How do Data Experts hold the key to the future of Football clubs
                     HOW DO DATA EXPERTS 
HOLD THE KEY TO THE 
FUTURE OF FOOTBALL 
CLUBS?
https://datasportsgroup.com/
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!
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