Measuring technical execution quality as the difference between a pass's observed outcome (success/fail) and its predicted success probability in context, isolating mechanical skill from decision quality. A player who completes a 20% expected-completion pass earns +0.8 execution credit. A player who fails a 95% expected-completion pass earns -0.95 execution penalty.
For each pass: execution rating = outcome (1 or 0) - xPass. Aggregate per player. High average = elite execution; low average = poor execution relative to the passes attempted.
A player's pass execution quality (did the ball go where they intended, at the right speed and weight?) is a separate skill from pass decision quality (was that the right pass to attempt?). A player who makes perfect decisions but executes at 70% accuracy needs technical coaching. A player who executes at 95% accuracy but makes poor decisions needs tactical coaching. Conflating these into "pass completion rate" makes both problems invisible.