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Football ratings are nowadays considered to be one of the most widespread methods of evaluating individual performance in modern football. Ratings are a structured and data-driven interactive view of how well a player has performed in a match as opposed to basing their view on personal opinions or emotional responses. Football ratings are a rapid and simple method of comprehending player influence to the casual fan, analysts, and even fans.

Football has become a game in which each movement does count. A defender position, a midfielder pressing or a forward moving off the ball might not show on the scoreboard, but it may cause a great impact on the result of a match. Football ratings serve to enclose these contributions and put them in a straightforward numerical form, in this way simplifying the performance evaluation procedure and making it more transparent.

The process of calculating football ratings is based on matching data, actions of players as well as performance indicators. These are normally the number of passes done, the accuracy of the passes, the number of shots taken, number of tackles, interception, clearance, duel and discipline. The importance of every action is determined by the role of the player on the pitch.

Goals, assists, on-target shots and created chances are significant factors used to calculate the rating of the attacking players. Midfielders are also evaluated based on the accuracy in passing, recovery of the ball, press, and game tempo control. There are ratings of the defenders through tackles, interception, blocks, aerial duels and positioning, and the goalkeepers are rated on saves, clean sheets and distribution.

This is a systematic procedure that eliminates subjectivity in the performance assessment process. Rather than trying to evaluate a highlights moment, football ratings evaluate the overall participation of a player within the entire match, which is more balanced and objective as a summary of performance.

The importance of football ratings lies in the fact that the fans have a better and more informed understanding of the performances. All the contributions may not be noticeable when the game is being watched, particularly among players who fall silent in the midfield or in the defense side. Ratings demonstrate these activities and draw attention to those players who could be otherwise unnoticed.

They also enable the fans to make comparisons on performances in different matches and among players. Football ratings simplify the process of analyzing and comparing two players in the same role as well as determining consistency across a season. This results to a deeper form of conversation following matches and lessens on emotional or club related arguments.

Ratings have become a valuable part and parcel of decision-making to fantasy football players and analytical fans. They offer an opportunity to see the form, consistency, and the influence as a whole and make fans interact with the sport at a new level.

Live match data is used with football ratings to make them more potent. Live statistics like possession, shots, passes and defensive actions can be used to understand why a particular rating of a player increases or drops in the course of a game. This live interaction between the action and rating provides the fans with one more level of participation.

There are also such platforms as SD Live: Sports Scores and News App, where supporters can monitor rating change, live scores, events of the match, and important statistics. This enables fans to know how a pass that is missed, a successful tackle or even a pass that has a decisive effect on the score of a player. It makes passive watching interactive as fans can track the trends of the performance as the match is going on.

Football ratings are not flawless in spite of their usefulness. Football is a dynamic and multifaceted sport, and not all its contributions can be estimated on the basis of numbers only. Tactical discipline, leadership, positioning and communication cannot be easily measured but can easily have decisive influence in matches.

Context also matters. Defensive midfielder can possessly less attacking statistics but he/she can be significant to the balance of the team. Equally, a gamer who plays by the strict tactical instructions can be less influential in statistics even when he is implementing the plan of the manager flawlessly. Ratings are therefore to be taken as a guideline and not a decision.

Football ratings should be combined with match analysis, understanding of tactics and visual observation. Ratings can be used effectively to get an accurate insight into the performance of players when used with context and insight.