated on a scale between 1 and 20. 20 for example is a world cup final or UEFA Champions League final while values under 1 are mostly youth leagues or non-professional leagues. The system also differentiates other factors like the age of a player or the minutes on the pitch. (for example, a player which is 18 years old and plays 90 minutes in a German Bundesliga match, gets a higher rating than a 30 year old player with the same minutes on the pitch in German Bundesliga) The higher the level of play is, the more positive is it for the GSN Index.
| Current | Future | SRC | +/- | Potential | LOP | Current+ | |
| Brad Guzan | 424 | 488 | 79.2 | 128.04 | 2.68 | 11 | 115.73 |
| Tim Howard | 415 | 448 | 73.5 | 136.36 | 0 | 12.04 | 125.37 |
| Sean Johnson | 327 | 406 | 71.3 | 127.08 | 9.78 | 6.91 | 123.26 |
| Bill Hamid | 312 | 409 | 68.1 | 128.82 | 9.75 | 6.8 | 130 |
| Steve Clark | 309 | 364 | 67.9 | 126.64 | 5.15 | 7.53 | 121.14 |
| Ethan Horvath | 286 | 384 | 65.8 | 133.82 | 14.95 | 4.9 | 120.25 |
| Luis Robles | 283 | 358 | 68.4 | 129.04 | 0 | 6.6 | 132.43 |
| William Yarbrough | 276 | 418 | 70.4 | 127.67 | 2.13 | 5.5 | 126.58 |
| Clint Irwin | 276 | 368 | 66.2 | 129.17 | 7.92 | 5.5 | 127.49 |
| Zac MacMath | 270 | 356 | 66.5 | 126.61 | 9.59 | 5 | 121.27 |
| Tally Hall | 263 | 364 | 69.1 | 129.58 | 1.59 | 5 | 125.28 |
| David Bingham | 263 | 351 | 65.8 | 133.2 | 5.36 | 5.01 | 136.59 |
| Bobby Shuttleworth | 255 | 298 | 65.7 | 128.21 | 4.38 | 5 | 128.52 |
| Tyler Deric | 251 | 354 | 68.0 | 127.02 | 2.94 | 4.5 | 123.3 |
| Dan Kennedy | 250 | 348 | 67.5 | 124.68 | 0.89 | 5 | 132.4 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Quentin Westberg | 299 | 373 | 64.0 | 140.65 | 5.54 | 7 | 157.56 |
| David Yelldell | 263 | 299 | 68.6 | 129.18 | 0 | 5.4 | 129.18 |
| Jon Kempin | 258 | 340 | 62.7 | 116.37 | 19.35 | 4.61 | 109.71 |
| Jeff Attinella | 254 | 341 | 66.1 | 130.16 | 5.79 | 4.51 | 144.6 |
| Kevin Piedrahita | 251 | 323 | 59.8 | 133.56 | 17.95 | 4.01 | 152.63 |
| Santiago Castano | 247 | 328 | 61.6 | 123.22 | 18.49 | 3.9 | 120.86 |
| Cody Cropper | 243 | 321 | 60.5 | 123.82 | 17.79 | 4 | 108 |
| Brad Stuver | 235 | 304 | 64.1 | 115.05 | 10.84 | 4.1 | 111 |
Current - Current GSN Index
Future - Future GSN Index, as extracted from the current score
SRC - see above
(+/-) - see above
Potential - see above
Current+ - The current +/- stat, used to see how in form a player is
The table is sorted by the Future score and all the numbers can be found on the players' respective card. I separated the table in between Shuttleworth and Kennedy as there is a lack of enough minutes for the lower section to really be involved. (GSN doesn't track USL.)
There are some interesting patterns between the twenty-three goalkeepers.
1. SRC has a stronger correlation with the future GSN Index, not potential.
I thought this was odd as William Yarbrough's future score was higher than Hamid's despite having much less potential and a lower current GSN Index. I messaged Dustin at GSN to ask him about the correlation between potential and future GSN.
The potential is only related to the SRC score. We are rating over 70 attributes which are essential for soccer players and how these 70 attributes of a player will develop in the future.
The Future GSN Index takes many different factors into consideration. The potential is only a small part of it. There are other various factors. Is a player playing for a national team? How was his footballing education? His age? How capable is a player competing on a higher level and many? It also checks other players with similar values and how they have developed over the years.
So you are right. There is not much correlation between the potential score and the Future GSN Index because the potential score only depends on the SRC and the Future GSN Index depends on a lot of different factors.
So GSN is predicting that WPY has a much larger upside than the rest of the bunch, despite playing worse than many of them until now.
2. GSN really likes Sean Johnson and Quentin Westberg and isn't so high on Ethan Horvath.
Horvath may be getting hurt from his relatively low level of play. Even though he has played in Europa League matches, it appears the Norwegian league isn't rated any higher than MLS. Johnson has a much larger future rating than expected and Westberg's level of play is somewhere in between EPL and MLS level, although his sample size isn't quite fleshed out.
3. GSN says Brad Guzan is not playing well at the moment while Luis Robles is.
His career +/- is 128, a middling score when compared to the rest, but his current score is dead last in the top section. Surely part of this has to do with Aston Villa's train wreck of a season but apparently GSN thinks he is partly to blame. Luis Robles, on the other hand, is leading all American goalkeepers with a current +/- of 132.
For more information on GSN, contact them on Twitter at info_gsn.