The pursuit of wisdom in any walk of life quickly reveals that what you think you know is not nearly enough to get you to where you want to go. As I'm starting out in my football scouting journey I challenged myself to reach out to those already working in various roles in football to answer a short list of questions. My goal wasn't to get answers but relevant perspectives on the game within the game.
Here is Cheuk Hei Ho, tactics writer.
How did your first opportunity in football come about?
I am not sure about what opportunity do you mean. I think for writing gigs, after I have done so some works on various websites, people would contact me to ask if I would write for them. Some of them are paid some not. But I haven't taken any pay; I was on a different visa and couldn't take part-time jobs. But it is also not my goal to get paid writing gigs yet. I did some consultant works for other writers or professional clubs. Some of them come through twitter and some from ASA.
What attracted you to scouting/analytics?
I am never that into scouting. I am only interested in tactics and analytics because they are just logic. They are similar to what I do in my day job as a geneticist. I like to analyze things, and doing soccer stuff is just doing science without any pressure.
Who is the first player you "found"? What caught your eye?
Nah, I am never into finding new players.
Who is the player you "missed" on? What did you learn from it?
Same as previous question.
If you could start over what skill would you build on first?
I am not sure. When I started writing about soccer, I only did it because I didn't always see a lot of write-ups for Juventus. My soccer knowledge was not good enough neither. I have got a lot better as I continue to read articles online and watch games. My writing at first was awful because I didn't care about it. I then realized I wanted to be great at writing, so I have spent time and effort on it. I think it is good now. I have learned to program because I want to analyze data in my pieces. I supposed one wants to have a good foundation in soccer knowledge and either writing or programming, depending on what your goal is. But you can't gather all the necessary knowledge before you try something. It's just an on-going learning process.
Do you see player development as more of an art or a science?
I am not sure what you mean by art or science. I think what you meant is that whether it should be a skill with instruction and formulas vs. something that you go ahead and do it and learn through experience. Like anything else, it should be both. The former approach is lacking, at least from what I understand.
What is your favorite sports moment? Why?
Emotionally I only care if Juve win.
What coach/player/team inspires you? Why?
None. I am inspired only by writers, like Zach Lowe, who covers the NBA for ESPN. I only appreciate writing work that is evidence-based with first-rate analysis. I have no respect for most opinion-based work.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to get into scouting/analytics?
One should figure out what you want from it. Some people want to work professionally in soccer. For that purpose, you need to realize the path is rocky and not straight. You should prepare to take a pay cut comparing to other jobs. If you want to be a soccer writer, you still have to take a pay cut, a deep one too. But you should also decide if writing for free is good enough; for example, I like a part-time writing gig too, but I am also delighted that I could just write and analyze whatever topic I am interested in. As a hobby, it is good enough for me, for now.
What is your favorite app/tool to use (for work or fun)?
R, because I do a lot of data analysis.
What other sport/hobby/discipline do you feel improves your work as an analyst/scout? Why?
Reading how professionals talk about soccer and game model is good. That is the area I can improve the most. There is also the statistic part since I wasn't trained as a statistician. But I don't need to improve my analysis. It is my day job as a scientist, and I have done it for >15 years. For many people, this will be the part they need to improve on, the scientific approach and critical thinking.
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