Could it truly be said that Data Experts nowadays would be one of the best signings in the world of football? While the team and players have their own part to play as without talent and skill, it would be hard to see results consistently, but a club’s dominance would also depend on the management staff as well. Take Manchester City, for example, the defending Premier League champions have many data analysts on their team to further increase their chances of winning the coveted Premier League title. The football community went into frenzy when the news of Former astrophysicist and Treasury policy adviser Laurie Shaw joining City was made official.

The addition of data scientists and other experts from non-footballing backgrounds has even diversified the industry as well. On the pitch signing has always taken the center stage in the football world but off the pitch signings are also catching up with many data analysts joining hands with football clubs to improve the team’s performance with unique data insights. Mr. Shaw’s news thus also needs to be considered as one of the most high-profile signings even if it was off the pitch. Many such experts are being included in the team as the Analytics Department develops the latest trends, tracks developments, and innovations in the field of football analytics.

City’s direct competitors kept one eye on the club throughout last season witnessing how Shaw’s addition to the club truly powered the Premier League club on their journey to the coveted title. The team of data analysts drew unique insights from millions of statistics about players' performance to give the side a competitive edge, at one-point last season City was on a 21-match winning streak as well, if you really think about it, data might have played a big role in keeping the streak alive and boosting the morale of the players.

Here even if we set the Manchester City example aside for a while, data and technical analysis have not merely been restricted to exclusively the big clubs participating in England’s top-flight tournament even the smaller clubs have carved themselves a piece of the pie taking advantage of the cheaper and more readily available software.

There are a number of tools that have become popular over the years in the football industry. One of the most popular among them is Optical tracking which essentially helps in tracking the exact position of the player on the field. Creating data points 25 times in a second with respect to the position of the ball, opposition’s player, and teammates.

That takes care of the player’s aspect of the data, nowadays ball-related data from complete to incomplete passes, shots taken and turnovers using advanced software provides hosts of data as well. The team could then analyze the defensive strength of the opposition, pitch control, and create scoring opportunities as well.

In the efforts to create a reliable database, to derive results, teams have realized that quantity of data plays a role as well thus with the limited number of official matches a team could play in a season. Clubs planted wearable devices onto players during the training sessions as well. Such tools would help manage players' workload and fatigue which would help in gauging the overall fitness of the player.

The former chairman of AFC Bournemouth, Mr. Watkins shared that off the field is just as important if not more as on the field is. The pioneer who propelled the use of data and analytics in football was Arsene Wenger whose immense efforts in the field revolutionized the industry.

Big teams with big budgets have been able to leverage the rare opportunity but the field has not restricted the entry of smaller clubs who are taking part as well albeit with smaller budgets. Pattern mapping, position tracing require a big budget thus has been restrictive in nature but the small clubs rely on video footage and analytical software to explore patterns and further use that in creating a defensive and offensive strategy.

Manchester City along with Liverpool and Barcelona have been the frontrunners in taking advantage of data sciences in sports and applying data-driven insights in the decision-making process and it has truly been beneficial to the clubs. Even Arsenal has joined the bandwagon creating a big team of 15 odd people who work in the department of data analysis and performance for the club.

Some of the clubs have thus created their own in-house teams as we see in the case of Liverpool, Barcelona, Manchester City, and Leicester City as well, they have hired data scientists and created their own Research and Development division. While some teams went the other way by hiring data intelligence companies externally and still tapping into the power of data and implementing that. Clubs like Midtjylland and Brentford use data on a day-to-day basis and have even made the news for it at times.

Teams like the EFL Championship side Barnsley have been relying on data to hire talented young players and coaches and the strategy has been rewarding for the side who climbed back into the tournament after relegation threats and data played a key role in winning promotion for the side.

While running analysis on the past data has its own benefit but clubs would see the true power of data by running Predictive analysis in the future. Other sports categories like chess have already employed a similar system where players use chess engines to practice different playing styles and improve their outcomes. If we can scale into predicting future events in football and possibilities of growth would be immense and would definitely have an impact on the coaching style as well as the player movement during the transfer market. Not even that through the use of AI, clubs could tap into players' thought processes and guide them through decision making or use cutting-edge technology to connect with players on the pitch on a real-time basis. 

All the signs point in one direction, most important resources clubs can possess today is definitely Data experts! With their expertise in the area and quality data, success would soon follow.

But keep in mind just like having Data experts in the team without talented players, clubs cannot win the tournament, having the Data experts in the team without data would be just as ridiculous, Data Sports Group is one of the best live football data feed provider in the market. Their comprehensive coverage with open documentation and free support structure has helped them create a loyal customer base over the years. To try their services first hand schedule a free trial for their Football Stats API today!