Validation of an instrument to qualify Football Competence via WyScout

The aim of this work was to design and validate an instrument (TOPSTATS) to rate,classify and compare the performance of professional players based on the Wyscoutdata provider. Content validity through consultation with three experts showed considerable agreement using Fleiss’ kappa index (k = .691). Extracting data on players’play in the 2019-2020 season in La Liga and the English Premier League, criterionvalidity was calculated by relating the total player scores obtained in TOPSTATSto those in SofaScore. Pearson’s correlation showed a significant association in allplaying positions (r = 0.3-0.88, p < .05). The same procedure was used to ensureconstruct validity, relating the players’ total scores to their market value. In this case,Pearson’s correlation showed a significant association in 17 of the 24 playing positions(r = 0.36-0.80; p < .05). It was concluded that TOPSTATS showed optimal validityvalues. It is an instrument capable of comparing the football competence shown byplayers in their play during the same competition, according to their playing position.To this end, the tool allows for the agile and semi-automatic calculation of an overallperformance index obtained from the interaction and weighting of variables containingdata provided by Wyscout, which, being a subscription platform, has coverage inmore than 200 competitions.