By plano 
Starting the project
Woke up yesterday feeling hyped about LAFC’s recent match against San Jose Earthquakes. Grabbed my coffee machine first thing – can’t think straight without caffeine. Decided to hunt down proper stats instead of just watching highlights like usual. Opened three browser tabs for different sports sites and started scribbling notes on a yellow legal pad.
Gathering messy numbers
Took me two whole hours just to collect all the scattered numbers. Found total shots on target buried in some forum discussion, possession percentages hidden under ads, and passing stats incomplete in three different places. Got so annoyed I almost spilled coffee on my keyboard twice. Finally copied everything into a stupid spreadsheet, fixing typos like “possesion” and “foult” along the way.
- Cross-referenced 4 different sources for yellow card counts
- Fixed 16 number mismatches manually
- Wasted 40 minutes on wrong substitution data
Making those visuals
Switched to my chart tool thinking this would be easy. Spoiler: it wasn’t. First tried pie charts for possession – looked like someone dropped pizza slices. Bar graphs for fouls came out ugly with weird spacing. Almost threw my mouse when the colors clashed like Christmas lights. Restarted completely after wasting an hour, keeping it simple with:
- Heatmap for shot locations
- Clean line graph tracking possession minute-by-minute
- Dual-axis bar chart comparing attack stats
Finding patterns
Sat back squinting at my screen like a detective. Noticed San Jose’s passes kept disintegrating after 70 minutes – players probably gassed. Saw LAFC’s yellow cards clustered in the right defensive zone. Made me wonder about their weak spot there. Kept muttering “oh wow” realizing shot accuracy tanked whenever midfielders switched positions. These tiny things became crystal clear once visualized right.
Wrapping it together
Put everything in a document with arrows pointing at key findings. Added sarcastic comments like “look how pretty that downward trend is” for San Jose’s possession collapse. Double-checked stats against halftime records, caught two more errors. Sent it to my soccer buddies before bed – they roasted my first chart versions but loved the final heatmap. Might actually sleep before midnight next project.