Stubbornness as Control in Professional Soccer Games: A BPPSDE Approach

This paper defines stubbornness as an optimal feedback Nash equilibrium within a dynamic setting. Stubbornness is treated as a player-specific parameter, with the team’s coach initially selecting players based on their stubbornness and making substitutions during the game according to this trait. The payoff function of a soccer player is evaluated based on factors such as injury risk, assist rate, pass accuracy, and dribbling ability. Each player aims to maximize their payoff by selecting an optimal level of stubbornness that ensures their selection by the coach. The goal dynamics are modeled using a backward parabolic partial stochastic differential equation (BPPSDE), leveraging its theoretical connection to the Feynman–Kac formula, which links stochastic differential equations (SDEs) to partial differential equations (PDEs). A stochastic Lagrangian framework is developed, and a path integral control method is employed to derive the optimal measure of stubbornness. The paper further applies a variant of the Ornstein–Uhlenbeck BPPSDE to obtain an explicit solution for the player’s optimal stubbornness.